Crutchfield, No. 9 NC State roll over Boston College 72-54

Dec 29, 2019, 09:03 pm

CHESTNUT HILL, Ma. -- Aslinn Konig helped N.C. State hand Boston College its first home loss of the season.

The senior guard scored 11-points, including three 3-pointers in the second half, as No. 9 N.C. State topped Boston College, 72-54 on Sunday.

With the win, NC State remains unbeaten (12-0), while handing the Eagles (7-6) its first home loss of the season.

“I thought we played hard,” said Boston College Coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee. “I think the first quarter got away from us, and that was a hard deficit to comeback from.”

N.C. State came out firing building a 26-11 lead after the first quarter, and led by eight at the half.

“It feels good,” said N.C. State Coach Wes Moore. “Boston College has been playing well at home. They’ve been putting up a whole lot of points. We were worried about their transition game and their 3-point shooting, so for us to be able to keep the score down to where it was a little more workable was definitely good to see.”

Kia Crutchfeld scored 14 points and Elissa Cunane added 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead a well-balanced scoring attack with four other Wolfpack players also posting double-figures in points. The team’s potent attack quickly established an 18-point lead in the second quarter.

Despite facing the early deficit, Boston College hung tough with Emma Guy leading the charge, The Eagles forward scored 14 points. Mamelle Garraud added 11.

But Konig ended any thoughts of a BC comeback. She made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third quarter, during an eight-point swing, putting the game away.

“That’s what she does,” said Moore, noting that his guard was sporting a swollen nose after getting injured in a shoot-around, Saturday “I’m sure she had trouble breathing at times, but she’s my security blanket. I lean on her a lot, because I know she’s capable to doing those things.”

The swing was all the momentum NC State would need, against the exhausted Eagles club.

“We expended a lot of energy to get back, and that took its toll on us toward the middle of the fourth quarter, where we looked a little bit spent,” said Bernabei-McNamee, noting that her team pulled down eight offensive rebounds in the first half, but were limited to just three in the second. “That was actually the first time I’ve seen our team get a little fatigued, but that’s because they played so well.”

TIP-INS:

Boston College players wore a special warm up shirt honoring the Team Impact team member Breslyn Clinton and the fight against pediatric cancer. “Brezzy” joined the women's basketball team through Team Impact, signing her national letter of intent to become an Eagle in Sept. 2018.

UP NEXT:

Boston College travels to Pittsburgh on Jan. 5.

N.C. State hosts Virginia Tech on Thursday.

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25