Undefeated No More

Coach Walz has repeatedly said that he didn’t expect his team to go undefeated for an entire season and he was finally proven right. After a close first half NC State outplayed the Cards in the 2nd. They jumped to a double-digit lead and although Louisville closed the gap a couple of times they could never come up with a defensive stop or a basket when it seemed most crucial.

After several games of balanced scoring Dana Evans carried the team tonight with 29 points. No other Card scored in double digits. Kianna Smith and Olivia Cochran both had 8 points apiece. Coach Walz said that Elizabeth Balogun didn’t start because had food poisoning earlier and wasn’t feeling well and was a game-time decision.

After the game Coach Walz said, “We didn’t do a great job of following the scouting report and I’ll take responsibility for that because I’ve got to make sure they’re dialed in and prepared. A few of their players did exactly what we knew they were going to do and.... we didn’t do a a very good job defensively in a few situations.” When asked about not getting a key offensive rebound when trying to claw back into the game he said, “It’s a back-breaker.”

He also pointed out “We’ve been fortunate in a few ballgames that we haven’t executed well but we’ve been able to pull it out in the end. Unfortunately a team like NC State you’re not going to be able to do that.”

His message to the team afterwards was, “Are we going to hang our heads and now one bad game turns into turn two, turn into three, then turn into four? We talked about that and I’ve got a very resilient group in there that is ready to get back to work.”

The Cards have another quick turnaround and go up to Boston College this Thursday. The game is at 8PM and is on the ACC Network.