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The NC State women’s basketball team is on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following an easy 62-48 victory over the Auburn Tigers. The Wolfpack led by 10 after first quarter, pushed that lead to 17 by halftime, and had a 26-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before things got a bit sloppy.
Seniors Dominique Wilson and Miah Spencer paced the offense with 23 and 13 points, offsetting a bad shooting day from Ashley Williams, who was only 1-8 (all threes) from the field. Williams did have a game-high 10 boards, though, and since she’s often the shortest person on the floor that’s not too shabby.
| Four Factors | NC State | Auburn |
| eFG% | 44.3 | 26.2 |
| Turnover Rate | 28.9 | 14.4 |
| Off Reb Rate | 32.3 | 25.0 |
| FT Rate | 32.8 | 28.3 |
| Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF | |
| Auburn | 48 | 69 | 62.3 | 89.4 |
| NC State | 62 | 69 | 89.4 | 62.3 |
Auburn plays a press-heavy style that has been effective all year—they forced opponents to turn it over nearly a third of the time this season—and they had success against State, but the bottom line is they couldn’t throw it in the ocean.
The Tigers are a bad shooting team, and that was on full display, as they hit only 2-17 from three and made a mere 29.5% of their twos. NC State did a nice job on the defensive boards, ensuring an awful offensive performance from Auburn.
That was more than enough to propel NC State to an easy win, even if the game did turn ugly with a spat of turnovers midway through the fourth quarter. Auburn was way too far behind and would have needed an incredible shooting streak to make a game of it. Didn’t happen, even though the Tigers did finish the fourth quarter +12 in the scoring column.
Next up: NC State awaits the winner between No. 3 Texas and No. 14 Central Arkansas for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen.