2022-23 Women's Basketball Roster
Rivers, Saniya
Zamareya Jones Summer Media Availability
Wednesday, July 23
Coach Moore Summer Media Availability
Wednesday, July 23
Aziaha James Introductory Press Conference with Dallas Wings
Wednesday, April 23
Saniya Rivers Introductory Presser with Connecticut Sun
Tuesday, April 15
Jersey Number 22
Saniya Rivers
- Height:
- 6-1
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Wilmington, N.C.
- High School:
- Ashley
- Major:
- Communication
Bio
Joined NC State in the summer of 2022. Ranked the No. 6 impactful transfer in the nation by ESPN.
2024-25 (SENIOR AT NC STATE):
2023-24 (JUNIOR AT NC STATE):
2022-23 (SOPHOMORE AT NC STATE):
2021-22 (FRESHMAN AT SOUTH CAROLINA):
PRIOR TO SOUTH CAROLINA:
COACH MOORE'S TAKE:
"We're excited about bringing Saniya back home. She is one of the most decorated players to come out of our state and will make a major impact on our program. She has the ability to score in a variety of ways and put up big numbers but also has great court vision that leads to scoring opportunities for her teammates. In addition, Saniya's length and athleticism makes her a prolific two-way player who can impact a game on either end of the floor - both on the boards and in making 'defense leads to offense' types of plays. Saniya will only add to the energy and excitement around our program."
IN THE NC STATE RECORD BOOK
Career
- No. 9 in blocks (109)
- No. 12 in steals (189)
- No. 15 in assists (354)
Season
- No. 10 in steals (75) - 2023-24
Game
- No. 7 in steals - 8 vs. Boston College (1/5/23)
- No. 12 in assists - 11 vs. Michigan State (3/24/25) and at SMU (3/2/25)
- No. 16 in steals - 7 at Clemson (1/25/24) and vs. Duke (1/21/24)
NCAA Tournament Game
- FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED: No. 4 - 11 vs. Tennessee (3/25/24)
- REBOUNDS: No. 8 - 12 vs. Vermont (3/22/25)
- ASSISTS: No. 1 - 11 vs. Michigan State (3/24/25)
- BLOCKS: No. 2 - 3 v. Tennessee (3/25/24)
NCAA Tournament Career
- No. 2 in assists (39)
- No. 2 in steals (16)
- No. 5 in rebounds (65)
- No. 9 in points (117)
AFTER NC STATE
- Drafted No. 8 overall, first round, by the Connecticut Sun in the 2025 WNBA Draft
- Highest drafted player in NC State history
2024-25 (SENIOR AT NC STATE):
- Received All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Defensive Team honors for the second consecutive year
- Named WBCA All-America Honorable Mention
- One of 10 on the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Midseason Watch List
- Led the team in assists per game (3.8), steals per game (1.6), blocks per game (1.3), defensive rebounds (200) and minutes per game (34.1)
- Had a team’s most double-doubles with nine, a career-high in a season, as well as 22 double-digit scoring games, eight double-digit rebounding games and two double-digit assists games
- Ended her career having started and played in 61 straight games
- Career top 15 lists: No. 9 in blocks (109), No. 12 in steals (189) and No. 15 in assists (354)
- Only player in NC State history with at least 1,100 points, 600 rebounds, 350 assists, 180 steals and 100 blocks, hitting those marks in only three seasons
- Tallied 21 points with two steals against No. 7/7 LSU at Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship and was named on the All-Tournament Team
- Registered a season-high 25 points with 11 boards, including 18 second-half points and 12 in the fourth quarter, vs. Davidson
- Followed up that game with another double-double, this time at Louisville with 14 points and 13 rebounds with two steals and one block
- Logged a double-double vs. Boston College with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists and four steals
- Finished with a double-double behind 17 points and 11 boards at Stanford
- Surpassed 1,000 career points against Virginia Tech, doing so with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals
- Had a great statline at No. 20/20 Georgia Tech with 16 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block
- Finished one assist shy of a triple-double in the Pack’s double overtime win over No. 1/1 Notre Dame, having logged 14 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists with three blocks and two steals
- Recorded four points, 13 rebounds, a career-high 11 assists and three steals and one block against SMU
- Named to the ACC All-Tournament First Team after averaging 11.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game across the three games that led to an ACC Tournament Championship game appearance for the Pack
- Registered 16 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block vs. 3-seeded, No. 11/11 Duke in the ACC Tournament Championship game
- Had a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double with two steals against Vermont in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64
- Recorded her first points-assists double-double in her career with 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds with two steals and two blocks vs. Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32
- Her statline vs. Michigan State was the first of any player, men’s or women’s, to put up numbers like that in an NCAA Tournament game this century, while her 11 assists marked a new NCAA Tournament program record
- Finished her collegiate career with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals against No. 10/10 LSU in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Spokane
2023-24 (JUNIOR AT NC STATE):
- Named an All-ACC First Team and All-Defensive Team selection, as well as an AP All-America Honorable Mention choice (eighth player in program history to earn the recognition from AP)
- Averaged 12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in 35.2 minutes per game, as well as 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game in ACC contests
- National awards and watchlists: top 10 candidate for Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, top 40 candidate for the USBWA National Player of the Year, WBCA All-America Regional finalist, Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 and Top 50 lists, as well as Naismith Trophy Midseason Team and Preseason Watch List recipient
- Accepted an invitation as one of 12 players nationally to attend Kelsey Plum’s 2024 DAWG CLASS
- Started in all 35 game appearances, playing in 11 full games
