With an uncharacteristically anemic offensive performance, the No. 4 NC State women’s basketball team suffered its second loss of the season to ninth-ranked Louisville, 66-59.

After the Wolfpack (22-2, 11-2 ACC) jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening two minutes of the game, Louisville (22-3, 11-2 ACC) rattled off a 14-0 run and ended the first quarter with a 19-8 lead. NC State was never able to reclaim the lead.

“They came out ready to play,” said NC State head coach Wes Moore. “They took it to us, and we dug a hole. I thought we took some bad shots in the first quarter in particular. Forced some things, maybe we were a little nervous. We weren’t in attacking mode.”

Although the Wolfpack shrunk the Cardinals lead to three after freshman guard Jakia Brown-Turner sank a 3-pointer with 7:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, Louisville responded with an 11-2 run to reclaim a double digit lead with just over four minutes remaining.

NC State had its worst shooting performance of the season, shooting season-lows 32.3 percent from the field along with 25 percent on three point field goals.

The Wolfpack’s leading scorers, sophomore forward Elissa Cunane (17.0 PPG) and senior guard Aislinn Konig (11.1 PPG), went a combined 3 for 21 from the field. The duo went 1 for 7 from the perimeter.

Cunane was limited to just 10 points and seven rebounds, which is low by her normal standard. Konig, a sharp-shooter and one of the team’s leaders, was held to four points in 37 minutes.

On the other end, Louisville senior guard Jazmine Jones had a productive night with 19 points, including a dagger 3-pointer with just over five minutes remaining that stretched the Cardinals lead to eight.

Louisville senior forward Kylee Shook had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also added seven blocked shots which played a crucial role in preventing Cunane from ever getting into an offensive rhythm.

Despite the offensive night for the Wolfpack, junior forward Kayla Jones and freshman forward Jada Boyd had strong performances individually.

Jones had a team-high 17 points with the least minutes among NC State starters. She was on the court for 29 minutes and added seven rebounds.

Boyd had the most efficient night for the Pack. In just over 13 minutes on the court, she contributed 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field.

“In the recruiting process it came down to us and Louisville,” said Moore of Boyd. “I think she was probably a little more motivated and focused. She has unbelievable potential, she’s going to be a great player.”

Coming off the bench, she was the only NC State player with a positive figure in the +/- total after going +5 on the night.

Louisville was able to get the offensive production it badly needed to end its losing streak.

After coming off of two consecutive losses, the Cardinals shot 48.1 percent from the field including 38.9 percent from three. With season totals of 45.3 percent and 33.7 percent respectively, Lousiville had an above average shooting night against a Wolfpack team that was ranked seventh nationally in defensive field goal percentage before this game.

“We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball in front of us,” said Moore. “It’s pretty simple, they attacked the basket and got what they wanted. We ended up having to settle for a lot of tough shots.”

Heading into the game, the Pack were 19-0 when holding its opponent to a shooting percentage of 40 percent or less. NC State is now 3-2 in games in which the opponent is allowed a shooting percentage greater than 40 percent.

Now tied for first place in the ACC with conference records of 11-2, NC State would take the second seed in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro due to the head-to-head tiebreaker if the season ended today. With five games remaining in the regular season, the Wolfpack will likely have to win-out and win the ACC Tournament if it wants to make a competitive bid for a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“[The loss] doesn’t change anything,” said Moore. “We’re tied for first. Yes, it's disappointing, don’t get me wrong. We really could’ve taken a great step tonight, but we’re still tied for first and we have five games left. It’s a quick turnaround, we’ve got to be ready to play.”

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