Through the first few weeks of the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season, no other team in the country has enjoyed as impressive a start as the NC State Wolfpack.
In seven games, the No. 5 Wolfpack women have knocked off not just one, but two top-five teams, something that no other team has done this season and something the program has not done since the 2021-22 season.
How well did NC State do in 2021-22? The Pack only managed to go 17-1 in ACC play, win its third-straight ACC Tournament, make it to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1998 and nearly made it to the Final Four for just the second time in school history, a feat that very well would have happened if that game had been played at an actual neutral site.
If this year is anything like two seasons ago, the Wolfpack should be pretty darn good. Not just that, but the Pack is already looking like it has what it takes to bring home its first-ever national championship.
Similar to the teams that were a part of head coach Wes Moore’s three-year run atop the ACC, this year’s team is incredibly well-balanced, and opposing teams must pick their poison when it comes to playing NC State as any player can seemingly score at any point in the game.
For her breakout, 33-point performance against then-No. 2 UConn, it looks like the team’s star and go-to scorer in late-game situations is junior guard Saniya Rivers, whose offensive game is much-improved from a season ago. Not only that, but she is also a defensive menace, consistently guarding the opposing team’s best backcourt player and giving her fits throughout the game.
When Rivers is not scoring, other players step up and take a star role. In the team’s most recent win — an impressive 78-60 beatdown of then-No. 3 Colorado — Rivers had just seven points, and graduate center River Baldwin filled in her shoes with arguably her best game at NC State, scoring a career-high 24 points.
Both Baldwin and her frontcourt teammate, graduate forward Mimi Collins, have combined to become a fearsome presence down low this season, helping their team win the rebound margin in nearly every game this year. Rivers, Baldwin and Collins — three transfers all in their second year in Raleigh — have found their footing in Moore’s system and are playing the best basketball of their college careers.
Let’s not forget to mention the team’s leading scorer, junior guard Aziaha James, who leads the team with 16.6 points per game. James has continued upon her improvement shown in her sophomore year, and although she has yet to have a true signature game against a top-notch opponent this season, Wolfpack fans know good and well what she is capable of thanks to her late-game heroics in a thrilling overtime win over North Carolina last season.
Rounding out the starting five is senior guard Madison Hayes, who has also shown flashes this season and most recently scored in the double digits in each of the Pack’s three wins in the Paradise Jam. Like Rivers, she is a formidable defensive presence and will also guard the opponent’s best player, and her secret weapon is her three-point shot, knocking down 11-18 thus far this season.
At this point in the season, it appears as though the team’s biggest issue is its depth, and it remains to be seen who will be able to come off the bench and provide key minutes. The most likely player to answer that question is freshman guard Zoe Brooks, who is averaging 9.4 points per game and notably came off the bench to score 12 points in 26 minutes against UConn.
Other than the starting five and Brooks, however, no player is scoring more than six points per game and averaging more than 16 minutes a contest. In the team’s most recent win against Colorado, Brooks was the only player to come off the bench and play more than 10 minutes.
Granted, the starters were taking care of business just fine, but as the Pack moves forward and inches closer to ACC play, it needs to find a more sustainable rotation where the starters aren’t asked to play over 30 minutes every night.
With that said, there are ways in which this year’s team is an upgrade from those of years past. From the sample size of games played already, it is clear NC State has no issue starting slow or waiting until late in the game to turn on the intensity, which was an issue in 2021-22 and before. In each of the games in the Paradise Jam, the Pack started out fast and never turned back, and even after a somewhat slow start against UConn, the team quickly recuperated to find its groove.
Additionally, the Pack has already been tested many times in its young season, and each time the team has answered the bell. NC State knows it can hang with the best of the best. Now it’s a matter of bringing the same level of energy every single night and respecting the opponent rather than playing to the level of its competition.
Every team in the ACC and around the country saw what NC State did to UConn. Everybody saw what NC State did to Colorado. Everybody knows NC State is legit and that Moore has his team rocking and rolling once again, which means the Pack is going to get each team’s best shot every time it steps on the floor.
As tough as it’s been thus far, the road to a championship only gets tougher from here on out. The Pack will have its growing pains and challenges. But from what it has already shown, this team has both the talent and the grit to get to the promised land and bring that elusive championship trophy home to Raleigh.
