SAN MARCOS, Texas – Jada Boyd scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help North Carolina’s top position overcome a slow start and win 79-58 over 16 NC A&T seeds in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament Sunday.
NC State (21-2) makes its fourth consecutive appearance and 26th overall, but won the No. 1 spot for the first time. The Wolfpack will face South Florida’s eighth position in the second round.
The Aggies led up to six in the second quarter. But NC State took advantage of a great run to advance by seven points at the break before Boyd scored the first six points of the second half to make it 50-37 with 7½ minutes to go.
“We didn’t particularly look like any No. 1 or any of that in the first half,” NC State coach Wes Moore said. “But luckily, it was just a situation where we had been so low … and maybe that will help us get rid of the rust a little bit and maybe we’ll get out of it and have some confidence.”
The Wolfpack had advanced the score to 15 later in the third before completing the quarter with a 7-2 run, highlighted by Boyd’s 3, to make it 64-44 entering the quarter.
Moore was excited about Boyd’s performance.
“She does it a lot,” he said. “She’s very athletic and long. We needed a lift. We needed an injury and I thought she really gave it to us.”
Chanin Scott’s triple reduced the lead to 17 with about six minutes to go. NC State scored nine straight points over the next two minutes to extend the lead to 77-51 and Moore overflowed his bench shortly after.
Boyd wasn’t sure if Wolfpack’s early fights were more a product of NC A&T playing well or of his fights.
“A&T came out hitting all their shots, so they could have been a bit of both,” he said. “Two weeks is a long time without playing, so it was tough, but we ended up putting it together.”
Elissa Cunane, NC State’s top 6-foot scorer, added 12 points despite struggling for near-constant double teams. Cunane came out of his MVP performance by leading the Wolfpack to a second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title scoring 70 points combined in three games.
NC A&T (14-3), which won the Middle East Athletic Conference title, made its fifth trip to the tournament and third in six seasons. The Aggies fell 0-5 in the tournament and 0-10 against NC State. They were led by Scott, who had 23 points and seven rebounds.
NC A&T coach Tarrell Robinson was asked about his team’s difference in the first and second halves.
“His intensity, our lack of concentration,” he said. “What I’ve talked to our youngsters about teams like NC State, we haven’t played any teams all this year, is that they take away your option. will be “.
NC State led by three in the second quarter before the Aggies scored the next nine points to advance 35-29 with about five minutes to go. D’Mya Tucker started this race with a triple and added a steal between four points from Scott.
The Wolfpack kicked off after that, finishing fourth with a 15-2 run and a 44-37 lead at halftime. Kai Crutchfield made a 3-point score, caught a steal and finished with a throw to close the NC State score on this stretch. He had 14 points.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Wolfpack outperformed the Aggies between 40 and 22 in paint. … NC State earned 28 points out of 13 from NC A&T’s business losses. … The NC State bench outperformed the Aggies bench 33-15. … The Wolfpack also had the lead at 13-3 second chance points.
JONES INJURED
Senior starter Kayla Jones did not play in the second half after injuring her knee in the second quarter. Moore doesn’t think it’s serious, but he doesn’t know if it will be available on Tuesday.
“Tonight he will have an MRI and see what happens,” he said. “We don’t think it’s an ACL, but it’s really tender.”
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