NC State Basketball
#10 NC State 84 Kentucky 55: Box Score
The 10th ranked NC State Women’s Basketball team annihilated Kentucky 84-55 down in the Virgin Islands in their first game in the Paradise Jam this afternoon, improving to 5-0.
Senior Guard Madison Hayes led the Pack in scoring for the first time this season, scoring 15 points on an extremely efficient 5 of 6 shooting. She was also 3 of 4 from beyond the arch.
Junior Guard Saniya Rivers has scored in double figures in 4 out of the Wolfpack’s 5 games thus far, scoring 13 points today against Kentucky. Rivers was 6 of 9 from the field, and also led the team with 3 steals.
This was the first game of the season in which Senior Center River Baldwin has scored 10+ points or more, scoring 11 points against the Wildcats.
The 4th Wolfpack player to score 10+ points was Senior Forward Mimi Collins, who chipped in 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting.
Junior Guard Aziaha James led the Pack with 8 rebounds, and tied for the team lead with 5 assists. Freshman Guard Zoe Brooks was the other player with 5 assists.
NC State’s defense was ruthless, holding Kentucky to a putrid 27.1% shooting. They also turned over the Wildcats 17 times (Unfortunately, NC State turned the ball over 17 times as well.). On the complete other side of the coin, the Wolfpack burned the nets up, shooting 54.8% from the field (season high) and 36.8% from three.
The Wolfpack will play Cincinnati in Game 2 of the Paradise Jam tomorrow at 3:15.
According to reports, NC State is adding UMASS’ Brett Nelson as an Assistant Coach.
Sources: Brett Nelson is leaving UMass to join Kevin Keatts’ staff at NC State as an assistant.
Matt Figger — who worked for Frank Martin at both South Carolina and Kansas State — will replace Nelson in Amherst.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2024
Nelson was only at UMASS for 1 season under Frank Martin. Prior to that, Nelson was the Head Coach at Holy Cross for 4 seasons, posting a 27-84 record.
Prior to taking the Head Coaching mantle at Holy Cross, Nelson was at Marquette for 5 seasons, spending the first 3 as an Assistant Coach, and the final two as an Associate Head Coach. Prior to Marquette, Nelson also served as an Assistant Coach at Ball St., Drake, Arkansas and Marshall.
Before coaching basketball, Nelson played for the University of Florida from 1999-2003. He was All-SEC twice, and earned Third Team All-American honors. When he left Gainesville, he was the Gators’ all-time leader in three pointers made, and ranked 2nd in steals.
As a Senior in High School, Nelson was a McDonald’s All-American.
Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
View this post on Instagram
Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
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