After defeating Stanford on Thursday, NC State has its hands full against Cal on Sunday afternoon, in large part because Tilda Trigg is out due to illness. The Wolfpack obviously suffered from her absence on both sides of the ball, but they produced enough to avoid a loss.
Zoe Brooks got NC State off to a fast start as the team built an early 10-point lead, but Cal fought back quickly and it was a back-and-forth game for a long time after that.
The second half of the third quarter was decisive for State University. At the end of the quarter, State University turned a 44-41 deficit into a 56-45 lead and went on an 11-0 run in the last 4 minutes. Camille Pierre stepped up today and was a big part of this game, and it’s no surprise – she scored 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting and grabbed 7 rebounds.
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Qadence Samuels played all 40 minutes in this game and finished with 13 points, including a three-pointer that gave the team the lead in the third quarter. While she was only 1-for-7 from 3-point range, she hit all 4 of her 2-pointers, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 3 steals. Wes Moore was barely on the bench when Maddie Cox struggled offensively, which is important.
State kept Cal within arm’s length in the fourth quarter, although the Bears did pull within six points at one point. One of the big differences is revenue margin, which is +14 for NC State. If the score had been close we could have been in a tight situation.
Turnovers aside, Carr played pretty well and won the paint battle without Trigg on the floor — the Bears shot 57.6 percent from two and were significantly better on the glass. Turnovers and their 5-for-22 three-point shooting ultimately sealed their win.
Wolves’ win was not without bad news, as Zam Jones sprained his right ankle with less than a minute left and had to be helped out of bed. She didn’t put any pressure on that leg when she went to the locker room and we can only hope it was just a sprain. State’s next game is Thursday at Clemson.