- Led the team in steals per game (2.1), defensive rebounds per game (5.5), minutes per game (35.2), free throws made (111) and free throws attempted (151)
- Finished the season with 23 double-digit scoring games, five 20+-point games, one 30+-point game, three double-digit rebounding games, three double-doubles and 14 5+-assists contests
- Went off vs. No. 2/2 UConn with her first career double-double behind a career-high 33 points with 10 rebounds and five assists, three blocks and three steals, becoming the first player in the Wes Moore era to log a 30/10/5 game
- Named the ACC and NCAA Player of the Week following her opening week performance against Charlotte and UConn, having averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game
- Stuffed the statsheet with 19 points, five rebounds, seven assists and six steals, while playing all 40 minutes against Rhode Island
- Logged seven points, seven boards and seven assists vs. No. 3/4 Colorado to help the Pack win the Paradise Jam Island Championship
- Recorded 22 points and eight boards against Vanderbilt in the ACC/SEC Challenge
- Flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and a career-best eight assists at Virginia
- Logged back-to-back seven steal games vs. Duke and Clemson, marking a season high
- Tallied a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double at Notre Dame
- Finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block, playing all 45 minutes in the overtime victory over No. 19/19 Syracuse
- Registered another 20-point performance with a team-leading 23 points off 8-of-12 shooting from the field with four assists, three blocks and four steals vs. Wake Forest
- Named to the ACC All-Tournament First Team, averaging 7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the Pack’s run to the championship game
- Averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the Pack’s run to the NCAA Tournament Final Four
- Recorded 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals vs. Chattanooga and followed that up with 20 points, six boards and three blocks in 40 minutes vs. Tennessee
- Logged 13 points and seven boards against No. 5/5 Stanford and 11 points, five rebounds and five assists against one-seeded, fourth-ranked Texas
- Tabbed to the Portland 4 Regional All-Tournament Team
2022-23 (SOPHOMORE AT NC STATE):
- ACC Sixth Player of the Year
- Played in 31 games in first season with the Wolfpack, missing just one contest and earning the starting nod in 12 of those games including the last four of the year
- Averaged career-best 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 28.0 minutes of action per game
- Her rebounding average paced the team, as did her steal (1.8) and block (1.0) averages
- Scored in double figures 10 times during 2022-23 season, with five of those instances occurring off the bench
- Led the team in scoring in six contests
- Posted season-high 22 points in Dec. 1 road win at No. 10 Iowa, with that performance tying as the most scored by a member of the team this season
- Also set then-career highs in assists (5) and steals (4) against the Hawkeyes to lead the team in all three of those categories, while being the third Wolfpack player in the last 10 years to have a 20+-point/5+-assist/4+-steal outing and accomplished it with an 81.8 percent shooting mark
- In ACC games alone, averaged 8.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game with her steal average in conference play ranked third
- Tallied a pair of games with 10+ rebounds with 11 in season finale and career-high 13 in Feb. 12 road game at Virginia
- Flirted with a triple-double in Pack’s Jan. 5 game against Boston College, finishing game with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight steals
- Her eight steals against Eagles was an ACC best in conference play in 2022-23 and marked the most for a member of the Pack since Nov. 24, 1998, becoming just the 10th player in program history with 8+ steals in a single game
- Made first career start in Dec. 15 game against Davidson, leading team in assists (5) and steals (2)
- Logged back-to-back eight-point games at the 2022 Cancun Challenge, missing just one of nine shots taken in the team’s wins over Vanderbilt and West Virginia
- Led team in scoring with 14 points against Miami, and also had team-best four assists and six steals to help Pack push the pace in that game
- Tied for the team lead in scoring with 14 points in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal
- Career-high six assists dished out in the Pack’s NCAA Tournament first round game against Princeton
2021-22 (FRESHMAN AT SOUTH CAROLINA):
- Appeared in 27 games for South Carolina during the team's campaign that culminated with a national title win, playing a combined 25 minutes in the national semifinal and championship games
- Averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 assists in 12.9 minutes per game
- Played third-most minutes out of any South Carolina reserve
- Scored season-high eight points in team's Feb. 3 win at Alabama, shooting 4-of-7 from the field in that outing
- Put together five-assist game against Auburn on Feb. 17 to set a season high in that category
PRIOR TO SOUTH CAROLINA:
- Ranked the No. 2 guard and the No. 3 overall player in the class of 2021 by ESPN
- 2021 Gatorade National Player of the Year
- 2021 McDonald's All-American
- 2021 WBCA and Naismith All-American
- Three-time Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year
- Four-time NCBCA All-State selection
- Averaged 34.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.1 steals and 5.8 assists per game as a senior to help lead Ashley High School to the 2021 Mideastern Conference title
- Surpassed 2,000 career points in high school
COACH MOORE'S TAKE:
"We're excited about bringing Saniya back home. She is one of the most decorated players to come out of our state and will make a major impact on our program. She has the ability to score in a variety of ways and put up big numbers but also has great court vision that leads to scoring opportunities for her teammates. In addition, Saniya's length and athleticism makes her a prolific two-way player who can impact a game on either end of the floor - both on the boards and in making 'defense leads to offense' types of plays. Saniya will only add to the energy and excitement around our program."