No. 9 NC State women's basketball surges past No. 10 Maryland in final preseason exhibition

By Noah Fleischman

GREENSBORO, N.C. — NC State women’s basketball coach Wes Moore isn’t one to shy away from testing his team against some of the top squads in the nation early in the year. He scheduled the likes of No. 1 South Carolina, No. 7 LSU and eventual Sweet 16 team TCU in the first seven games last season, which led to a 4-3 start before the Wolfpack won 20 of its final 22 regular-season games en route to the ACC title game and a Sweet 16 appearance.

This season it’s no different, as Moore’s ninth-ranked team is set to clash with No. 8 Tennessee in the season opener next Tuesday before battling No. 18 USC five days later. Oh, and No. 17 TCU is set to visit Reynolds Coliseum a week later. 

While Moore has joked about why someone would schedule such a gauntlet, he has clear reasoning behind it. 

“I think it prepares you. The ACC is unbelievable. It’s so strong. 18 great programs, schools, universities in the league,” Moore said at ACC Tipoff earlier this month. “You’d better find out early what your weaknesses are and what you need to fix. Those things are going to get exposed when you’re opening up with the schedule we have.”

So, before the Pack even began the 2025-26 season, it squared off with No. 10 Maryland in an exhibition to close the preseason Sunday afternoon. The two top-10 teams traded blows throughout the tilt, but it was the Wolfpack that had the last laugh in an 83-75 win over the Terrapins at First Horizon Coliseum.

NC State used a 13-1 run in the final 4:22 to race past Maryland, erasing the Terrapins’ 4-point lead that it held with 4:41 to play.  

Junior guard Zoe Brooks led the Wolfpack with 20 points, while junior forward Khamil Pierre added 16 points and 6 rebounds. Sophomore center Tilda Trygger, meanwhile, posted 15 points and 6 boards to anchor the frontcourt.

Here are TheWolfpacker.com’s observations from NC State’s win over Maryland. 

Zoe Brooks finds her groove

After starring as the Wolfpack’s go-to point guard in her sophomore campaign a year ago, Brooks didn’t have the start to the preseason she was looking for in NC State’s 77-69 win over High Point last Saturday. She posted 5 points on 1-for-9 shooting with 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 26 minutes on the floor, in what Moore described as an off night.

And, well, Brooks proved that to be true in the program’s final preseason tune-up ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. 

The Plainfield, N.J., native was all over the floor, using her crafty ballhandling to cut through Maryland’s defense with ease to finish at the rim. While her scoring returned on 8-of-18 shooting against the Terrapins, especially finishing through contact with a pair of and-1 opportunities, Brooks’ fearlessness on the defensive end did too as she battled for nearly every loose ball to corral 7 rebounds during the exhibition. 

In addition to her scoring and rebounding, Brooks was also efficient running NC State’s offense at the point. She’s comfortable running the show, and tallied 3 assists against just one turnover. 

3-and-D? 

Entering this season, four of NC State’s five starting spots were pretty clear. It was obvious that Brooks and sophomore guard Zam Jones would run the backcourt, while Pierre and sophomore center Tilda Trygger would anchor the frontcourt. But who would be the clear 3-and-D wing to complete the starting five?

So far, it seems like Moore has two options that won’t make his starting lineup decisions easy moving forward. UConn transfer Qadance Samuels, who earned the start against Maryland, was advertised as the favorite to win the job with her 6-foot frame and elite defensive prowess, but sophomore guard Devyn Quigley has pushed her in that spot through the first two preseason games. 

Quigley, who scored 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting in the preseason opener, found her shooting stroke from the perimeter against Maryland. The second-year reserve knocked down three triples to lead NC State in that department while scoring 11 total points, and she also was able to assert herself on the defensive end. 

Samuels, meanwhile, scored 6 points with 11 rebounds against Maryland.

It’s not common to have a pair of high-level wings, but it’s a luxury that the Wolfpack will be happy with going into the regular season. Samuels brings more length, but Quigley isn’t afraid to battle with anyone on the floor. That is a lethal combination for Moore to deploy — and he did play them together at times with Quigley at the shooting guard spot, too. 

All in all, these are a pair of wings that provide immense versatility to the rest of the proven lineup in Raleigh.

Turnovers appear again

If there’s something that Moore can nitpick with his team, it’s turnovers. The Wolfpack, which committed 13 against High Point last week, handed the ball to the Terrapins 14 times in its second preseason exhibition of the year. 

Where did it go wrong? NC State logged 6 turnovers in the second quarter, which allowed Maryland to score 11 of its 29 points in the frame off the miscues. It wasn’t just one player that had trouble with the ball as the Pack had four different players log one turnover in the quarter, while the other two were credited to the team. 

In all, Maryland scored 17 points off NC State’s giveaways. It’s likely that Moore will have ball security at the top of his priorities list going into the Wolfpack’s opener next Tuesday against the Volunteers inside the same frigid building.