With spring and winter sports at full-go, it was a busy week on campus for students and athletes alike. From regular season championships to painstaking losses and everything in between, let’s go through the highlights from this week of NC State sports.
The highs and lows of NC State men’s basketball
If putting fans through a rollercoaster of emotions was the qualification for getting into March Madness, NC State men’s basketball would be the No. 1 seed going into the tournament.
After a thrilling last win at Clemson and an equally thrilling, last-second loss against Syracuse at PNC Arena, the Wolfpack’s chance to make the NCAA tournament is quickly evaporating.
The red-and-white edged out the Tigers with a buzzer-beating bucket by graduate guard DJ Horne, who has scored over 24 points in each of his last five games. The red-hot Horne got the chance to do the same in the final seconds against the Orange, but the Wolfpack ultimately fell 87-83.
Read more about the Pack’s win at Clemson.
Read more about NC State’s close loss to Syracuse.
NC State women’s basketball downs Notre Dame and Georgia Tech
Unlike men’s basketball, NC State women’s basketball is the epitome of consistency. With two-straight wins over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack is barrelling toward a top spot in the ACC and NCAA tournaments in March.
The red-and-white beat the Fighting Irish 59-43, holding the ACC’s top-scoring offense to its lowest total of the season at Reynolds Coliseum. A few days later, NC State outlasted the Yellow Jackets in a high-scoring overtime bout at the Old Barn, ultimately winning 86-85.
Read about NC State’s win over the Fighting Irish.
Read more about the Pack’s overtime thriller against Georgia Tech.
NC State baseball opens season with series win over VCU
Pack9 took to Doak Field for the first time, starting off its 2024 campaign with a series win over VCU.
Solid pitching and a fourth-inning surge paved the way for NC State’s 6-1 win over the Rams in the Pack’s season opener, but a defensive collapse in the second leg of the series led to a 9-6 loss.
However, head coach Elliott Avent earned his 1,000th victory in the red-and-white after NC State’s 5-3 victory in the series finale.
Read about NC State’s season-opening victory.
Read more about Avent’s 1,000th win and Pack9’s series-deciding victory.
Gymnastics raises regular season ACC championship trophy
Graduate student Emily Shepard dominated in NC State gymnastics’ win over Clemson, a win that earned the Wolfpack the first-ever ACC regular season championship title.
Shepard put up a program-high score of 39.750, paving the way for NC State’s second-highest score in program history. That total of 197.575 was good enough to upset No. 22 Clemson in Reynolds Coliseum. The Pack’s night of highlights skyrocketed it into the top-25 best teams in the country as Shepard continues to shine.
Read about the Pack’s championship-winning night over the Tigers.
NC State softball continues hot streak, dominates doubleheader weekend
NC State softball played and dominated in its three doubleheaders over the weekend. Thanks to head coach Lindsay Leftwich, it seems the Wolfpack’s turned over a new leaf since its turbulent 2023 season.
On the first day of hosting the Marucci Classic, NC State downed North Dakota State and Campbell. The Pack beat Elon 5-2 and UConn 3-1 on day two and wrapped up its weekend with two more wins over Elon and Campbell on Sunday.
Read about NC State’s first day of the Marucci Classic.
Read more about the Pack’s day three wins over Elon and Campbell.
NC State wrestling extends win streak to six with wins over Cornell and Duke
With the Wolfpack gearing up for another ACC title run, NC State wrestling took care of business against Cornell and Duke.
The Wolfpack defeated then-No. 9 Cornell in its final nonconference match of the season as NC State throttled the Big Red 24-9 at Reynolds Coliseum. In its next match, the Pack took the drive to Durham to wrestle the Blue Devils, defeating them 36-9 in an equally dominant win.
The red-and-white only has one more match — a highly anticipated bout with Virginia Tech — before the ACC Championships in Chapel Hill.
