Adversity doesn't scare the Pack as NC State moves on to Elite 8
NC State is a player-led team. It doesn’t matter if the game is a shootout or a defensive battle. The Wolfpack does not waver when losing by double digits or relax when it enjoys a dominant lead.
No matter what the scoreboard says, regardless of the adversity this team faces, it is ready to lean on its leadership and prevail together as a unit. That approach took NC State to the Sweet 16 stage Friday.
And when the Cardinal led by 10 going into halftime, the Wolfpack remained locked in. Head coach Wes Moore did not have to deliver some inspiring speech in the locker room. He just emphasized that the team had been there before. The players took care of the rest.
“Sometimes it’s hard to hear coach Moore,” junior guard Saniya Rivers said. “It’s loud in there. Sometimes, we just have to take it upon ourselves to call a play or calm each other down. I think we do a really good job at that. We definitely did a good job with it tonight.”
Junior guard Aziaha James lit the match that fueled a second-half offensive erruption for the Wolfpack. She scored 25 second-half points to finish with 29 for the night. NC State shot 55.6 percent over the final 2 quarters.
The volume-scoring star started the third quarter at the line, knocking down 2 free throws that ended up being the first points of a 22-6 run that erased the Pack’s deficit.
“We felt momentum,” James said.
Moore said the Pack spent a stretch of the second half running every play for James. She had the hot hand, knocking down 10 free throws and 3 threes Friday night. James scored at every level and even tested the limits of her range with a triple from the March Madness logo.
“I practice that all the time in practice… The time came this game.,” James said.
“I knew she was going to hit that,” Rivers said. “I knew it.”
James finished the regular season as an All-ACC first team guard but has since taken her game to a new level. Her standout performance in the Sweet 16 was her third time scoring more than 20 points in her previous 5 postseason games.
The guard has also dished out at least 5 assists in three of those matchups and continues to emerge as one of the nation’s elite players on a national stage.
“She was pretty special tonight,” Moore said.
Both teams battled foul trouble for most of the night. Graduate forward Mimi Collins and graduate center River Baldwin both finished the game with 4 personal fouls. Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen picked up 4, and forward Cameron Brink fouled out with 8:10 to go in the game.
That threw NC State’s rotation into limbo. Collins and Baldwin combined to play 43 total minutes but did avoid fouling out. They also scored 14 points and pulled down 8 rebounds in their limited time on the court.
And when they were stuck on the bench in the first half, freshman forward Maddie Cox subbed into the game to play valuable minutes for the second game in a row. She drew a Stanford offensive foul and dished out an assist. Graduate center Lizzy Williamson scored for the first time since Feb. 11 in this contest.
“I reminded her before the Tennessee game,” Moore said. “I told her, ‘You’ve got to be ready because we may have to have that length at some point. She did a good job, held it together.”
NC State knew Stanford’s All-America forwards would be a tough matchup. Brink and Iriafen combined for 39 points, 19 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 blocks. To offset that, the Wolfpack took advantage of its edge at the guard spots.
James put together a scoring performance that will be long-remembered in Wolfpack history, Rivers added 13 points and senior guard Madison Hayes grabbed 10 tough rebounds. Freshman Zoe Brooks scored 12 points and swiped 3 steals.
“I compliment NC State, how hard they played, the things that they did in the second half,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in Division-I college basketball history, said.
The Wolfpack now advances to the Elite 8 for the third time in program history. For Moore, this is his second time taking the program to that stage in the past three seasons. NC State lost in double overtime to UConn two years ago. James and Hayes played for that team.
“It’s definitely nice to get a second shot at it,” Moore said. “As a coach, this is your goal from the first practice, to try to get to the Final Four and see what you can do there. It’s nice to be in this position, but we’ve still got work to do.”
