The 24th-ranked Cal women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent for the second time this season on Thursday night when the Bears knocked off No. 21 North Carolina State 78-71 at Haas Pavilion.

“I think this was one of the biggest wins for Cal women’s basketball in some time,” Cal coach Charmin Smith.

The Bears defeated then-No. 19 Alabama back on December 5 at Haas Pavilion, and on Thurday Cal beat a team that reached the Final Four last season.

Marta Suarez scored 17 points for Cal (15-2, 3-1 ACC.), and 14 of those points came in the first half when Cal took control late in the second quarter. Ioanna Krimili, Michelle Onyiah and Kayla Williams added 15 points apeice to help the Bears end the Wolfpack’s seven-game winning streak while keeping Cal unbeaten at home (11-0).

Krimili was just 6-for-18 from the the field, including 3-for-12 on three-pointers, but she hit one of the biggest shots of the game when she nailed a three-point shot with 4:57 left, 21 seconds after the Wolfpack had scored six straight points to close Cal’s nine-point lead to three points.

“She made it when we needed it, and we have a habit of doing that,” Smth said.

North Carolina State (11-4, 3-1 ACC) never got closer than four points the rest of the way and suffered its first conference loss despite 21 points from Aziaha James and 19 from Tilda Trygger.

Cal took the lead for good with 1:01 left in the third quarter, then held off every North Carolina State surge after that.

An important reason for Cal’s consistency throughout the game was the play of point guard Kayla Williams, who played all 40 minutes, shot 7-for-13 from the field and added six assists with just two turnovers while doing all the ball-handling chores and driving the lane to create opportunities for herself or others.

“I thought Williams killed us off the bounce,” North Carolina State coach Wes Moore said.

Williams may be the key to Cal’s success this season, because her strong play has come as a surprise to casual observers. She did not start any games for USC last season when she averaged 10.8 minutes, 2.6 points and 0.6 assists per game. After transferring to Cal, Williams has started every game for the Bears this season while averaging 33 minutes, 12.2 points and 4.6 assists to go along with 44.5% three-point shooting.

Thursday was the first time two top-25 women’s teams played a game at Haas Pavilion since Dec. 22, 2018, when 14th-ranked Cal lost to No. 1 UConn.

Cal led by eight points entering the fourth quarter, and the Wolfpack got as close as three points, but the Bears maintained the lead throughout. Cal had scored the final eight points of the third quarter to break away from a 52-52 tie to grab that 60-52 advantage after three quarters.

Cal held a 39-33 lead at halftime, thanks in large part to a one-minute shooting spree by Suarez.  She hit three-pointers on three consecutive Cal possessions over a span of 56 seconds to cap a 16-0 Bears run that took Cal from a 22-14 deficit to a 30-22 lead with 5:22 left in the first half.

Suarez’s one-minute shooting spree seemed to change the complexion of the game. Cal never trailed after that.

“I was feeling it,” Suarez said.

Suarez was 4-for-4 from long range in the first half and had 14 points and 10 rebounds at intermission. The rest of the Cal team was just 3-for-12 on three-pointers, and Krimili was 1-for-7 from beyond the arc at halftime.  Her one made three-pointer came from well behind the line with the shot clock running down.

Cal shot 44.4% from the field in the first half, while the Wolfpack made just 35.3% of its shots. Cal attempted just one free throw in the first half, and missed it.

NOTES: The top two scorers from North Carolina State’s Final Four team of last season are starters on this season’s Wolfpack squad – Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers.

Heading into Thursday’s action, Cal was averaging 10.1 made three-pointers per game, sixth-most in the country, and were making 37.8% of its three-point shots, which is 12th-best in the nation.

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A man who fired an assault rifle inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant in December 2016 while claiming to investigate the “pizzagate” hoax died this week after being fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

On the night of Jan. 4, Edgar Welch was a passenger in a 2001 GMC Yukon that was stopped by officers, Kannapolis police said Thursday in a news statement.

The traffic stop was conducted after officers linked the vehicle to Welch, who was wanted at the time on an outstanding arrest warrant, police said.

When officers recognized Welch and moved to arrest him, he produced a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at one of the officers, police said, and after refusing commands to drop the gun, two officers opened fire on him.

He died of his wounds at an area hospital two days later, on Jan. 6, police said.

The three officers involved in the traffic stop and the two other occupants in Welch’s vehicle were uninjured, police said.  

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation confirmed to CBS News Thursday Welch’s identity as the “pizzagate” shooter.

Welch fired his weapon inside the Comet Ping Pong restaurant on Dec. 4, 2016, after he drove there from North Carolina to investigate a false far-right conspiracy theory claiming that Democrats were running a child sex ring out of the restaurant, a claim that had garnered numerous threats against the eatery.

After he entered the crowded restaurant with an AR-15 assault rifle and a revolver, he fired the rifle into a door, authorities said at the time. No one was hurt.

He later pled guilty to one federal count each of interstate transportation of a firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon. In June 2017 he was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji B. Jackson, then a U.S. district judge, to four years in prison.  

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is expected to give an update Thursday morning on their plans to protect people from this weekend’s winter storm.

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Several roads across Charlotte have already been treated.

NCDOT said its workers will be on 12-hour shifts to respond to any issues once the storm starts.

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Charlotte Douglas International Airport has airport workers and about 40 trucks on standby to de-ice planes and remove snow from runways.

Channel 9 is monitoring impacts at Charlotte Douglas. You can also check the status of your flight, or visit your airline’s website, on FlightAware.

ALSO READ: Duke Energy preparing for winter storm

Across the Charlotte metro, Channel 9′s Eli Brand reports people are stocking up on essentials at grocery stores.

Duke Energy suggested you get bottled water and nonperishable food, and charge devices just in case ice knocks the power out.

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(WATCH BELOW: Winter weather preparations underway in western North Carolina)