NC State athletics week in review Feb. 18 – Feb. 23

It was a week to remember for NC State athletics, with wins being tossed out like candy on Halloween. From then-No. 13 women’s basketball taking down No. 1 Notre Dame, to softball sweeping its weekend series, it was a fruitful week for the Wolfpack.

Womens basketball takes down pair of ranked opponents, including No. 1 Notre Dame

Early in the week, then-No. 13 NC State women’s basketball traveled to Atlanta to take on then-No. 20 Georgia Tech. The team’s efficient shooting allowed it to secure a double-digit win, shooting 53% from the field and 40% from 3. With an 83-68 win over Georgia Tech, the Pack looked towards its next matchup, which would prove to be its toughest yet.

On College GameDay in Reynolds Coliseum, the team took down No. 1 Notre Dame in a double-overtime thriller. Sophomore guard Zoe Brooks led the Wolfpack with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds, along with going 14-14 on the free throw line. Brooks put it all out on the court to elevate the Red-and-White to a 104-95 win over the top ranked team in the country.

Senior guard Aziaha James assisted Brooks throughout the game, putting up 20 points and the game-tying shot that forced a second overtime. The veteran is on the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List and has cemented herself as one of the best guards in college basketball.

As the Wolfpack extended its home win streak to 20 games, it’s clear that the Wolfpack faithful have a direct impact on the game.

Read about the Wolfpack’s win over Georgia Tech here and its victory over Notre Dame here.

Men’s basketball goes 1-1 against Tobacco Road foes

NC State men’s basketball started the week rough with a 97-73 loss to UNC-Chapel Hill last Wednesday. Despite the cold temperatures and snow outside, the Pack wanted to get out to a hot start, but the Tar Heels earned a big lead NC State couldn’t recover from. Heading into halftime down 54-26, the red-and-white seemingly showed no fight in one of the biggest games of the season. From giving away easy shots to failing to compete on the glass, nothing went right for NC State.

The Wolfpack’s second game of the week was a resounding win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, highlighted by a breakout performance by freshman guard Paul McNeil. The sharpshooter finished with a career-high 24 points while shooting 62% from the field. He also added a team-high four offensive rebounds and zero turnovers, cultivating a jolt for the Wolfpack’s stagnant offense. With an 85-73 win under its belt, NC State hopes to take this newfound momentum to the next level during its matches against Syracuse and Georgia Tech later this week.

Read more about the Pack’s loss to UNC here and its win over Wake Forest here.

Wrestling drops match at Virginia Tech

In the team’s final matchup of the regular season, then-No. 7 NC State wrestling took a hard loss to the then-No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies. There have often been heated battles with the Hokies over the past few years and once again, the two ACC foes were fighting for the top of the conference.

The Wolfpack hasn’t won in Blacksburg, Virginia since 2019 and failed to break the streak last Friday. With Virginia Tech’s win, both the Wolfpack and the Hokies will finish ACC competition 5-1 and each earn a share of the ACC regular season title along with UNC.

Read about wrestling’s loss to Virginia Tech here.

Swimming scores high at ACC Championships

In the swimming and diving ACC Championships, the NC State men placed third while the women took fifth. The men’s team finished 250.5 points behind the winner, California. On the women’s side, the Pack finished 664 points behind first-place Virginia. Over the course of the five-day championship, the Pack secured four gold, six silver and five bronze medals.

Graduate Owen Lloyd was the star for the Wolfpack, winning gold while setting the third-fastest miler in NCAA history. This marks the fourth consecutive year that an NC State swimmer has won the 1650m freestyle ACC gold medal.

The Pack secured two gold medals in relay events — the men’s 200 free relay and the men’s 400 medley relay. The 200 free relay featured junior Drew Salls, redshirt sophomore Quintin McCarty, graduate Luke Miller and sophomore Jerry Fox, finishing in 1:14.29. The 400 medley relay featured McCarty, senior Sam Hoover, Fox and Miller, finishing in 3:01.62.

