BOSTON (AP) — Diamond Johnson scored six of her 22 points in overtime to help No. 5 North Carolina State escape with an 85-78 victory over Boston College on Thursday.
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.
Johnson’s short jumper gave N.C State a 76-74 edge with 2:09 left in overtime. BC turned the ball over, and Crutchfield had a conventional 3-point play with 1:23 left.
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.
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.
Boston College hasn’t beaten a Top 5 team in the regular season 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.
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.
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
