NC State’s win over Rhode Island provides final tune-up before challenging 3-game stretch

After NC State’s shootaround ahead of Sunday’s contest against Rhode Island, Wolfpack coach Wes Moore had a conversation with the red and white’s star player, junior guard Saniya Rivers. 

He watched Rivers take over against then-No. 2 UConn with 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the team’s second game of the season. But Rivers followed that historic performance with a 6-point output against Elon in the team’s ensuing game. 

The 11th-year coach had a challenge for Rivers: play with the same intensity that she had against the Huskies for every opponent on the Wolfpack’s schedule. 

Moore said he noticed Rivers “wasn’t as active, didn’t make an impact on the game as much” against the Phoenix. That had to change for NC State to find success every night. 

No matter who the opponent is, a top-5 team or a mid-major squad, Rivers and the rest of the Pack need to have consistent play, according to Moore. 

“I definitely want them to have that same type of urgency, aggression and everything else night in, night out,” Moore said. “Like my analogy I’ve used a million times, I want them to be like McDonald’s fries — no matter where you go, you know what you’re getting.”

That message appeared to be heard loud and clear in Rivers’ mind against Rhode Island as she scored 19 points to pace the Wolfpack, which included a 15-point second half to propel NC State to its fourth straight win. 

Following the game, Rivers mentioned not worrying about the name of the other team. An almost identical phrase to what Moore talked to her about. 

The Pack almost had a letdown performance against the Rams, but it pulled it out with a 14-2 fourth-quarter run, and Rivers said she did not know whether or not the team was looking past Rhode Island or not. 

“I don’t want to say that’s what we did, but in the back of your mind you have to think, we’re human,” Rivers said. “We just beat UConn, we got our head on our shoulders, we’ve got some confidence going in. … We were a little nervous, but we knew as long as we stuck to the game plan we could pull it out.”

But Rivers was quick to mention the parity in women’s college basketball this season. Not only did NC State pull off an upset of its own over UConn, other top-25 teams fell to unranked foes in the first two weeks of the season.

“March Madness, honestly, came early this year,” Rivers said. “You see everyone getting upset. UConn got upset, LSU, Iowa — it’s just crazy. The name does not matter at all. Rankings don’t matter.”

While the Wolfpack was able to avoid being added to the list with its win over the Rams, the path gets tougher the rest of the week for NC State as it heads to the U.S. Virgin Islands for Paradise Jam. While the Pack is in the tropics for Thanksgiving, it will face three solid squads in a trio of days: Kentucky, Cincinnati and No. 5 Colorado. 

NC State has three quality teams in a row, and the trip is capped by playing the Buffaloes, which beat defending national champion LSU to open the season. 

NC State knows it is a tall task, but the Rhode Island contest provided a sneak peak to what the Wolfpack will see later this week, Moore thought.

“It’s very similar type teams,” Moore said. “They’re going to be aggressive, they’re going to pressure you, they’re going to be crashing the offensive boards, they’re going to be attacking the rim. Yeah, I think it is a good opportunity to maybe build on what we learned today.”

One thing the Pack learned off the bat was it can not look past an opponent. While it might not have against the Rams, Rivers was adamant that the team has to play with a consistent level of execution in every contest it plays. 

“We just can’t put a name on teams,” Rivers said. “Games like UConn don’t matter if we can’t finish every game like it’s a UConn. We gotta take it and move on. We’ve got a big week coming up, three games back-to-back. Mind over matter. Physically we’re going to be tired, but we’ve got to push it out.”