NC State’s Lorena Awou suspended ‘for the moment’ by coach Wes Moore

NC State sophomore forward Lorena Awou has been indefinitely suspended by the Wolfpack program, coach Wes Moore said after the team’s 61-53 win over Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.

“We’re just going through a time right now where she’s kind of suspended for the moment,” Moore said. “We’ll see where that goes.”

There’s no timetable on Awou’s return to the program, Moore said, noting it was a “coach’s decision.”

Awou, who was not present on the bench for the first time this season, had appeared in three games through the Wolfpack’s first 10 as a team. She had averaged 3.3 points with 3.3 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per game to begin her second campaign in Raleigh. 

Awou had not appeared in each of the last four games for the Pack, including its two wins at the Cancun Challenge against Green Bay and Southern Miss over Thanksgiving. The post player last played 10 minutes with 4 points and five rebounds in the team’s 71-58 win over Coastal Carolina on Nov. 19. 

The East Moline, Ill., native scored at least 2 points in all three of her appearances, with a pair of 4-point performances. She was 5-of-11 from the field, while turning in a 0-for-3 mark from the free throw line over her trio of games played to this point in the 2025-26 season.

Awou served as a reserve post player as a freshman as she logged 3.2 points with 2.5 rebounds in 8.8 minutes in 31 total appearances during the 2024-25 season. Awou was a critical part of a pair of NC State’s ACC wins a year ago, scoring 6 points with five rebounds at Syracuse and posting 8 points and four boards against Duke in her rookie season with the Wolfpack. 

With Awou away from the team for what appears to be the foreseeable future, NC State’s front court depth will be tested behind starting center Tilda Trygger. Junior post Mallory Collier is now the only other true center on the Pack’s bench, while junior forward Khamil Pierre has played at the five in spurts this season. 

Trygger logged 9 points with seven rebounds, while Pierre posted 11 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting as she battled illness in the win over Seton Hall. Junior forward Maddie Cox, who plays alongside each post, recorded a career-best 12 rebounds with 7 points in a breakout effort against the Pirates. 

NC State has a week to prepare for its next game, the program’s ACC opener at Miami next Sunday in Coral Gables, Fla.