Read more about swimming and diving’s ACC Championship competition here.

Softball beats Elon and sweeps the Marucci Classic

In its first non-tournament game of the season, NC State softball traveled to Elon and took down the Phoenix in a 4-0 victory last Tuesday. Coming off a three-game losing streak in Boca Raton, Florida, the win was a much-needed confidence boost for the Wolfpack. The team then followed this win up with a 4-0 weekend at home in Raleigh.

In its home opener, NC State softball steamrolled the Northern Colorado Bears 11-1 in a five-inning run-rule at Dail Softball Stadium. The Wolfpack crossed home plate in all five innings.

The second day of the series saw the Pack secure two wins. The first was a 6-5 win against Central Michigan and the second was an 11-1 victory over Northern Colorado. Junior designated hitter Hannah Church had herself a day going 3-5 from the plate with two home runs. Finally, the team dominantly defeated Illinois 4-0 on Sunday afternoon as junior right-handed pitcher Rylee Wyman pitched a shutout, only giving up one hit.

Read about softball’s win over Elon here. Read about its win over Northern Colorado here. Read about Day 2 of the Marucci classic here and Day 3 here.

No. 18 gymnastics defeats No. 24 UNC-Chapel Hill

After tying the first two events and No. 24 UNC-Chapel Hill’s best exercise yet to come, No. 18 NC State gymnastics looked to be on the brink of an upset. That is until graduate student Chloe Negrete won the last two events, propelling the Wolfpack to a 197.025-195.500 win over the Tar Heels at Reynolds Coliseum.

Negrete was coming off her third ACC Specialist of the Week honor and followed it up with a clutch performance against UNC. Negrete entered the meet tied with sophomore Ashley Knight for the most podium finishes on the team and now has sole possession of the spot after her two wins.

The Wolfpack swept the season series over the Tar Heels and now has won three straight meets before it heads to Ames, Iowa for a tri-meet with Denver and Iowa State who are both ranked lower than NC State.

Read about gymnastics’ victory here.

Wolfpack women set program record in Track and Field’s last meet before postseason

In its last meet before the postseason, NC State track and field competed at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge and the VT Challenge.

At the DMR Challenge, NC State’s team of juniors Hannah Gapes and Grace Hartman, sophomore Jordyn Parker and senior Brooke Rauber broke the program record in the 4000m distance medley relay with a time of 10:48.51 to finish fifth.

At VT, in the women’s high jump, sophomore McKenna Moritz took first place, clearing 1.65 meters for her first podium finish in the high jump. Sophomore Jenna Barnes was on the podium next to Moritz as she finished third, clearing 1.55 meters.

In the women’s weight throw, senior Sydney Freeman placed second with a throw of 18.58 meters. Sophomore Natalie Griffith had a personal-best throw of 15.77 meters to come in fifth. In the men’s weight throw, sophomore Tony Taylor II earned second, throwing 17.07 meters. Taylor also competed in the shot put, setting a personal best 14.88-meter throw for fourth place.

At the USATF Indoor Championships, former NC State athlete Cameron Murray set a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.41 seconds to finish second and secure a spot on Team USA at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

Read about Track and Field’s weekend here.

No. 12 baseball goes 0-3 at JAX Classic

Then-No. 12 NC State baseball had a tough weekend at the Jax College Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida, losing all three matchups. Suffering an 8-3 loss to Ohio State, a 4-0 loss to Alabama and a 10-3 loss to Coastal Carolina, the Pack had multiple opportunities to shine but could not follow through.

Despite the hard losses, there were some shining moments, including when sophomore right-handed pitcher Heath Andrews had a career-high six strikeouts in five innings of work, only allowing just two runs on four hits and four walks in the Alabama matchup.

Read about the Ohio State game here, Alabama game here, and Coastal Carolina matchup here.