The No. 17 NC State women’s basketball team clinched a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament, the NCAA announced Monday. The Wolfpack will face off against No. 11-seeded Auburn on Friday in Austin, Texas at noon in its first game of the tournament.
The Tigers (17-14, 7-9 SEC) did not fare well in the SEC Tournament as they lost their first game, just like the Wolfpack (22-8, 12-4 ACC) did in its conference tournament. Auburn will not be an easy matchup for the Wolfpack, as the Tigers have three players averaging over 10 points per game.
The Wolfpack will need to watch out for senior guard Brandy Montgomery, as she is shooting 33 percent on the year from behind the arc. Additionally, senior guard Katie Frerking is averaging a stellar 15.9 points per game.
Senior guard Miah Spencer and redshirt senior guard Dominique Wilson will have to lead the way for the Wolfpack if the team wants to beat Auburn. Spencer finished the season averaging 12.2 points, 4.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, while Wilson averaged 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season.
Senior guard Ashley Williams will have to match Montgomery’s 3-point shooting, as Williams shot 43 percent on the year from behind the arc.
Junior forward Chelsea Nelson will have to continue her great play of getting boards for the Pack as she averaged 6.3 rebounds per game on the season. Nelson will also have to stay out of foul trouble as she is known to get into early foul trouble and head coach Wes Moore has to sit her down for a significant amount of time.
NC State has No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Stanford on its side of the bracket. If the Pack can advance and defeat Auburn, it will have to play the winner of No. 3 Texas and No. 14 Central Arkansas in Texas. If Texas wins that game, the Longhorns will have home-court advantage against the Wolfpack.
After that, the road does not get any easier for the Wolfpack. If State beats Auburn and Texas/Central Arkansas, its next two games in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will potentially be against No. 2 Stanford and No. 1 Notre Dame.
Despite State losing in its first game of the ACC Tournament, there are still some positives from this season. Most notably, the Wolfpack collected five team honors this season.
Head coach Wes Moore was named the ACC Coach of the Year and is a Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year semifinalist. Moore is in the midst of his best season with the team and holds an 85-42 (40-24 ACC) record since first arriving in Raleigh in 2013.
Meanwhile, Spencer and Wilson earned All-ACC Second Team honors. Spencer currently ranks 14th in program history with 1,541 points and fourth all-time with 491 assists, and currently leads the team with 4.9 assists per game. Wilson is the team’s leading scorer with 13.2 points per game and became the 32nd player in team history to surpass 1,000 career points.
Williams and senior Jennifer Mathurin received All-ACC Academic Team honors. Both players are starting in the final season with the team, as Williams is averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game while Mathurin is logging 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game.
The game on Friday will be aired on WatchESPN and on ESPN 2 at noon.
