By ASSOCIATED PRESS

On Sunday, North Carolina State’s Saniya Rivers led the team with 23 points while Mimi Collins contributed 18 points and nine rebounds. The No. 12 ranked team pulled ahead in the final quarter to beat Wake Forest with a final score of 75-57.

After leading by one point through three quarters against a team tied for last place in the conference, the Wolfpack (25-5, 13-5 ACC) dominated the final period. Rivers and Collins each scored eight points and the Wolfpack outscored the Demon Deacons 27-10. Wake Forest, which shot 19% in the first half, struggled again in the fourth, going 3 for 15.

NC State scored 24 points in the first half, followed by 24 points in the third quarter and 27 points in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter, NC State had a commanding lead of 8-4, but both teams struggled to make shots with a combined 6 out of 34 shots made. The pace of scoring improved in the second quarter, but the shooting percentages remained low. NC State made 4 out of 17 shots while Wake Forest only made 4 out of 12. At halftime, the Wolfpack maintained their lead of 24-16 with a 26% shooting percentage compared to Wake Forest’s 19%.

The Demon Deacons struggled in the first half, missing 26 shots. However, they had a strong performance in the third quarter, scoring 31 points and narrowing the gap to 48-47. They had a 71% success rate overall, making 5 out of 8 3-pointers and 12 out of 17 shots. Elise Williams scored 15 points by making all six of her shots, while Madisyn Jordan contributed 9 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. This was a significant improvement from their first half total of 16 points.

Wake Forest had a shooting success rate of 34% compared to 41% for NC State.

Williams was the highest scoring player for Wake Forest (6-24, 2-16) with 17 points and also contributed six assists. Raegyn Conley put up 15 points while Jordan added 12 points to the team’s total.

NC State’s coach Wes Moore achieved his 825th career victory, 267 of which were won with the Wolfpack team. As a result, the Wolfpack secured the second seed and a double bye in the conference tournament, starting on Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Wake Forest ended up in a tie for the last spot and is scheduled to compete on Wednesday.

Source: wralsportsfan.com