After having its last four games either canceled or postponed due to issues with COVID-19, the No. 2 NC State women's basketball team will finally return to the court as it hits the road to take on the Florida State Seminoles on Thursday in a rematch of last season's ACC Tournament Championship game.
The Wolfpack (10-0, 5-0 ACC) last played on Jan. 3 against Boston College, winning 76-57 and completing the season sweep of the Eagles. The team was scheduled to play Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia and Louisville after that, but all four of those games were called off.
The Seminoles (4-2, 3-2 ACC) are coming off a blowout loss to No. 2 Louisville on Sunday and will be playing their second straight game against a top-5 opponent. They too have had scheduling issues due to COVID-19 as the game against Louisville was their first of 2021.
The last time these two teams played each other, NC State was cutting down the nets in Greensboro as it beat Florida State 71-66 to claim its first ACC Tournament Championship in 29 years. That game is surely still etched into the memories of many players on both teams.
While they haven't played as many games as the Wolfpack, the Seminoles have not had any easy games. They have played five ACC games, with their lone loss besides the blowout defeat against Louisville being a 3-point loss to Clemson, and their one nonconference game was a win over Florida.
Florida State is led by its backcourt trio of Kourtney Weber, Bianca Jackson and Morgan Jones. Weber leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game, while Jackson and Jones each average just over 13 points per game. Weber also shoots an efficient 57.7% from the floor, which is good for fourth in the ACC, and is the league's best free throw shooter, having missed just one shot from the line for a 95.5% clip.
The Seminoles also have a defensive presence down low in Valencia Myers, who is third in the ACC in blocked shots with 2.2 per game, and the team has played well defensively in conference play this season, holding opponents to 64.6 points per game and 39.9% from the field.
One area where NC State should be able to dominate in this game is the battle of the boards as the Pack is one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC with 46.2 boards per game, while Florida State is near the bottom of the ACC with 38 per game.
This is a game between two teams that have each played only one game since the start of 2021, so there could be some sloppy play. It will be interesting to see how NC State looks after having a couple of weeks off, and it will also be interesting to see how Florida State responds after \getting blown out by Louisville.
The game will begin at 8 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ACC Network.
The Wolfpack (10-0, 5-0 ACC) last played on Jan. 3 against Boston College, winning 76-57 and completing the season sweep of the Eagles. The team was scheduled to play Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia and Louisville after that, but all four of those games were called off.
The Seminoles (4-2, 3-2 ACC) are coming off a blowout loss to No. 2 Louisville on Sunday and will be playing their second straight game against a top-5 opponent. They too have had scheduling issues due to COVID-19 as the game against Louisville was their first of 2021.
The last time these two teams played each other, NC State was cutting down the nets in Greensboro as it beat Florida State 71-66 to claim its first ACC Tournament Championship in 29 years. That game is surely still etched into the memories of many players on both teams.
While they haven't played as many games as the Wolfpack, the Seminoles have not had any easy games. They have played five ACC games, with their lone loss besides the blowout defeat against Louisville being a 3-point loss to Clemson, and their one nonconference game was a win over Florida.
Florida State is led by its backcourt trio of Kourtney Weber, Bianca Jackson and Morgan Jones. Weber leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game, while Jackson and Jones each average just over 13 points per game. Weber also shoots an efficient 57.7% from the floor, which is good for fourth in the ACC, and is the league's best free throw shooter, having missed just one shot from the line for a 95.5% clip.
The Seminoles also have a defensive presence down low in Valencia Myers, who is third in the ACC in blocked shots with 2.2 per game, and the team has played well defensively in conference play this season, holding opponents to 64.6 points per game and 39.9% from the field.
One area where NC State should be able to dominate in this game is the battle of the boards as the Pack is one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC with 46.2 boards per game, while Florida State is near the bottom of the ACC with 38 per game.
This is a game between two teams that have each played only one game since the start of 2021, so there could be some sloppy play. It will be interesting to see how NC State looks after having a couple of weeks off, and it will also be interesting to see how Florida State responds after \getting blown out by Louisville.
The game will begin at 8 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ACC Network.