NC State
8-3,1-0ACC
Louisville
6-5,0-1ACC
Pack Picks Up 30-Point Win Over Louisville in Jimmy V Women’s Classic, ACC Opener
12/15/2024 3:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – NC State women's basketball, ranked No. 22/20, led in wire-to-wire fashion against Louisville to earn a 30-point victory in the Jimmy V Women's Classic and ACC opener. The Pack defeated the Cardinals 72-42 to pick up its sixth straight win over Louisville. NC State had four players in double-figures, led by Zamareya Jones' 18 points off the bench and a second straight double-double from Saniya Rivers.
The Pack held Louisville to a season-low 42 points, the least amount of points NC State has allowed in a game this season. The 42 points was also a low for the Cardinals vs. the Pack in the all-time series NC State leads 9-8. NC State outrebounded the Cardinals 53-40 and contributed 28 bench points, while logging 14 assists compared to Louisville's five.
NC State won the tipoff to set up for a quick Madison Hayes layup. The Pack kept the momentum rolling and after a Rivers jumper and a Zoe Brooks layup, NC State went up ahead 10-0 early. The Cardinals were held off the scoreboard until their first basket with 5:37 left in the first. At the media timeout, with 3:47 left in the first, the Pack held a 12-4 advantage. The Pack was held in a 3.5 minute scoring drought, committing four turnovers in that span until Jones had a tough layup and knocked down a triple to initiate a 7-0 run. The Pack led 19-6 at the end of the first.
Jones came off the bench and continued to roll, going on an 11-0 run herself, which started in the first quarter. She knocked down her second triple of the game through contact to convert the 4-point play, as the Pack led 28-8 with 7:51 left in the first. Louisville came up with two baskets, but then TIlda Trygger continued to crash the glass hard and delivered a putback basket and after a Brooks layup, Louisville called timeout, as the Pack led 34-13 with 4:49 left in the first half. Laci Steele came off the bench and delivered great minutes with two quick steals and knocked down two 3-pointers as a part of a 7-0 run for the Pack to lead by 27 with a 40-13 advantage with 3:28 left in the half. The Cardinals went on a 8-1 run to end the half, and the Pack went into the locker room ahead 41-21 at the half.
Rivers took it to the hoop for the Pack's first points of the second half and Brooks followed with a jumper. A Rivers 3-pointer off a second-chance opportunity was a part of a 7-0 run for the Pack. Aziaha James then knocked down a triple of her own, and at the media timeout taken with 5:54 left in the third quarter, NC State led 53-28. Collier got a layup off a James steal and came up with another basket to go 3-of-4 from the field. The Pack held the Cardinals to no field goals for four minutes, as the Pack had its largest lead of the game at 32 with two minutes left in the third. The Cardinals closed out the quarter on a 5-0 run, as the Pack led 61-34.
Jones got the Pack's first bucket of the fourth quarter with a layup to keep perfect from the field. Brooks then took a strong take to the basket for an and-1. The Pack got its largest lead of the game at 34 with a Rivers layup. At the media timeout taken with 4:53 left in the game, the Pack held the 70-36 advantage. The Pack outscored the Cardinals 11-8 in the fourth quarter to pick up a 30-point win, 72-42.
PACK FACTS
- Jones matched her career-high in just 14 minutes and had more points with 16 than Louisville had in the first 15 minutes. She had 16 first-half points, going 6-of-6 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Jones finished with a career-high 18 points off 7-of-8 shooting
- Rivers logged her second consecutive double-double and logged her fifth double-double of her career. She tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds
- James registered 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals
- Brooks recorded 11 points, three boards and three assists
- Trygger reached a career-high 10 rebounds and four points in 15 minutes off the bench, while Steele logged six points and two steals
- The Pack held Louisville to 15 percent shooting (3-of-20) in the first quarter and tied for least amount of points allowed in a quarter with six
- Overall, NC State held Louisville to 24 percent shooting from the field (16-of-67) and nine percent from beyond the arc (2-of-23)
QUOTES
Wes Moore, Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"Yeah, I didn't see it coming. We came out and played great and got the momentum. [Louisville] struggled to shoot it, we hit some shots and I'm real proud of our team. When you look, we outrebounded them and they are an athletic, great rebounding team. We did that and points off turnovers, we outscored them there… We have been talking about how a year ago, we averaged 31.5 defensive boards per game and were top four in the country. We talked about how we have to get back to that, and today we had 38 defensive rebounds. I'm real proud of them. Great effort. Saniya [Rivers] and Aziaha [James] did a great job helping us on the boards and I thought Mallory [Collier] played well. Tilda [Trygger] got 10 boards in 15 minutes. I thought everyone who went in there gave us some good things."
On the frontcourt production – Trygger and Collier combining for 10 points and 14 rebounds:
"We have to have more of that and keep getting better. It's a long season, so Wednesday night, we were fortunate to win that game at home and we came out today and played so well on the road, so you never know."
On Zamareya Jones' performance:
"She gave us big [momentum] in the first half. She made some big plays. She has a lot of confidence… I'm excited about the future of her."
On the growth of the team after tough losses:
"Today we guarded. We competed. I gave Mallory [Collier] a chest bump on a sideline play ... she got up there and intercepted it. [That] shows she's paying attention and she's ready to play."
Zamareya Jones
18 points (7-of-8 FG), three 3-pointers (3-of-3 3FG), 2 rebounds and one assist in 20 minutes
What a 30-point win meant for her:
"It meant a lot. Coach Moore was pushing us to fight [with us] in ACC play. Louisville is a great team, so we had to come out here and play our game and got the win."
Mood in locker room after win:
"It was hype! He came in yelling, first ACC game. We won by a lot. He was hype but we are onto the next game."
On the growth from the three losses to now:
"We have a tough schedule, so hitting [those] hard games in the beginning now is making us like 'Okay, now we have to play.' So just coming out here, playing our game and winning as a team."
On the frontcourt production:
"We definitely need them [Mallory Collier and Tilda Trygger]. We needed them. So, them showing up in games like this means a lot, especially Tilda. She can be trouble."
Saniya Rivers
14 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 31 minutes
On the big win:
"We needed this one. ACC is obviously a great schedule for us. Non-conference definitely hasn't gone our way, we've had some tough losses to some big teams. Just coming out here was a confidence booster for us. Last game, we only had two main scorers, and this game we had four players in double digits."
On Zamareya Jones' performance:
"She's tough… She already has so much confidence… She's smaller, so she has to work 10 times harder than the average college player, but she's doing great. You can't stop her confidence."
On her rebounding totals going up:
"Last year, I wasn't really crashing the boards much, but Coach [Wes Moore] has trusted me with a big role, and I've been crashing them a whole lot more. It's been fun. Obviously I'm long… I can get the boards as long as I go, so it's been a pretty good adjustment."
UPCOMING
The Pack will return home to close out the non-conference slate, hosting James Madison on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and a limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased HERE.
