Early season barometer: 4 takeaways from NC State’s loss to top-ranked South Carolina
Seven months and five days after South Carolina bounced N.C. State from the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four, the reigning national champions handed the Wolfpack its first loss of the season.
No. 9 N.C. State fell to No. 1 South Carolina, 71-57, in the Ally Women’s Basketball Tipoff on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte.
“They are who we thought they were,” N.C. State head coach Wes Moore said. “Great team. Give them all the credit. They came out and took it to us.”
The teams traded points for the majority of the first half, which included six ties and five lead changes. N.C. State (1-1) led by as many as four points with 5:23 remaining in the second quarter thanks to an 11-0 run.
South Carolina (2-0) responded with a 9-1 run and finished the first half 8 of 9 from the field. It led by nine points going into the locker room.
“I think we just focused on the main thing, which was defense, settled down, found our man and really realized that it could be a close game, if we let off the gas pedal,” South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley said. “(N.C. State’s run) kind of made us realize that we needed to lock in, and we needed to win this game.”
The Gamecocks continued their hot shooting into the second half. South Carolina started 4 of 6 from the field and took a 48-34 lead, its largest of the game. At the end of the third quarter, the Gamecocks led by 20 points.
Freshman guard Zamareya Jones finished with a team-high 16 points for the Pack. She hit a nothing-but-net 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter to pull within 10 points. She added a fast-break layup to pull N.C. State within seven points.
“My teammates and my coach, like they believe in me to go out there and play,” Jones said. “A lot of freshmen don’t go out there and do that against a big team. Having my coaches and my players behind having my back makes me go out there and have confidence.”
The Wolfpack held the Gamecocks to just 10 points in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.
Here are four takeaways from the Wolfpack’s loss in Charlotte:
Wolfpack gives Gamecocks free possessions
Turnovers have been one of N.C. State’s biggest weaknesses in its early showings.
Zoe Brooks committed a turnover on the second possession. She was benched nearly immediately and replaced by Jones. Maddie Cox attempted to make a pass under the bucket but was off target, throwing the ball to a South Carolina defender. The Gamecocks turned that into a free throw.
Six minutes into the game, the Pack had already committed six. That number rose to nine at the end of the first quarter.
At halftime, N.C. State had 12 turnovers and South Carolina scored 15 points off of the mistakes.
It ended the game with 21 turnovers, which the Gamecocks turned into 22 points.
“We’ve got to fix ourselves,” Aziaha James said. She finished with 13 points, three assists and three steals. “No way we should have had 12 turnovers in the first half and 21 in the whole game. We gotta fix those in practice and watch film and do the things that need to be done.”
Entering the contest, the Pack had committed 30 combined turnovers in its exhibition against Anderson and regular-season opener.
The team showed it can compete against one of the best teams in college basketball — and, sure, this is only Game 2 — but this team can play with discipline. It needs to do it consistently.
Pack unable to compete against SC size
N.C. State struggled inside against the Gamecocks — who, as a roster, have about an inch and a half on the Wolfpack — as shown by the rebounding differential.
The team knew that would be an issue entering the game, too.
“With South Carolina being as big as they are, (the bigs) have got to do better offensive rebounding, because they will kill us if we do not box out and rebound. It’s just the honest truth,” guard Madison Hayes said last week. “They’re the SEC. I’ve been in the SEC. I know how it is, and we just got to do better on that.”
South Carolina out-rebounded NC State, 21-12, and went 7-1 on offensive boards in the first half alone. Dawn Staley’s crew scored eight second-chance points.
In the second half, the Gamecocks continued to control the glass. They notched 40 rebounds to N.C. State’s 25.
Moore said South Carolina limited his squad’s ability to find a rhythm in transition, but the rebounding effort was more significant.
“We saw that on film. They do a great job. They send so many (on) offensive boards, and if they don’t get the rebound, they’re still going to swarm you and make it hard for you to make the outlet,” Moore said. “It’s definitely a factor. But, the bigger factor was getting out-rebounded by 15.”
Additionally, the Gamecocks out-rebounded the Wolfpack 11-3 on the offensive end. When excluding the team offensive boards, the Pack only had one by Saniya Rivers.
“To me, that’s unbelievable,” Moore said. “In 40 minutes, you’ve got five people out there and you got one offensive rebound. Give them credit, but we gotta be better.”
NC State misses easy buckets
N.C. State could’ve shrunk the deficit significantly had it simply finished at the rim. The Wolfpack ended the game 12 of 24 on layups.
At the half, it was 7 of 12 (58%).
In its season opener, the Wolfpack finished 13 of 21 (62%) on layups. The Wolfpack can’t afford to settle for jump shots the entire season. It also needs to capitalize when it penetrates the paint, otherwise the offense could be at a significant disadvantage when those shots don’t fall.
SC shuts down Saniya
Senior Saniya Rivers transferred to N.C. State after her freshman year and has a national championship ring with the Gamecocks. Her former teammates were not friendly between the lines.
Rivers was held to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting. She committed three turnovers. At times, just about everything in her offensive game looked forced. Despite an inability to score, Rivers contributed seven rebounds in the loss.
“We’ve got some great guards, but they’ve got to play great as a team to be able to win a game like this.” Moore said.
This story was originally published November 10, 2024 at 4:58 PM.
