North Carolina State moved back into the conversation for NCAA tournament consideration with a pair of wins against Miami and Duke.
Reeling with losses in five of the past seven games, the Wolfpack defeated Miami 68-65 on Feb. 19 as guards Len'Nique Brown-Hoskin and Miah Spencer combined for 39 points, seven rebounds and five assists as North Carolina State rallied for the much-needed win. The Wolfpack trailed by 18 points at halftime and by as many as 20 early in the second half before rallying for the victory.
Led by four players in double figures, North Carolina State scored a statement win against No. 10 Duke in the 10th annual Hoops 4 Hope game on Sunday afternoon at home, defeating the Blue Devils, 72-59. Spencer led the way with a game-high 23 points and was joined in double figures by Dominique Wilson (18 points), Jennifer Mathurin (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Brown-Hoskin (12 points, six assists).
Spencer shot 7-of-15 from the field, including connecting on all three shots from behind the arc. As a team, North Carolina State shot an impressive 12-of-25 (.480) from behind the three-point line and 22-of-26 (.846) from the free throw line. Sunday's win marked the 41st time in program history that the Wolfpack have defeated an opponent ranked in the nation's top ten.
North Carolina State, which improved to 16-11 overall and 7-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), faces an important final week of the regular season with games against the top two teams in the ACC, hosting Florida State (25-3, 12-2) on Feb. 26, before traveling to Notre Dame (26-2, 13-1) on March 2.
