When it comes to NC State women’s basketball’s Sunday afternoon date with the No. 2 Huskies, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said it best. 

“We got our asses beat, plain and simple,” Auriemma said. 

And he’s not wrong — after taking the first quarter to find its footing, the Pack (2-0) outworked the Huskies (1-1) in every aspect of the game. Junior guard Saniya Rivers led the Wolfpack with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds, while three other NC State players scored in the double digits en route to a 92-81 win. 

Although the red-and-white is deserving of endless praise for the way it stepped up to compete with a nationally-ranked program, there’s something to be said for the role the deafening crowd that packed Reynolds Coliseum played in the win. 

“Oh my goodness, the fans were amazing tonight,” Rivers said. “It felt good. Their energy definitely was a big reason we came out swinging — like Coach Moore said, they came out strong, but we didn’t hang our heads, and the fans were definitely a big part of that.”

Around this time last year, NC State fell to the Huskies by a much more lopsided score of 91-69 in Connecticut. The Pack was plagued by a lack of cohesiveness and identity on the court. A year later, head coach Wes Moore’s squad is flipping the script entirely.

“I told Wes that their team is 10 times better than it was last year,” Auriemma said. “They’re more together, they play together better, they know who they are. You know, he’s as good a coach as there is in the country and today, you know, everything they did was better than ours.”

UConn jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead to start the game, and, to Wolfpack fans that followed last year’s squad, it looked like the red-and-white was about to go down without a fight as it had against other highly ranked squads last season. But a key difference between the 2022-23 team and the 2023-24 team is its resilience. 

Despite falling behind early, NC State didn’t hanging its head — instead, the Pack aggressively attacked, defended hard and raised its game to match the Huskies. 

Rivers kept the Wolfpack afloat through a first quarter fraught with shaky decision making and slow movement on defense. While NC State’s other guards shied away from UConn’s intense ball pressure, Rivers handled it with ease, sinking three mid-range jumpers to keep the red-and-white in the game. 

With just over a minute to go in the first, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to turn the momentum in their favor. The visitors continued to push the tempo, resulting in turnovers that led to easy points for UConn. 

NC State came charging back in the second quarter, shifting its attitude from intimidated to indignant — the Pack played to win rather than to keep up, a visible shift in mindset that set the tone for the rest of the game. 

Freshman guard Zoe Brooks and freshman forward Maddie Cox made significant contributions in the second quarter, with Brooks scoring eight of her 12 points and Cox scoring all five of her points in the period. As the half wound down, Brooks’ impact grew as she began attacking the defense head on and scoring most of her points inside. 

“​​[The freshmen] all came in just ready, prepared for this,” Rivers said. “We told them last night was your last night as a freshman. Today when you wake up, you’re an upperclassman; you know, you have to pretend you’ve been here before. They came out, and you wouldn’t even know they’re freshmen; they did great.”

Brooks’ increased comfort with handling the ball allowed Rivers to play on the wing, where she was able to do even more damage — the junior scored nine points over the course of the quarter. On the defensive end, UConn relentlessly attacked the inside but the red-and-white didn’t let up, keeping the game within a handful of points and ultimately closing out the half down by one, 43-42.

Despite an admirable second quarter, Wolfpack fans knew to temper their expectations — NC State notoriously has a bad habit of coming out of the locker room flat and relinquishing any momentum. But against the Huskies, the Pack appeared to have turned a new leaf. NC State began the half by running its sets and scoring consistently.

The Huskies slowly fell apart. As NC State’s players fed off of the momentum, UConn played much more individual basketball — a failing strategy. To top it off, two of UConn’s starting guards, junior Azzi Fudd and senior Paige Bueckers, picked up their third fouls in the third quarter, forcing the Huskies to periodically bench their top scorers. 

NC State entered the fourth quarter up 62-57, ready to ride the momentum it’d built in the third through the rest of the game. Junior guard Aziaha James came up big in the fourth, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the final period after riding the bench with three fouls for the majority of the third quarter. 

The Huskies didn’t go down without a fight, but when the Pack entered the final minute of play up 85-74, it was clear the home team was emerging victorious. Four trips to the charity stripe later, James sealed the deal, sinking two free throws to make the final score 92-81. 

The Pack’s ability to topple an elite program bodes well for its 2023-24 campaign — but Moore made it clear that although a win over the No. 2 team in the nation is impressive, the season is still young and the red-and-white has its eye on bigger feats. 

“We’re trying to compete for an ACC championship,” Moore said. “We’re trying to get to a Final Four, and it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says. We’ve got to believe that or we’re already beat.”

Up next, the Wolfpack will look to remain undefeated when it hosts Elon on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.