NC State
Wake Forest
No. 9/10 Pack Defeats Wake Forest 78-57 on Senior Day
2/27/2025 10:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 9/10 NC State women's basketball team took down Wake Forest 78-57, leading in wire-to-wire fashion on Senior Day. The Pack made 11 3-pointers, assisted on 17 of 28 field goals and had just seven turnovers.
The Pack honored its four seniors Madison Hayes, Lizzy Williamson, Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James pregame. The bunch combined for 41 of the team's 78 points, led by James' 21 points for her 13th 20-point game of the season.
NC State finished the regular season with a perfect 16-0 mark at home, marking the the third time in school history the Pack has finished undefeated at home in the regular season. The Pack is now tied for No. 1 in the ACC standings with Notre Dame with a 15-2 mark.
James made the Pack's first field goal of the game off a 3-pointer, as NC State jumped ahead to a 7-0 lead. Wake Forest missed its first seven shots until getting on the board with a layup four minutes into the game. James made two 3-pointers and Brooks delivered a jumper, and at the media timeout taken with 3:32 left in the first, the Pack led 14-7. A Lorena Awou layup off a no-look pass by James pulled the Pack ahead by 11, until Wake Forest went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to four. Zamareya Jones then hit the Pack's third triple of the game, as the Pack led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Pack opened the quarter on a rampage from beyond the arc by making four straight 3-pointers from four different players, starting with Hayes. Jones then came up with a tough layup and got fouled in the process to convert a 3-point play, as a part of an 11-0 run for the Pack. NC State led 40-21 with 4:56 left in the second quarter. The Pack continued to stay hot from beyond the arc, as James knocked down her fifth triple of the game out of the break. A Jones layup pulled the Pack up by 25 with two minutes left in the quarter. At the half, the Pack led 48-24.
NC State came up empty on its first two possessions of the third quarter, and Hayes delivered a putback basket. The Pack then went on a 7-0 run, including off a long pass from Rivers to Hayes, as the Pack pushed to a 29-point lead. Wake Forest answered with a 7-0 run of their own. At the media timeout taken with 4:06 left in the third, NC State led 57-33. Hayes made back-to-back layups, and the Pack held Wake Forest to no field goals in the remaining five minutes of the quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the Pack led 64-37.
The Pack came up empty on its first three possessions in the fourth quarter until Laci Steele came off the bench and drained a 3-pointer. Brooks knocked down the Pack's 10th triple of the evening, and at the media timeout with 4:24 left in the fourth, the Pack led, 75-44. A Devyn Quigley layup elevated the Pack ahead by 32, the largest lead of the game. Wake Forest closed the game on a 12-1 run in the final four minutes of the contest. The Pack won 78-57 over the Demon Deacons.
PACK FACTS
- James logged her 13th double-digit scoring game with 21 points along with three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 31 minutes
- James is now No. 8 on the career 3-pointer list with 169, surpassing assistant coach Ashley Williams (2014-17)
- Brooks registered 17 points off 5-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal
- Brooks made 21 straight free throws
- Hayes logged 14 points, off 5-of-9 shooting from the field, nine rebounds and one steal in 28 minutes
- Rivers logged six points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks
- Jones registered eight points off the bench
- Steele added five points and two boards off the bench
- The Pack registered 11 3-pointers, its fourth 10+ 3-pointer game of the season
UPCOMING
The Pack will wrap up the regular season at SMU on Sunday, March 2. That game will tipoff at noon Eastern and will be aired on ACC Network.
