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Photo by Steve Murphy/Inside Pack Sports
NC State Women's Basketball

Wolfpack Women Headed To The Sweet Sixteen

March 18, 2018
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NC State beat a familiar foe. To get the win, the Wolfpack leaned heavily on a player that knew its former conference rival well.

One team has Kiara Leslie. The other team does not.

Leslie finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead NC State past Maryland 74-60 Sunday on Kay Yow Court in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack advances to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2007 with the win.

The Pack (26-8) led for the final 39 minutes of the contest.  

“I’m just so proud of these young ladies,” an emotional NC State head coach Wes Moore said afterwards. “I’ve got so much respect for Maryland, [head coach] Brenda Frese and her program.

In the first quarter NC State shot 50 percent from the floor while the Terrapins were a frigid 20 percent on field goal attempts.

It was Leslie, a Maryland-alum who transferred to NC State after graduating last summer, who was a thorn in the Terps’ side all game. She joins her brother C.J. Leslie as the second member of her family to reach the Sweet Sixteen with the Wolfpack.

“My teammates knew this game was important to me,” Leslie said. “I think they just helped me get comfortable and get open shots, then they also came ready to play. I’m really proud of them.”

The Wolfpack led by six at halftime. Maryland outscored NC State in the second quarter and pulled within a point with five minutes remaining in the third period after an inside basket from Brianna Fraser.

NC State answered with a 16-2 run that opened up a double-digit lead and the Pack had its biggest advantage when freshman Kai Crutchfield, a graduate of Millbrook High School, drilled her second three-pointer over a span of 64 seconds to push State’s lead to 56-40.

The Terps never got within single-digits the rest of the way. All five NC State starters scored in double-figures. The Wolfpack shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first three quarters and made half of the team’s three-point attempts for the contest.

NC State will next travel to Kansas City, Missouri. The Wolfpack will take on the winner of Monday’s matchup between top-seed Mississippi State and Oklahoma State on March 23rd with a berth to the Elite Eight on the line.

“They just show up and play,” Moore said of his team. “Today, we had too many turnovers in the first half and we don’t always click offensively but they are going to come and bring it. It doesn’t matter what the score is, it is going to be a 40-minute game. We are going to keep playing.

“As long as we do that, no matter what happens I can live with it.”

Steve Murphy/Inside Pack Sports
Kiara Leslie was a star in the Wolfpack's win over Maryland.

 

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Wolfpack Women Headed To The Sweet Sixteen

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