Miami didn’t make life easy on the Pack.
NC State had a tough one on its hands in Miami, but ultimately it was the Wolfpack’s strong shooting that made the difference. The Hurricanes fought to stay within striking distance for the majority of the night thanks in large part to a dominant performance on the offensive glass—but they couldn’t make enough shots.
It was an uncharacteristically terrible defensive rebounding performance by State, and one that under different circumstances could easily have led to defeat. Miami pulled down 21 offensive rebounds, but State’s interior defense was otherwise very good. The Canes made only 37.5% of their twos.
The Pack led by three at halftime and five after the third quarter, and it wasn’t until about midway through the fourth that NC State managed to put some distance between it and Miami. NC State pushed its lead to 10 with 5:33 left and never led by fewer than eight points the rest of the way.
Elissa Cunane led all scorers with 19 points on 8-10 shooting, Diamond Johnson added 16 points, and Kayla Jones finished with 11. Led by Cunane, NC State shot 60% inside the arc, while also knocking down 44% from three.
State improved to 5-0 in the ACC with the win and will return to action on Thursday at Virginia. The Pack is going for the season sweep after beating the Hoos by 27 in December.