Diamond Johnson scored six of her 22 overtime points to help No. 5 North Carolina State won with an 85-78 win over Boston College on Thursday.
Kayla Jones scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for N.C. State (22-2, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Raina Perez scored 13 points. Kai Crutchfield, Elissa Cunane finished each with 12.
Cameron Swartz led the Eagles (15-9 and 6-7), scoring 24 points, with 18 coming in the first half. Taylor Soule had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Johnson’s jumper was short enough to give N.C State an advantage of 76-74 with 2:09 remaining in overtime. BC won the ball and Crutchfield scored a traditional 3-point play with 1:23 remaining.
With 58 seconds left, Perez’s jumper made it clear that the Wolfpack was leading by one. Perez made a layup after the Eagles failed to make a pass on the other end. This put the Wolfpack ahead by 69 to 66 with 22 seconds remaining.
Swartz scored a layup in 13.1 seconds and Cunane missed just 1 of 2 free shots. Ally VanTimmeren made a layup in 1.2 seconds, sending the game into overtime.
The Wolfpack led by 14 points at the half. However, they responded quickly by getting the ball inside frequently and scoring 14 of the final 17 points. This brought their deficit down to 35-32 at the half.
Boston College has never beaten a Top 5 team during the regular season, topping then-No. 2 Connecticut on January 23, 1999.
BIG PICTURE
N.C. State: After a loss to Notre Dame on February 1, the Wolfpack can’t afford another slip-up if they want to win a No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament.
Boston College: The Eagles are likely to be on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. They need a strong run in their last five regular-season games, and possibly a win in the conference tourney.
EXTRA LOUD
A raffle to win tickets for Saturday’s men’s match against No. 7 Duke. Half of the men’s players came out to support the cause.
HOT START
The Eagles were leading 32-18 at halftime behind 16 points from Swartz. Swartz started 6 for 9 from floor and made all four 3-point attempts.
SEEING PINK
Both teams wore pink as an annual tradition in honor of Kay Yow (ex-NC State coach), who died from cancer in 2009.
UP NEXT
N.C. State: Sunday afternoon at Duke
Boston College hosts Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
