That was not ideal.
NC State didn’t execute well at either end of the court on Thursday night, and there was no better example than the last possession of the game. Haley Cavender ended up with an open layup attempt to tie the game and force overtime as time expired, but fortunately for State, she left it short.
State had a bunch of fouls to give and there were just four seconds left when Miami inbounded the ball on that play, and another breakdown nearly resulted in disaster.
At the offensive end, NC State struggled with poor shot selection for a lot of the game. The Wolfpack ended up taking 27 threes, and that’s just too many for this team, and especially against Miami’s vulnerable interior. NC State shot over 50% inside the arc, but made barely a quarter of its threes.
The Pack had a string of bad possessions in the last few minutes, though Miami couldn’t break through either, and Zoe Brooks finally got free for a layup and score to make it 76-74 with 46 seconds to go. Miami missed on its next possession and State grabbed the defensive board with 36 seconds left, and here the Canes gave State a huge gift, bizarrely opting not to foul and extend the game.
That was one of the more confounding decisions I’ve seen in a while, as free throw shooting has not been one of NC State’s strengths. But the Pack was able to wind the clock all the way down to four seconds, and had Aziaha James taken the open three she had instead of passing the ball to Saniya Rivers, State may well have put the game on ice there.
Madison Hayes came through in a big way for State’s offense, finishing with 19 points on 6-12 shooting. She went over 1,000 career points with a layup at the end of the first quarter. James added 15, while Tilda Trygger was the only other Wolfpack player in double figures, with 10.
The Pack’s best quarter was the second as the Pack turned an early 10-point deficit into a two-point halftime lead. NC State never could get rid of Miami, though—despite pushing ahead by five here or seven there, the Canes found answers.
State was fortunate to get away with this one despite being out-shot, but hey, it doesn’t matter how you do it this time of year.