How sweet it is: NC State women hang on to beat Tennessee, 79-72, advance to Sweet 16
N.C. State head coach Wes Moore reiterated a quirky message to his team entering its NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game against Tennessee on Monday.
“I’ve said this a million times: It’s a butt game,” Moore said on Sunday. “You better get your butt back. You better get your butt between them and the rim. You better get your butt on them and box ‘em out.”
Aziaha James took Moore’s message to heart as she sat on the floor — on her butt — putting on her shoe and smiling at her teammates after taking a charge in the third quarter of . 7:59 remained on the clock in the third.
A lot rode on the Wolfpack’s last ride in the Old Barn, and the team made it a fun — and a little stressful — outing. It put on one of its best first-half performances of the season to earn the program’s 16th Sweet 16 bid.
No. 3 seed N.C. State (29-6) defeated No. 6 seed Tennessee (20-13), 79-72, on Monday afternoon in the women’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
NC State will next play No. 2 seed Stanford on Friday in Portland, Oregon.
NC State and Tennessee entered the game evenly matched in most major statistics, including a dead-even 32.1% on 3-point attempts. The biggest difference came down to turnovers. Tennessee averages 15.1 turnovers per game, while N.C. State averages 12.8.
Both teams got out to a quick start; there was one tie and three lead changes within the first five minutes of play. The Lady Volunteers eventually led by as many as six points with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter, with Rikea Jackson scoring 14 points in the first period.
Then, N.C. State stepped on the gas and sped up and down the court, outscoring Tennessee 25-8 in the second quarter. It added four forced turnovers, scoring seven points off the miscues, and only allowed one make out of the Lady Vols’ final nine shots of the first half. Jackson was held to two points.
The Wolfpack took an 18-point lead into the locker room.
Tennessee didn’t go down easily, though. It showed the same resilience against the Wolfpack that it did just two weeks ago when it was down by 23 to South Carolina, and N.C. State didn’t have an answer for the better part of the half. Instead, the Wolfpack watched a double-digit lead dwindle to just two points — essentially blowing its largest halftime lead of the year.
Until it didn’t.
The Wolfpack picked up the pace once again in the final three minutes, scoring 14 points down the stretch to secure the victory.
Four N.C. State players finished in double figures, led by James. She recorded 20 points, three rebounds and seven assists, just one off her career high. Freshman Zoe Brooks added 16 points on a career high-tying seven field goals.
Jackson led all scorers with 33 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Vols finished with 10 turnovers, while the Wolfpack committed just four.
N.C. State extended its home winning streak to 60 games over non-conference opponents and 15 straight over an unranked opponent. It also moved to 4-0 over No. 6 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
