NC State gets revenge over UNC in women’s basketball as Brown-Turner led a blow-out win
Jakia Brown-Turner only scored nine points the last time No. 4 N.C. State played UNC.
The Tar Heels won that game earlier this month, 76-69. Brown-Turner would be having none of it in their second meeting Sunday. The sophomore wing finished with 25 points, a career-high, and was one of three Wolfpack players in double figures in the 82-63 win over UNC.
With the win, N.C. State improves to 15-2 overall and 10-2 in league play. Most importantly, they avenged their most recent loss, thanks to Brown-Turner’s consistency throughout the entire game and an 11-point third quarter from senior Kayla Jones. The Jamesville, N.C. native started the game 1 for 7 in the first half but went 8 for 10 in the second.
“I just knew I had to be aggressive,” Jones said. “Just play ball and just have fun, really. It was a big time win. I just wanted to play with a lot of emotion because I feel like that gets my team going.”
Jones finished with 20 points and Elissa Cunane added 17 for the Wolfpack, who led the rest of the way after trailing by 2 early in the first quarter.
“I’m proud of our effort,” N.C. State head coach Wes Moore said. “Just overall our team defense was much better, more energy, just flying around.”
The Pack wore pink to honor their former coach, Kay Yow, but were red hot, going up by double digits in the opening quarter and never looking back.
UNC was led by freshman guard Deja Kelly with 14 points, 13 from Petra Holesinska, 12 from Janelle Bailey and 10 from Alyssa Ustby — still not nearly enough to keep up with Brown-Turner and the Wolfpack, who sit at No. 2 in the ACC standings behind Louisville.
It was the 16th double-figure scoring game this season for Brown-Turner, which leads the team. She was locked in from the start, scoring as many points (8) as the entire UNC (11-9, 6-10) team in the first quarter as the Pack jumped out to a 19-8 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Brown-Turner admitted she took the previous UNC game personally and wanted to make up for it this time around.
“I didn’t play as well as I wanted to the first time we played UNC,” Brown-Turner admitted. “I took a lot of bad shots and today I didn’t want to worry about scoring, just playing the game and doing whatever coach Moore wanted me to do for the team.”
N.C. State ended UNC’s three-game win streak, casting doubt about the Tar Heels’ place on the NCAA tournament bubble. A second win over the Wolfpack would have looked great to the selection committee.
“We’re kind of in a position where we’re tournament hunting,” UNC head coach Courtney Banghart said. “You know, our net was 36 going into today. So I think we’re in, now we’ve got two more opportunities to win. And the more you win, the better your chances are.”
The Tar Heels couldn’t get a basket for a seven-minute stretch to bridge the first and second quarters. UNC shot below 30% in the first half and 20% from 3-point for the game.
“We just didn’t come ready to play,” Banghart said. “If you look at our first half in terms of how many times they won the paint, versus how many times we won the paint it equated to shots that are out of rhythm for us, which we don’t make. And so that was a tale of two halves for us. We just got down into a hole, too. It’s too good of a team.”
UNC made 11 three-point shots during the game in Chapel Hill, but only hit five in the rematch.
“When we went over there they shot the lights out,” Moore said. “I think here we shot it better, Jakia Brown-Turner may have been the biggest difference, but we also finished a lot better.”
Brown-Turner is coming off a 21-point performance against Wake Forest and after her career-day, Moore made a pitch for his sophomore to be the ACC Player of the Week. Brown-Turner, who came into Sunday’s game averaging 15.8 points in league play, was in a zone from the start.
“It’s a great feeling,” Brown-Turner said. “It just felt good seeing the ball go in the basket and my teammates trusting me.”
N.C. State will finish out its homestand Thursday versus Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. and close the regular season at Syracuse on Saturday. Projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Moore knows his team has not hit its potential but hopes the Wolfpack continues to climb toward its peak.
“I hope so,” Moore said. “If you want to make a run in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, if you want to stick around you have to be hitting on all cylinders.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2021 at 11:43 AM with the headline "NC State gets revenge over UNC in women’s basketball as Brown-Turner led a blow-out win."
