#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.
If you told me that we would have the leading scorer in the ACC and not make the NCAA tourney then follow that up with one of the highest rated recruits ever in Wolfpack history and miss the tourney again – I would have said you were crazy.
I have no feeling about Archie one way or the other but I found it concerning that the last 2 coaches from Dayton (Brian Gregory & Oliver Purnell) both made moves to the ACC and both failed to win a single game in the NCAA tourney. I wonder if the leap from the A10 to the ACC will be too big for most coaches? Although in Archie’s defense he has done better than both while at Dayton.
Is it just me or is Wes Moore from the women’s team looking more and more like a candidate?