Averaging just 5.5 points per game coming into the game and known best for her rebounding prowess, NC State senior forward DD Rogers put on a show on her senior night. She notched a career-high 21 points to go with 14 rebounds to propel the tenth-ranked Wolfpack to a 70-68 win over No. 10 Miami Sunday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
Rogers started just one game last season as a junior, providing valuable minutes off the bench for a team that won 11 ACC games and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. This year, she’s found an even bigger role on the team, starting every game and leading the team in rebounds.
“They were playing off me quite a bit,” Rogers said. “When I could get a shot up I’d knock it down and when I could attack off the dribble, I’d attack.”
On senior night, it all came full circle for the Charlotte native. With freshman center Elissa Cunane mired in foul trouble early, Rogers picked up the slack on the offensive end, and seemingly every bucket of hers came at a critical time, either when the Pack was trailing or to maintain the late lead over the Hurricanes. She drained a critical layup at the end of the first quarter to give the Pack the lead for the first time in the game and hit another to tie it, erasing a 10-point deficit halfway through the third quarter.
Her rebounding was equally as important, as she gathered six important boards on the offensive glass for the Pack. Her season-high is still 20 against Georgetown earlier in the season, but 14 total rebounds against a ranked opponent is impressive nonetheless.
“We really like DD attacking,” head coach Wes Moore said. “She’s so explosive and they had a couple of bigs that were hard to match up with and with Elissa [Cunane] being in foul trouble that made it tough, but I thought DD competed so hard.”
Matched up against two imposing bigs for the Hurricanes in Mykea Gray and Emese Hof, two of the Hurricanes top three leading scorers, Rogers still managed her career and season high in points. She even impressed Miami head coach Katie Meier.
“She changed the scout,” Meier said. “She took 19 shots, that’s not DD’s average.”
Rogers had taken just 110 shots all season entering the game but added 19 to that total against Miami. It wasn’t an incredibly efficient performance, but she got the job done against a talented conference opponent.
Going into the ACC tournament as the No. 3 seed and starting off the season on a 17-game winning streak, the Wolfpack has faced its share of injury troubles but managed to conclude the season on a high note with a lot of credit given to Rogers, particularly in the final regular-season game.
“We’ve done great things this season,” Rogers said. “Our streak ended earlier than we wanted it to. I think we’ve definitely done a good job of trying to stay positive throughout it.”
Besides her rebounding skills and offensive showing in the game, Moore praises Rogers’ work ethic and her perseverance in securing a starting job this season.
“Nowadays, with hundreds of kids transferring every year from schools, she could’ve looked around and said ‘You know, I’m not playing as much as I’d like,’” Moore said. “She didn’t do that. She just decided, ‘I’m going to work, I’m going to carve out my little niche’ and now she’s starting every game and is having a great senior season.”
Rogers and the Wolfpack will look to continue their season next week in the ACC Tournament.
