NC State women’s basketball proved once again there is no weak link on this team. For the second time this season, the No. 3 Pack had six players score in the double digits and put up 87 points, its highest total in over a month.
With the win, NC State (12-0) rounded out non-conference play with a perfect record for just the fifth time in Wolfpack history. The Pack’s efficient scoring made the difference — shooting an impressive 53.7% from the field was too much for the Old Dominion (8-2) defense to handle.
Throughout the first 12 minutes of the contest, Old Dominion was able to keep the game close, and at one point early in the second, the Monarchs claimed a lead. However, this lead was reliant on the three-ball with 15 of the Monarch’s first 19 points coming from beyond the arc.
Once the three-ball dried up for ODU, NC State began to pull away. After the Monarchs made their fifth 3-pointer with 8:29 left in the second quarter, the Pack went on an 18-2 run to close out the half. What once was a one-point deficit quickly became a 15-point lead.
One of the main reasons the Wolfpack’s defense gave up just two points in the final eight minutes of the second quarter was graduate center River Baldwin. She finished with four blocks, half of the team’s total.
The second half was really where the Pack showed why it’s ranked in the nation’s top three. Out-scoring Old Dominion 51-29 in the back half, NC State was piling it on as everyone was making shots.
Senior guard Madison Hayes led the red-and-white in scoring with 17 points, 12 coming from beyond the arc. Her four 3-pointers made and 17 total points earned her a season-high in both areas.
The rest of the game saw the Wolfpack pull further and further away from its opponents. It took Old Dominion three and a half minutes into the third quarter to register its first points of the second half. The Pack worked like a well-oiled machine with everyone doing their part both offensively and defensively.
By the end of the third quarter, five different NC State players had recorded double-digit points. A huge part of this balanced attack was the way freshman guard Zoe Brooks distributed the ball. Racking up 11 assists in the game, Brooks became the first Pack player in the last 15 seasons to have two 10+ assist games in the same year.
Brooks has looked like everything but a freshman. With 13 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and two steals, she was doing it all out on the court. Her dynamic play-making ability and all-around performance make this team better in so many different ways.
For the third straight game, the Wolfpack was without junior guard Saniya Rivers. Most teams would struggle generating offense with one of their best scorers out of the game, but the Wolfpack did anything but slow down. Twenty-six points came from players off the bench, including 11 from freshman guard Laci Steele that tied a career-high.
Repping “757” and “Virginia Beach,” an away game for the rest of the team felt like home for junior guard Aziaha James. Cheered on by friends and family, James was second on the team in scoring with 16 points, eight coming from the free throw line. Throughout the game she drew fouls and got herself to the line, where she shot 80%.
NC State will face its first ACC opponent when it travels to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers (7-3) in its last game of 2023 on Sunday, Dec. 31 with tip-off set for 6 p.m.
