NC State overcomes slow start to run past Georgia Tech, 59-48

Georgia Tech got off to an ideal start in Raleigh, taking a quick 10-2 lead out of the gate, but the Jackets’ dreams of an upset ended up short-lived. NC State battled back to 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, and over the next 20 minutes, Tech forgot how to do offense, which generally is not a good idea. Write that down, kids.

The Wolfpack was more than fine with it, mind you.

Jada Boyd broke the tie with a couple of buckets early in the second quarter, and from there on, NC State was done trailing. The Pack defense limited Tech to eight points on 3-17 shooting in the second quarter, and State had an eight-point lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Tech had more turnovers (eight) than points (seven) as the game got away from the Jackets completely. NC State scored the first 10 points out of the break to extend its advantage to 18 points with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

The Jackets didn’t have it in them for a rally tonight—between the turnovers and the poor shooting (I lost track of how many of them shot an air ball), they were incapable of putting a run together until late in the fourth quarter, after the matter had long been settled.

Diamond Johnson led all State scorers with 12 points on 5-9 shooting. Elissa Cunane shot just 3-12 and didn’t score until the early moments of the second half, but obviously, her absence at the offensive end didn’t matter in the least.

Raina Perez scored 11 points, while Jada Boyd and Camille Hobby added eight apiece.

The win tonight represents one more hurdle cleared for NC State, which has five regular-season games remaining. A road trip to Boston College on Thursday is next.