North Carolina State University Athletics
Zoe Brooks Recognized as USBWA National Player of the Week
1/27/2026 11:32:00 AM | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS – NC State women's basketball's Zoe Brooks has been named one of five honorees for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week. This is the second honor this week for Brooks and first in her career from USBWA. She was also named to the NCAA March Madness Starting Five.
The other honorees include Cotie McMahon (Ole Miss), Kennedie Shuler (Oregon State), Tristen Taylor (Temple) and Riley Weiss (Columbia).
Brooks led the Pack with a career-high 37 points behind 8-of-15 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and 19-of-20 from the free throw line in the Wolfpack's overtime win at Virginia. Her 19 free throws made and 20 free throws attempted broke school records and John Paul Jones Arena records. Her 19 free throws made marked the most by a player in the ACC this season and second most by one in the NCAA this year.
She also scored 37 points, the ninth most scored in a game in school history and most since Chasity Melvin's 37 vs. Louisiana Tech in the NCAA Final Four in 1998. Brooks' 37 points is the fifth most scored by an ACC player this season and 27th most in the NCAA.
Brooks logs a well-balanced statline of 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, a team's most 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. In the ACC, she is fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.07), fifth in free throw percentage (.822), sixth in scoring and seventh in assists per game. Her 1,140 career points is the 33rd most in school history, standing at that spot as a junior.
This year, Brooks' honors include:
- USBWA National Player of the Week (1/27)
- ACC Player of the Week (1/26)
- Cancun Challenge Yucatan All-Tournament Team (11/28)
- Wooden Award Preseason Watchlist (11/18)
- Jersey Mike's Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Trophy Preseason Watchlist (10/30)
- Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Preseason Top 20 Watchlist (10/27)
- All-ACC Preseason Team (10/14)
NC State will travel north to play at Boston College on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The game at Conte Forum will be aired on ACC Network.
