raleigh, north carolina — RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The No. 6 North Carolina State women's team won 86-85 in overtime against Georgia Tech on Sunday. Coach Wes Moore believes the key to their victory may have been the Journey concert they attended the night before.
“Never stop believing,” Moore said.
The Wolfpack needed that approach, along with Asiaha James' 30 points and last-minute defensive stops.
NC State made its first five shots in overtime, but Kara Dunn nearly orchestrated Georgia Tech's comeback from a six-point deficit.
Dunn hit a 3-point shot to force overtime, and with 46.7 seconds left in overtime and the shot clock about to run out, he made a desperate bank hit from near midcourt to bring the score to 86-85. shrunk.
The Yellow Jackets regained possession and took their final shot, but Tony Morgan's baseline jumper went wide.
“It means we can overcome adversity,” North Carolina State's Saniyah Rivers said. “We really proved we were strong. We stayed mentally strong. They were hitting tough shots.”
River Baldwin had 16 points and Madison Hayes had 15 points for North Carolina State (23-3, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Dunn scored 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting. For Georgia Tech, Morgan had 23 points and 11 assists, including a hot performance in the fourth quarter, and Kayla Blackshear had 16 points (15-12, 6-9), as they aimed for their first consecutive wins since winning the championship. The first three games in January.
“It was a tough game to go all the way to, but I'm really proud of these guys,” Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner said. “In a way, it's a hard thing to swallow, but there's another thing that I'm really proud of the kids for. They came into this environment and performed well.”
The Yellow Jackets fell to 0-7 against ranked teams. After Morgan scored seven straight team points, the team led 73-70 with less than 2 1/2 minutes left in regulation time.
Baldwin tied it with a jumper from the lane with 45.8 seconds left. After a Georgia Tech miss, NC State looked for one final shot, but Rivers, who was 1-of-9 from the field, converted a 3-point play off an offensive rebound with 4.2 seconds left.
Dunn was drained from deep and contested a 3 with 0.4 seconds to play to force overtime.
“You start to wonder: Was this meant to be?” Moore said. “For some reason, it seemed to click a little bit in overtime.”
The Wolfpack grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
“We couldn't protect them,” Fortner said. “There just wasn’t enough.”
North Carolina State, which held No. 16 Notre Dame to 43 points in its previous game, allowed 18 points in the first seven minutes Sunday. The Yellow Jackets made seven of their first nine 3-pointers to take a 41-33 lead before NC State scored the final nine points of the second half, including James' 3 at the buzzer. Before the break, James was 8-for-10 and scored 22 points.
Mimi Collins, who missed Thursday's win at Notre Dame with a foot injury, returned to the starting lineup and finished with nine points.
big picture
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets looked poised for an upset for most of the afternoon, but after a hot start, their perimeter shooting waned. Outside of Dunn's desperation shot, they made just two of their last 12 3-pointers.
North Carolina State: The Wolfpack overcame the gauntlet of ranked opponents, but were in danger of a second loss to an unranked ACC opponent. They now have their second home OT win in league play and remain in contention in the top-heavy ACC.
next
Georgia Tech: Hosts No. 18 Louisville on Thursday night.
North Carolina: Visited North Carolina on Thursday night.
___
Get voting alerts and updates on AP Top 25 Basketball all season long. Sign up here.
___
AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
