North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
North Carolina
Women’s Basketball Set to Host North Carolina for 21st Annual Play4Kay Game
2/1/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Live Stats | ESPN2 Broadcast | Radio Broadcast | NC State Notes | UNC Notes | Media Central
RALEIGH – The NC State women's basketball team is back at Reynolds Coliseum for the first time in February to host rival North Carolina for the 21st annual Play4Kay game. The Play4Kay game honors legendary head coach Kay Yow, who was the head coach at NC State for 34 years, as well as women who have battled or are battling cancer. This game started in 2006 and has become a national movement with schools over the country hosting a Play4Kay game.
Donations made during the Wolfpack's annual Play4Kay game go directly to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and passed away on Jan. 24, 2009 after facing her third bout of the disease. At last year's Play4Kay game, NC State raised $477,860.77 through the generous support of Wolfpack Nation, the university community and multiple businesses. The sponsors for this game are Coca-Cola, UNC Health, Bojangles and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina.
ABOUT NC STATE
- NC State has started the ACC season 8-2 and is third place in the league standings with eight ACC games left
- The Wolfpack is coming off a 106-84 win at Boston College. NC State's 106 points marked the most in an ACC game since 1991 and third most in an ACC game
- NC State will look for its third straight win of the season, as the Pack hosts North Carolina for the 21st annual Play4Kay game
- NC State is No. 28 in the NET with two Quad 1 wins and five quad 2 wins
- With one of the toughest schedules in the country, NC State has the second best average opponent NET ranking (77), behind USC (75), and has the ninth best NET SOS in the NCAA. NC State also has the third best WAB (wins above the bubble) mark in the ACC at 3.19
- Khamil Pierre leads the team in scoring (16.4) on 54.4 percent shooting (153-281) and rebounding (11.7), while also leading the league in defensive rebounds (8.2). She is fifth in the country in rebounding and sixth in double-doubles in the NCAA (13), leading the league
- Zoe Brooks paces the Pack with 4.8 assists per game and bumped up her scoring average by 1.7 points per game over the last two games to now average 16.3 points per game
- Zamareya Jones has a team's best 1.2 steals per game and a team's most 47 3-pointers, while also averaging 14.8 points per game
- Tilda Trygger paces the Pack with 1.5 blocks per game and has a team's best field goal percentage of .550 (93-169), averaging 12.2 points per game
- Three different Pack players rank in the top 25 in scoring in the ACC with Pierre (4th - 16.4), Brooks (5th - 16.3) and Jones (12th - 14.8), and two rank in the top 10 in rebounding with Pierre (1st - 11.7) and Trygger (9th - 8.2)
- NC State leads the league in rebounds per game (44.76) and defensive rebounds per game (32.1), which are fifth and third in the country, respectively
- Brooks has averaged 32.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.0 block per game in the last two games. She broke program records in free throws made (19) and free throws attempted (20) at Virginia. She was named ACC Player of the Week and USBWA National Player of the Week (week of 1/26)
- Pierre was named one of 25 on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
- North Carolina was picked to finish third in the ACC Preseason Poll, with all three triangle schools chosen in the top three. UNC went 29-8 and 13-5 in ACC play last season
- Reniya Kelly was picked on the Preseason All-ACC Team and Nyla Brooks was chosen on the ACC Preseason All-Freshman Team
- This season, UNC is 17-5 and 6-3 in ACC play putting the Tar Heels seventh in the league
- Nyla Harris leads UNC with 10.8 points per game
- Ciera Toomey has a team's most 7.1 rebounds per game and 33 total blocks
- Indya Nivar leads the team with 80 assists and 65 steals
- UNC is well balanced in scoring with six averaging 8.2 points per game or more
LAST TIME OUT
- NC State defeated Boston College on the road 106-84. The 106 points marked the third-most in an ACC game in school history and most since Jan. 12, 1991 when NC State scored 120 in a triple overtime loss to Virginia. NC State also scored over 100 points in a true road game for the first time since Jan. 31, 1992 with 127 at Howard
- Brooks logged 27 points off 7-of-11 from the field and 12-of-12 from the free throw line along with tallying three rebounds, seven assists and one block
- Trygger registered a career-high 25 points off 10-of-14 shooting from the field with six boards and one block
- Pierre registered her 13th double-double of the season behind 19 points and 12 rebounds with three assists and one block
- Jones registered 18 points and three rebounds
- The Pack shot a season-high 61.3 percent from the field (38-of-62) and won the battle in points off turnovers (16-8) and points in the paint (56-26)
SERIES HISTORY (NC STATE LEADS 65-56)
- NC State vs. North Carolina is the longest series in school history. Monday's game marks the 122nd game between the two teams
- NC State has won six of the last 10 meetings
- The Pack is 33-17 in games played at home vs. UNC, winning the last five home games of this series
- The first meeting was in 1975, and both teams have played one another at least once each year since
- Last year, NC State and UNC split the two games. UNC won a thriller in Chapel Hill, 66-65, but NC State responded with a 66-55 win in the ACC Tournament Semifinals. Trygger logged eight points and Brooks had six points with seven rebounds in the win
UPCOMING
NC State will stay at Reynolds Coliseum for a quick turnaround to host Florida State on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
