NC State women's hoops (27-5) is returning to the ACC Tournament championship game after punching its ticket with a 69-43 win over No. 6 seed Florida State (23-10) in Saturday afternoon's semifinal matchup.
The Pack advances to the title game for the 18th time in program history and the fourth time in the last five seasons. NC State will take on fourth-seeded Notre Dame in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wolfpack held Florida State to its season low in scoring in the win and led by 10 or more points for the final 15:55 of the contest. NC State out-rebounded Florida State by 26 and had three players contribute 10+ boards in its ACC-high 58 rebound count.
Mimi Collins posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, with that rebound mark setting her new season high.
Aziaha James finished just shy of the double-double with a team-leading 23 points, the most she's scored in ACC Tournament action, and nine rebounds.
River Baldwin (11 rebounds) and
Madison Hayes (10 rebounds) rounded out the team's effort off the glass.
NC State also had four players dish out four assists, with James,
Saniya Rivers and
Zoe Brooks contributing 12 of the team's 15 assists on the afternoon.
NC State went on an 8-0 run in the latter half of the first quarter and held FSU scoreless over that nearly four-minute span to lead 20-11 after the period. The Wolfpack hit its last four shots of the first, which was highlighted by Collins posting 11 of her points and five of her rebounds in the opening 10 minutes alone.
The Pack opened up a 12-point lead (26-14) in the first two minutes of the second and never let the Seminoles get closer than eight points despite hitting a brief scoreless drought. NC State scored nine of the last 11 of the first half, including a three by James right before the buzzer to give the Pack its largest advantage of the first half (35-20) at the break. The Seminoles' 20 first-half points was a season low for them, as were the nine second-quarter points that NC State limited them to.
The story remained the same in the second half with the Pack showing resiliency through early shooting woes but buckling down defensively to hold Florida State to just another nine points in the third. NC State led 50-29 after three quarters and did not let the Seminoles get closer than 21 points in the fourth quarter.
The Wolfpack prepares for Sunday's tournament finale, which is set to be televised nationally on ESPN with pregame coverage on College Gameday.
https://gopack.com/news/2024/3/9/womens-basketball-wolfpack-earns-acc-tournament-title-game-berth-with-69-43-semifinal-win-over-noles