The 9th ranked NC State Women’s Basketball team kicked off their 2024-25 season with a 80-55 win over ETSU last night.

As a team, the Wolfpack shot the ball better, (47.7%/34.4%), outrebounded ETSU (49-30), got to the charity stripe more (15 FTs/2 FTs), and turned the ball over less (14/17).

NC State scored more points off of turnovers (15/13) and had more second chance points (23/12).

The Wolfpack ran out a starting lineup of 4 Guards and 1 Center.

Sophomore Guard Zoe Brooks

Senior Guard Saniya Rivers

Senior Guard Aziaha James

Senior Guard Madison Hayes

Senior Center Lizzy Williamson

Despite starting 4 Guards, NC State scored over half of their points in the paint (42 out of 80).

Zoe Brooks led the Pack in scoring and assists, with 21 points ( 8-14 FG) and 4 assists. Aziaha James, who led NC State in scoring last season, looked like she was back to 100% after dealing with an injury in the preseason, scoring 17 points (7-14 FG), and grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds.

Madison Hayes and Saniya Rivers both chipped in 11 points apiece. Hayes was 5 of 7 from the field, and had 2 steals. Rivers was 4 of 12 from the field, but did hit 2 of her 5 three-point attempts. She also had 7 rebounds and a team-high 3 steals.

The 9th ranked Wolfpack has a massive challenge in Game 2 this Sunday, playing #1 South Carolina in Charlotte.

In case you missed it, NC State unveiled two new banners in the rafters of the Lenovo Center last night at the Wolfpack’s 2024-25 season opener against USC Upstate. It’s a beautiful thing to see the banners representing last years ACC Championship and Final Four hanging ever so gloriously in the home of the Wolfpack.

In case you missed this historic moment pic.twitter.com/k77lZmjfwn

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) November 5, 2024

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by NC State Basketball (@packmensbball)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Atlantic Coast Conference (@accsports)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ACCN (@accnetwork)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by NC State Basketball (@packmensbball)

NC State’s Men’s Basketball team is heading into its 8th season with Kevin Keatts at the helm. It’s kind of hard to believe, but Keatts’ has had a different leading scorer each season, and is guaranteed to have a new leading scorer this season as well.

Eight seasons…Eight different leading scorers.

That’s pretty wild.

(Side Note: The last time NC State has had the same leading scorer in back-to-back seasons was when CJ Leslie led the Wolfpack in scoring in 2011-12 and 2012-13.)

If you look at Keatts’ previous leading scorers, and the balanced make-up of the current squad, I personally don’t envision anyone on this team averaging 15+ points per game at seasons end.

Last night, Senior Guards Breon Pass and Marcus Hill tied for the team lead with 14 points.

Senior Guard Jayden Taylor is the leading returning scorer from last years squad. Last season, Taylor averaged 11.2 points per game.

Here’s a look at what players averaged last season in college basketball:

Marcus Hill – 20.5 (Bowling Green)
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – 12.9 (Louisville)
Dontrez Styles – 12.8 (Georgetown)
Mike James – 12.6 (Louisville)
Ismael Diouf – 10.1 (Laval/Canada)
Ben Middlebrooks – 5.7
Michael O’Connell – 5.7
Dennis Parker Jr. 4.7
Breon Pass – 1.3

Who do you think will lead NC State in scoring this season?

NC State’s Men’s Basketball team kicked off the 2024-25 season with a 97-66 win over USC Upstate this evening. Here’s a statistical breakdown of the game.

The Wolfpack shot better than the Spartans, won the battle of the boards and won the turnover battle.

NC State shot 55.9% from the field, while USC Upstate shot 33.3%. The Wolfpack shot 33.3% from three, and the Spartans shot 14.3%.

NC State had 44 rebounds, and USC Upstate had 37.

The Wolfpack forced 17 turnovers, while the Spartans forced 11.

NC State did lose the battle on the offensive glass and the free throw line. USC Upstate had 18 offensive boards, compared to the Wolfpack’s 15. NC State was a little foul-happy, allowing the Spartans to shoot 27 free throws (making 21). The Wolfpack shot 21, and only made 12, making 57.1%. NC State will need to be more disciplined in the future when it comes to fouling their opponent, and will absolutely need to shoot at a better clip from the charity stripe.

With that being said, NC State won in two significant statistical categories. The Wolfpack had 14 second chance points compared to the Spartan’s 10. Also, NC State scored 27 points off of turnovers, while USC Upstate scored 4.

The Wolfpack was extremely unselfish, dishing out 20 assists on 38 field goals. For perspective, NC State didn’t have 20 assists in a single game last season.

47 of the Wolfpack’s 97 points came from the bench: Breon Pass (14), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (13), Bryce Heard (8), Trey Parker (6), Paul McNeil (4), Dennis Parker Jr. (2).

NC State’s scoring was extremely balanced, with 4 players scoring in double figures:

Senior Guard Breon Pass – 14
Senior Guard Marcus Hill – 14
Senior Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – 13
Senior Forward Ben Middlebrooks – 10

Middlebrooks led the squad with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Senior Guard Michael O’Connell led the Wolfpack with 6 assists, with only 1 turnover.

All three Wolfpack True Freshman saw playing time. Guards Bryce Heard and Trey Parker were impressive. Heard had 8 points (2-3 FG) and 4 boards in 15 minutes, while Parker had 6 points (2-5 FG/2-4 3PT) and 4 assists (0 TO’s) in 18 minutes. Paul McNeil didn’t shoot as well, making 1 of his 5 shots from the field, but it was good to see him sink a three in the final moments of the game. He also had 5 boards.

The Wolfpack’s starting lineup in Game 1 was:

Senior Guard Michael O’Connell
Senior Guard Marcus Hill
Senior Guard Jayden Taylor
Senior Guard/Forward Dontrez Styles
Senior Forward Ben Middlebrooks

From the way that Keatts spoke after the game, Middlebrooks started the game over Brandon Huntley-Hatfield because he wanted to have the players that led the team to the ACC Championship and Final Four to start the game. Huntley-Hatfield started the 2nd half, and it seems like he is expected to be the starting ‘5’ heading into Game 2. Keatts did allude to the fact that we might see a starting lineup with BHH and Middlebrooks in the future, depending on the lineup they are facing.

All in all, this was a very encouraging start to the 2024-25 season by the Wolfpack. They shot well, took care of the ball, shared the ball, and locked down their opponent on defense.