Tenth-ranked North Carolina State rattled off 14 unanswered points late in the second quarter to build a 28-11 lead en route to a 66-47 victory over the cold-shooting University of Maine women’s basketball team on Tuesday night.
The Wolfpack improved to 2-1, while UMaine fell to 0-2 after the loss at the James T. Valvano Arena in the William Neal Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It was North Carolina State’s 24th straight home win.
NC State went 28-7 a year ago and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, where it was beaten by Louisiana State University 80-73. The Wolfpack reached the Final Four the previous year.
Wolfpack junior guard Zoe Brooks had seven points during the decisive 14-0 run and sophomore guard Zamareya Jones had three points.
UMaine went 0-for-8 from the floor during the NC State spurt and also missed two free throws.
Senior point guard Asta Blauenfeldt closed out the half with a 3-pointer to snap the 14-0 run and pull UMaine within 28-14.
The Wolfpack outscored UMaine 21-13 in the third period to sew up the victory.
Junior forward Khamil Pierre had a game-high 18 points for NC State and she also hauled down 10 rebounds. Brooks finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and Jones had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Blauenfeldt paced the Black Bears with 16 points and three rebounds. Redshirt senior forward Adrianna Smith, who had 25 points in the season-opening 63-62 loss to St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia, finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Smith went 5-24 from the floor.
Junior forward Kaliyah Sain produced nine points and six rebounds and junior forward Lizzy Gruber had five points, six rebounds and two assists.
NC State shot 40.3% from the floor and 15% from beyond the 3-point arc while UMaine shot 29% and 18.8%, respectively.
The taller Wolfpack outrebounded UMaine 54-36.
UMaine will visit Virginia Commonwealth at 7 p.m. Friday, while NC State will host Texas Christian at 1 p.m. Sunday.
