NC State women open ACC play with 89-54 blowout of Pittsburgh

NC State’s first points against Pittsburgh came on a Jakia Brown-Turner three-pointer, which would prove a sign of things to come. The Wolfpack made six threes in the first quarter, added four more in the second, and finished the night 15-33 from beyond the arc. When the ladies are having a night like that, there ain’t much for the other team to do.

And when NC State is ending a quarter like this...

...well, if you’re Pittsburgh, you can pretty much tell that it is not going to be your night.

With the points pouring in from the perimeter, NC State scored at least 20 in every quarter, took a 19-point lead into the half and finished with a 35-point edge. The Wolfpack never trailed and the only tie in this game was at 0-0. The Panthers aren’t very good, but nonetheless it was an impressive road performance for the Pack.

Raina Perez and Camille Hobby led all scorers with 15 points each; Perez was 3-6 from three, while Hobby finished 7-10 from the field, including her first made three of the season. Elissa Cunane was just 2-8 from the floor, but obviously State didn’t need a big night from her, and anyway she did snag 12 rebounds in just 21 minutes.

State’s defense limited Pitt to 33.3% shooting inside the arc and kept the Panthers off the offensive glass. The Panthers weren’t nearly good enough elsewhere to compensate for that.

Next up NC State will step back out of conference to face St. Mary’s and a ranked UGA team, then get into ACC play for good starting with Virginia on Dec. 19.