Wolfpack outplays Seminoles in 80-57 win

RALEIGH, N.C. – The 20th-ranked NC State Wolfpack women’s basketball team defended its home court successfully in beating the 17th-ranked Florida State Seminoles 80-57 in front of a crowd of 2,786 at Reynolds Coliseum on Thursday.

As the Wolfpack’s stalwarts in the paint, Markeish Gatling (20 points, 7 rebounds) and Kody Burke (16 points, 10 rebounds), led the in team in knocking off another top-20 opponent, it was role players such as Lakeesa Daniel (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Myisha Goodwin-Coleman (12 points, 2 assists) who helped clinch the victory.

“A lot of people did a great job,” NC State coach Wes Moore said.

“It was a big win. There’s a big difference between being three-and-one (3-1) and two-and-two (2-2). Big difference…I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

In finishing as complete a game as they have played in recent memory with a steady offensive scoring output of 47-percent shooting from the field, the Wolfpack (16-2, 3-1) beat Florida State (14-3, 2-2) for the third time in the two teams’ last four meetings, and at home for the first time since 2007.

No other team had scored more than 70 points against the Seminoles all season, but NC State managed to pour in 10 points on top of that due to an overall offensive effort that included 23 team assists as point guards Len’Nique Brown (8 points, 4 assists), Miah Spencer (3 points, 5 assists) and Krystal Barrett (8 points, 5 assists) kept the ball moving until they spotted openings to pass or shoot.

The Wolfpack tipped off against the Seminoles following a busy week of conference travel that saw them bounce back with a 62-54 win at Wake Forest on Sunday after suffering a 79-70 loss to the then No. 13 UNC Tar Heels in Chapel Hill on Jan. 9.

The 40th all-time meeting between the two teams featured the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) two top post players in Gatling and the Seminoles’ Natasha Howard (14 points, 10 rebounds), who held the league’s highest field goal percentages, 67 and 63 percent respectively, coming into the game

It only took FSU and Howard 15 seconds to score the opening points of the game, and as both teams battled for offensive control, it was NC State that took the upper hand early on as Brown dropped two three-pointers three minutes apart to put the Wolfpack ahead 6-4 at the 15:52 mark.

Florida State stayed close and worked valiantly to put together different scoring runs, but NC State countered and never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game.

The Wolfpack found numerous open seams within Florida State’s ACC-leading scoring defense as Gatling finished 8-for-8 from the field inside while Goodwin-Coleman, Brown, and Barrett maintained the Wolfpack’s conference-leading pace in finishing with nine three-pointers on the night.

“Credit the job that NC State did,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said.

“We felt like they were one of the best teams in the conference coming in and they really proved that. They’ve got two legit post players and then their three-point shooting has been freed up by the fact that people really have to pay attention to them.”

As much as Gatling and Burke did in helping their team to earn the win from start to finish, it was the efficient work of Daniel, who matched a career-scoring high, in coming off the bench that made the difference in helping NC State to keep and extend the lead during the first half.

“I just had to stay focused and play my game,” Daniel said.

“Being prepared for anything that happens and play hard – I just tried to find the open lane.”

As the gap between the two teams widened to as many as 13 points, the Wolfpack managed to carry a 37-26 lead into halftime.

Both teams traded baskets early in the second half, but State kept its distance and built its lead up to 14 points, 42-28, after Barrett drained a stand-up jumper from beyond the arc.

A few foul calls in their favor then allowed the Seminoles to put together a quick 6-0 run before the Wolfpack stopped the bleeding with a few baskets capped off by Goodwin-Coleman hitting a three to push the lead back up to 47-34 with 15:56 to play.

Florida State’s turnovers and repeated misses from the field forced Semrau to call a timeout a minute later to get her team reset into a 1-3-1 defense that presented more length for NC State to work against.

The setup didn’t phase the Wolfpack as it continued to work the ball through and over the defense, and capped it off with Burke nailing a three to give NC State its largest margin at the time, 15 points, leading 52-37.

“If you’re not solid, then we can maybe with smoke and mirrors make something happen,” Semrau said.

“But I thought NC State was extremely solid, and as a result I thought they did a great job of picking that apart.”

Barrett hit a three and extended the score further to 55-39 as NC State continued to stay committed to keeping its tempo on offense and outrebounding the Seminoles, while Howard was assessed her fourth foul with 10:16 to play.

With her sitting on the bench and the the Seminoles defense losing size inside, Gatling found more space to work in the paint and from the foul line, and contributed more points to the Wolfpack lead.

Soon after, an exceptional rebounding and court-length drive to the hoop from Spencer, that was followed up by a free throw opportunity, pushed the Wolfpack lead to 66-47 with 7:41 remaining.

As Florida State put together a quick 5-0 run to inch slightly closer to the Wolfpack, Moore called a timeout to settle his team down, but it didn’t work as Florida State’s Morgan Jones (11 points, 5 rebounds) drove to the basket and was fouled on the successful scoring attempt.

Even while going scoreless during that short stretch and holding a comfortable 67-54 lead, the Wolfpack played with poise on the defensive end and finished the final six minutes of play outscoring the Seminoles 13-3 to put the finishing touches on a dominating win at home.

“It was a pretty complete performance against a very good team,” Moore said.

“We’ve had some good wins, some games where we played extremely well, but not against a team as good as Florida State. They went to Louisville and took them to overtime on the road, so that’s a good win for us, no doubt.”