#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.
The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.
At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.
With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.
Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.
Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.
Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.
This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.
The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.
Wolfer96 Is it true that the conference will make more money the more teams that we have in the NCAA tourney? I hate to say it, but the game appeared to be fix in favor of the Pack. Just an opinion, no whining.
Wolfer96 PackInsider Staff I also think that having half of the old big east in our conference now makes a difference. It’s not just Puke and the Holes anymore.
shaverlb73 Wolfer96 We need to get Stone and Newman. Gott needs to offer Stone a scholarship and see if both will come here together. Newman has made it public that he wants to play with Stone in college. Give it a try Gott.
PackInsider Staff Wolfer96 Proof positive is when King Karl gets suspended and other refs at an NC State game have KH written on their shoes. I don’t need to see more than that to know there was bias. These ACC refs made it personal and could not be relied upon to be impartial. I still cringe every time I think about the ACC tourney a few years ago when the same block/charge call went for unc and against State costing us the game. That’s 2 possessions in a tight game so YES bad calls can determine the outcome of a close… Read more »
Wolfer96 Yes huge difference. We will have an article on reffing at some point here when it’s relevant. Not sure if it was Karl Hess’ firing (making refs realize they’re not invincible) or just an overall sweeping change). I’m not sure, but it’s different. I think there is a lot less bias and a lot less put on tendencies. This means Duke and UNC are getting reffed like every other team in the league. If you have paid attention in the past the difference bw UNC and Duke and the rest of the ACC were their huge, game changing runs.… Read more »
Wolfer96 Once Kyle gets it all together, he will be a nightmare for other teams to guard, which will make us even better.
Wolfer96 I noticed that too. I’m so used to seeing someone drive in, not score, and the whistle blow, that it took me awhile to adjust to us making defensive stops. If Duke’s Okafur is going to be allowed to aggressively back his defender under the goal every time (like he did to Meeks) for an easy shot, then the defense should be allowed some freedom of their own to protect the rim. I’m all for it.
Does anyone else notice the difference is refereeing this season? Particularly the 2nd half of the season. The ACC is much more physical than years past. Like last night for instance, unc got away with tons of holding, hand checking, and bumping. But it was on both sides. Anya on several occasions brought his arms down on a block instead of having his arms straight up and did not get called for a foul. In seasons past, those would have been whistled every time. We also body checked several unc players as they drove to the basket and no whistle.… Read more »