NC State HC Wes Moore cut down the nets, the Wolfpack made history

Wes Moore has spent 35 years trying to reach the Division-I Final Four as a head coach. He got his first shot at NC State two years ago and fell just short. 

Naturally, the Wolfpack’s head coach has mentally gone over all 50 minutes of the program’s double-overtime loss to Connecticut, wondering if he could have done anything differently. 

Moore did not have to second-guess anything Sunday afternoon against No. 1 seed Texas.

When he learned the three-point lines were uneven, the head coach definitively declared that he wanted the team to play as scheduled. 

While the three-point line situation was not ideal for either program, Moore did not worry about it impacting the game too much. The alternative was a minimum of an hour delay to get the lines redrawn. Moore was more concerned about keeping his players, who were ready to make program history, off of the court for that much time. 

So, both coaches agreed to start the game around 20 minutes after the original 3 p.m. start time. NC State won 76-66. The Wolfpack led for all but 6:34 of game time. 

“Just a flood of emotions and thoughts,” Moore said after the win. “I think of Kay Yow, 34 years at NC State and took this program to a Final Four in ’98. I think of the players two years ago that were a double-overtime game away from being in this exact spot. 

“So I think of them, and then I think of these players, again, overcoming all the doubts and questions and just…Final Four, y’all.”

With the way junior guard Aziaha James shot the ball against the Longhorns, the three-point lines could have been different shapes, extended out to the logo or non-existent. 

“They don’t shoot at that thing anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” Moore said. “I tell them to move it in every day.”

James hit 7-10 shots, including all 5 of her 3-point attempts, in the first half after scoring 25 second-half points in the Sweet 16. She took her game to a new level this season after she developed into an All-ACC first team player during the regular season. 

The star guard the work she put in over the summer with her emergence as one of the top players in the country. James was a freshman on the 2022 Elite 8 team. Now, she is the leading scorer on the second Final Four squad in Wolfpack history. 

“People didn’t know my name my freshman year, but you know my name now,” James said with a laugh. 

NC State scored 43 points in the first half 1 game after Texas, a program that finished the season with 5 total losses, held Gonzaga to 46 for an entire game. James scored 27 points Saturday, and graduate center River Baldwin added 16. 

Graduate forward Mimi Collins, freshman guard Zoe Brooks and junior guard Saniya Rivers both finished in double digits as well. 

James was a constant for the Pack, and the rest of the team hit important shots when needed. The Wolfpack knocked down 50 percent of its threes against the Big-12’s No. 1 scoring defense. NC State scored 13 fast break points compared to 3 for Texas. 

“We’re unstoppable when it comes to transition, as coach Moore says,” James said. “So that was our go-to every time, and it was just working good for us.”

Baldwin battled foul trouble for most of the game and only played 6 first-half minutes against an undersized Texas squad. The easy road is to check out mentally when that happens, the reliable post player said. 

She remained locked in. When she returned to action in the second half, she dominated and scored all of her points over the final 20 minutes, including the first 6 of the fourth quarter. It was her highest-scoring performance since Feb. 18. 

Five members of the Pack finished with 10 or more points. When that happens, this is a tough team to slow down. 

“You can’t guard all five of us when we all average double figures,” Baldwin said. 

The Wolfpack’s balanced offense, paired with a defense that forced 14 turnovers and allowed 1 made three-pointer, helped the program advance to the Final Four. Legendary coach Kay Yow, the namesake of the Reynolds Coliseum court and a legend both in Raleigh and nationally, was the last person to take a Wolfpack basketball team, men’s or women’s, to a Final Four. 

Wes Moore can now add his name to the list of legendary region-winning coaches. He has over 800 career wins, but this one was particularly sweet. 

“I didn’t know if I’d ever get another chance, you know?” Moore said.  “I know I’m fairly young, but it’s tough to get there, so it’s just amazing. It really is. That’s your goal. That’s every player’s goal, every coach’s goal. When they start their career, when they start every season, it’s to ultimately get to the Final Four. 

“And I don’t think we’ll be satisfied. I think we’ll still be hungry, but we’re going to really enjoy this plane ride home.”

The Pack will play South Carolina in the national semifinal Friday night in Cleveland. NC State landed at No. 8 in the ACC preseason poll before this season. The Wolfpack did not care about that. They just showed up from the first game all the way until Sunday, sandwiching 9 wins over top-25 teams in-between. 

“The sky is the limit for this program,” James said. “We’re going to keep going.”

Sunday’s win catapulted the Wolfpack into the history books. James, Baldwin and the rest of the roster will never be forgotten by NC State fans. NCAA Tournament runs like this are a part of the reason the guard committed to the program out of high school and the center transferred in from Florida State. 

They will head home tonight, arriving back at Reynolds Coliseum around 2 a.m., and there is no other program they would rather be on this journey with. 

“I think it’s just an honor to be part of a legacy that is NC State women’s basketball,” Baldwin said.  “I didn’t start here, but I feel like I’ve been here my whole career. I really found a home here. So to be a part of the first Final Four for Coach Moore, I thank him for taking a chance on me and taking me into this program. I’ve loved every second of it.”

“Definitely,” James agreed. “It means a lot to me as well. I wouldn’t pick any other coach to play with. It’s been 26 years since the Wolfpack brought it home, so it’s good to light it up for Hillsborough.”