Virginia Blown Off the Floor by No. 6 NC State 93-66 in Rematch

Not even two weeks ago, Virginia went toe-to-toe with then-undefeated and No. 3-ranked NC State in the ACC opener on New Year's Eve. The Cavaliers were competitive in the first half and even held a one-point halftime lead before unraveling in the second half as the Wolfpack left Charlottesville with an 11-point win.

Round 2 between these two teams wasn't nearly as kind to the Cavaliers.

The Wolfpack wasted no time in dispatching UVA this time around, blitzing the Cavaliers right away to build a sizable lead and never looking back, as No. 6 NC State (15-1, 3-1 ACC) handed Virginia (8-7, 0-4 ACC) a lopsided 93-66 loss on Thursday night in Raleigh.

With NC State suffering its first loss of the season on a buzzer beater at Virginia Tech on Sunday, it was predictable that the Wolfpack would have a fire lit underneath them to start their next game. Sure enough, NC State stormed out of the gates right from the tip, scoring eight points in the first 90 seconds and building a quick 12-4 lead that forced an early timeout from Coach Mox just 90 seconds into the game.

The Cavaliers like to play fast, that much is inevitable pretty much every time they take the court under Coach Mox. But the Wolfpack seem to enjoy that pace of play even more and proved that they're better at it than Virginia. NC State scored 16 fastbreak points in the first quarter alone and took a 29-13 lead at the end of the opening period.

The onslaught continued in the second quarter. Even though Virginia got a three-pointer from Olivia McGhee and two more from Kymora Johnson, the Cavaliers still couldn't keep up with the Wolfpack offensively. NC State won the second period 26-21 thanks to 11 second-quarter points from freshman Laci Steele.

The Wolfpack shot a mind-boggling 60% from the floor in the first half, hit six threes, and scored 15 points off of seven UVA turnovers. NC State had four players in double figures at halftime. The only thing the Cavaliers had going for them was rebounding, where they had a 25-19 advantage, and 12 second-chance points. Even so, NC State held an insurmountable 57-34 halftime lead.

Things didn't get better for Virginia in the second half, even as NC State took its foot slightly off the gas. The Wolfpack extended their lead to 81-50 at the end of three quarters and cruised to a 93-66 victory.

NC State had five players in double figures, led by Zoe Brooks with 19 points. The Wolfpack came back down to earth by game's end and shot 48.5% from the floor, but scored 36 fast-break points.

Virginia got 22 points from Camryn Taylor, but she fouled out in the fourth quarter for the second-consecutive game. Kymora Johnson joined Taylor in double figures with 14 points for the Cavaliers, who shot 32.9% from the floor and 26.1% from three-point range. UVA won the rebounding battle 50-39, but that wasn't enough to keep pace.

Still winless in ACC play, Virginia will remain in the state of North Carolina for the weekend, traveling to take on No. 20 North Carolina on Sunday at 4pm on the ACC Network.

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