NC State women’s basketball escapes Georgia Tech to reach ACC Tournament semifinals
Thirteen years ago, N.C. State — as the No. 9 seed — defeated No. 1 seed Duke. It was the only time the ACC Tournament top seed lost to the nine. The Wolfpack nearly suffered that fate, but a pair of free throws and a defensive stop prevented heartbreak.
N.C. State, ranked No. 7 in the most recent AP Top 25 poll, defeated Georgia Tech, 73-72, on Friday after overcoming sluggish play.
It faces No. 5 seed North Carolina at noon Saturday for its seventh semifinal appearance in eight years.
Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore said the team’s performance reflects one of the few disadvantages of a double bye. The opponent is always going to be a strong team, and it already worked through its nerves.
“They’ve got a game under their belt and have gotten a chance to kind of get the tournament jitters out of the way, get used to the depth perception in the arena and all that,” Moore said, crediting Georgia Tech’s “unbelievable” performance. “It does make a difference, but you hope if you’re in it for the long run, trying to win three games in three days, having that extra time off definitely helps.”
N.C. State lacked urgency at various times throughout the game. It trailed by five points at the end of one. It was the eighth game of the season where the Wolfpack faced a first-quarter deficit. Its defense gave up 23 points to the Yellow Jackets.
The Wolfpack picked things up in the second quarter to lead by one at halftime. N.C. State entered the game 20-0 when leading at the break. It is now 21-0.
The lack of energy continued to start the second half, when N.C. State allowed Georgia Tech to retake a six-point lead. Underclassmen, and Aziaha James, took on the challenge and lifted the Wolfpack into its second day of play.
James hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining in the game to give the Pack a one-point lead. Those were her only free throws of the day. The Wolfpack defensive pressure, led by Saniya Rivers and Zoe Brooks, stopped the Yellow Jackets down the stretch for the gritty victory.
James finished the game with a team-high 16 points, despite shooting 0 of 4 from 3.
N.C. State’s win, and its late-game momentum, were propelled by two freshmen and a sophomore.
Tilda Trygger scored three straight baskets in the third quarter to pull the Wolfpack within one point. She played all 40 minutes for N.C. State, scoring 12 points and pulling down six rebounds.
Then, Brooks scored four straight baskets in the fourth. Her buckets tied the game at 62.
Then, Zamareya Jones came up big. James left the game just 20 seconds into the second quarter after being called for her second foul. Jones played in James’ absence. The rookie scored 10 first-half points, including eight in the second. One of her most impressive plays came when Brooks made the cross-court pass to Rivers, Rivers made the handoff to Jones and the freshman scored over 6-foot-6 Ariadna Termis to take the Pack’s first lead since the opening minute of play.
Jones hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 left to put the Pack up 3. Despite a turnover and Georgia Tech free throws with 15 seconds left, momentum favored N.C. State.
Brooks scored 14 points, pulled down nine rebounds, dished out four assists and added three steals. Jones contributed 13 points.
“Zam is always ready to come off the bench,” Rivers said. “Zam lives for moments like this, so even though it’s her first time on this stage, she was born ready.”
Much of the Yellow Jackets’ success can be attributed to their effort off the glass. Georgia Tech entered the game averaging 39 rebounds per game, with nearly 13 coming on the offensive end, to rank in the middle of the league. It isn’t a bad rebounding team, but not great. It looked like one of the best Friday.
Georgia Tech dominated the rebounding effort, finishing with a 44-37 advantage. The Yellow Jackets pulled down 11 offensive rebounds and scored eight points on second-chance opportunities.
N.C. State entered the game pulling down 41.8 rebounds per game, including 29.8 on the defensive end, both metrics good enough to rank No. 2 in the ACC in the national top 20. It fell short of all of its typical rebounding numbers.
“They crashed the boards,” Jones said. “They were playing hard. We weren’t playing our hardest, but we stuck to it and won the game.”
The Wolfpack struggled to hit shots, too. It allowed Georgia Tech to control the pace and, at times, settled for tough shots. When it started driving to the basket more often in the second, the lid opened on the iron. N.C. State shot 30 of 70 (42.9%) from the field, lower than its normally 45% shooting. It also finished 4-18 (22%) from 3, more than 11 percentage points less than its average.
Georgia Tech’s Tonie Morgan landed with a thud at the end of the opening half. The All-ACC second team honoree was taken to the locker room with 1.2 seconds remaining. She started the game with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Morgan returned to play in the second half. She and Kara Dunn, an All-ACC First Team selection, led all scorers with 21 points. Morgan added 11 boards as well.
The duo shot 16 of 32 (50%) from the field, while the rest of the team was 11 of 35 (31.4%).
“I was pleased with what we did today,” Yellow Jackets coach Nell Fortner said. “Do I always want to shoot better? Of course. But I thought all in all, our team played really hard. We’re coming back into our own a little bit from what we experienced earlier in the season, and I feel really good about that.
“I’m just sorry we couldn’t take it to the finish line today.”
Overall, the Wolfpack didn’t play its best, but experience down the stretch — at the line and on defense — made all the difference.
“We don’t give up. We both got in the huddle, got each other’s butts,” James said. “We couldn’t lose this game. We had to fight for every possession. Every possession counted.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 3:42 PM.
