NC State faced difficult circumstances in Blacksburg, forced to play without Diamond Johnson or Saniya Rivers. Aziaha James got her first start as a result and continued her stellar play from the UNC game, but the shorthanded Wolfpack was overmatched against the Hokies.
The game started to get away from State about halfway through the second quarter—Virginia Tech scored 16 points over the last five minutes to seize control and took a double-digit edge into the break after being down five early in the second quarter.
That lead ballooned to 20 in the third as NC State found few answers for Tech star center Elizabeth Kitley.