NC State holds off Cal, 71-60

After drubbing Stanford on Thursday, NC State had its hands full with Cal on Sunday afternoon, in no small part because Tilda Trygger missed the game because of an illness. The Wolfpack clearly suffered for her absence at both ends of the floor but made enough plays to avoid an upset.

Zoe Brooks got NC State off to a quick start, as the Pack built a 10-point lead early on, but Cal rallied back quickly and this was a back-and-forth game for quite a while after that.

The latter half of the third quarter proved decisive for State, which turned a 44-41 deficit into a 56-45 lead by the end of the quarter, finishing on an 11-0 run over the last four minutes. Khamil Pierre stepped up today and was a major part of that run, not surprisingly—she finished with 21 points on 9-15 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds.

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Qadence Samuels played all 40 minutes in this one and ended up with 13 points, including a three that capped the Pack’s third quarter run. While she was just 1-7 from three, she made all four of her twos, grabbed six boards, and had three steals. That performance was important with Maddie Cox struggling offensively, as Wes Moore barely dipped into his bench.

State was able to keep Cal at arm’s length in the fourth quarter, though the Bears did get back to within six at one point. A big difference in this one was the turnover margin, which was +14 in NC State’s favor. Had that been closer to even, we probably would have been in for a tight finish.

Cal played pretty well, turnovers aside, and won the paint battle with Trygger out of action—the Bears shot 57.6% on twos and were significantly better on the glass as well. The turnovers, and their 5-22 three-point shooting, ultimately are what did them in.

The Pack’s win was not without bad news, as Zam Jones had to be helped off the floor after rolling her right ankle with less than a minute left in the contest. She wasn’t putting any pressure on that leg as she went to the locker room, and we’ll just have to hope it’s nothing more than a sprain. State’s next game is at Clemson on Thursday.