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NC State women’s basketball opens season ranked No. 9 in AP Top 25

image_6483441 (3)by: Noah Fleischman10/14/25fleischman_noah
Zoe Brooks
Mar 28, 2025; Spokane, WA, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Zoe Brooks (35) shoots against LSU Lady Tigers forward Sa'Myah Smith (5) during the first half of a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament basketball game at Spokane Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images

NC State coach Wes Moore is no stranger to having his team play at a high level by the end of the season. In his last eight seasons that featured an NCAA Tournament leading the Wolfpack, the program has made the Sweet 16 six times, the Elite Eight twice and the 2024 Final Four.

As the Wolfpack prepares to embark on another quest for a deep postseason run, NC State will begin the season ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25, which was released Tuesday afternoon — the 27th time the program has been ranked in the preseason poll. 

The Pack is one of five ACC teams ranked heading into the campaign, joined by No. 7 Duke, No. 11 UNC, No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 20 Louisville. 

While NC State will see quality competition in league play when it rolls around, the Wolfpack will also face off with several critical tests in its non-conference schedule. 

The Pack is set to square off with No. 8 Tennessee to open the season in Greensboro on Nov. 4 before it plays No. 18 USC in Charlotte five days later. The program will also host No. 17 TCU on Nov. 16 and it will visit No. 6 Oklahoma on Dec. 3 in the ACC-SEC Challenge. 

For Moore, who is unafraid to schedule a gauntlet of a non-league slate, the first two months of the schedule will provide several litmus tests along the way.

“The teams that are going to have successful Marches, they get better all throughout the season,” Moore said. “You can’t just say, okay, we’ve finished the preseason and now play games. You’ve got to keep getting better because everybody else is. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

NC State will get to see what its new-look roster is made of early on. The Wolfpack lost its standout senior trio of Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers and Madison Hayes to graduation, leaving several holes in the team’s scoring and rebounding department moving forward. 

Instead, the Pack will lean on the likes of junior guard Zoe Brooks, junior forward Khamil Pierre and sophomores Zamareya Jones and Tilda Trygger going into the 2025-26 season. 

Brooks averaged a career-best 14.2 points and 4.7 rebounds, while Jones posted 7.1 points and 1.4 assists and Trygger logged 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds with the Wolfpack last season. Pierre, a Vanderbilt transfer, averaged 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds as a key part of the Commodores’  NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago. 

That quartet will be pivotal in helping NC State back to another deep postseason run, while UConn transfer Qadence Samuels, junior forward Maddie Cox and sophomore wing Devyn Quigley are also expected to play key roles. 

As the Pack inches closer to the regular season, Moore knows his team needs to gel as soon as possible to take advantage of its tough non-conference schedule going forward.

“I think we’ve got some talent,” Moore said. “But they’ve got to mesh and come together. We’ve got a brutal schedule to open the season, so we’re going to have to come together in a hurry.”

NC State will host an exhibition against High Point on Saturday night at Reynolds Coliseum, while it will also play No. 10 Maryland in its final preseason tuneup on Oct. 26 in Greensboro.

Complete AP Top 25

RankingTeamTotal Points
1UConn771 (27)
2South Carolina740 (4)
3UCLA705
4Texas672
5LSU647
6Oklahoma593
7Duke578
8Tennessee559
9NC State510
10Maryland461
11UNC440
12Ole Miss382
13Michigan375
14Iowa State363
15Notre Dame289
16Baylor280
17TCU263
18USC235
19Vanderbilt229
20Louisville228
21Iowa130
22Oklahoma State128
23Michigan State103
24Kentucky93
25Richmond93