Johnson's 22 points helps No. 5 N.C. State over BC in OT
BOSTON (AP) - North Carolina State found itself in tough spot for the second straight season on a trip to Boston College and found another way to win.
Diamond Johnson scored six of her 22 points in overtime to help the fifth-ranked Wolfpack escape with an 85-78 victory over the Eagles on Thursday.
'œWe did a lot of good things to survive, but it was a tough game," N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. 'œThey punched us in the mouth to start the game. Fortunately, we've got some veterans that kept their composure.'ť
Last season, the Wolfpack trailed by 16 points early in the final quarter before coming out on top.
'œIt seems like every time we come up here, we make it exciting,'ť Moore said.
Kayla Jones added 17 points and 11 rebounds for N.C. State (22-3, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Raina Perez had 13 points, and Kai Crutchfield and Elissa Cunane each finished with 12.
Cameron Swartz paced the Eagles (15-9, 6-7) with 24 points, 18 of those coming in the opening half. Taylor Soule added 16 with 10 rebounds.
'œI hope this game gives us confidence to know we can compete with any team in the country,'ť Boston College coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said.
Johnson's short jumper gave N.C State a 76-74 edge with 2:09 left in overtime. Boston College turned the ball over, and Crutchfield had a conventional 3-point play with 1:23 left.
'œThat was a big,'ť Moore said. 'œWhen you go from two to five in overtime, that's big right there.'ť
Trailing by one in regulation, Perez's short jumper gave the Wolfpack the lead with 58 seconds to go. After the Eagles missed twice on the other end, Perez caught an inbounds pass and made a layup, pushing the Wolfpack ahead 69-66 with 22 seconds left.
But Swartz made a layup with 13.1 seconds left and, after Cunane hit just 1 of 2 free throws, Ally VanTimmeren had a layup with 1.2 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
'œWe're still a team that's building,'ť Bernabei-McNamee said. 'œOur reaction when we got the game to overtime was like we won the game, and there was still five minutes left. I think that's a team that really hasn't been there yet.'ť
In the first half, the Wolfpack trailed by 14 points but responded by getting the ball inside often and scored 14 of the final 17 points to close their deficit to 35-32 at halftime.
'œThis was a game our bigs played well,'ť Moore said.
Boston College hasn't beaten a Top 5 team in the regular season since topping then-No. 2 Connecticut on Jan. 23, 1999.
BIG PICTURE
N.C. State: Coming off a loss at Notre Dame on Feb. 1, the Wolfpack probably can't afford another slip up if they're going to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Boston College: Likely on the bubble for a spot at the NCAA tournament, the Eagles need a good run in their final five regular-season games and probably a win or two in the conference tourney.
'œWe can only take it game by game,'ť Soule said. 'œYou can only control what you can control.'ť
EXTRA LOUD
The building was filled with more students than usual for a women's game thanks to a raffle for tickets to Saturday's men's game against No. 7 Duke. About half of the players on the men's team came out to offer support, too.
'œIt was very special,'ť Swartz said of the crowd. 'œIt has an effect on the court. ... I just hope that it continues, and gives them a taste of what kind of team we are and they continue to turn out the next few games.'ť
HOT START
Behind 16 points from Swartz, who started 6 for 9 from the floor, including nailing all four 3-point attempts, the Eagles led 32-18 midway in the second quarter.
SEEING PINK
An annual tradition, both teams wore pink to honor former N.C. State coach Kay Yow, who passed away from cancer in 2009.
UP NEXT
N.C. State: At Duke on Sunday afternoon.
Boston College: Hosts Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
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More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25