North Carolina State visits Berkeley for the initial time this evening. The Wolfpack has won 7 in a row and their overall record is 11-3. Their losses were to #2 South Carolina (14-1), #6 LSU (17-0) & #11 TCU (15-1). The first two were neutral site games, and the last one was on the road. NC State is 9-0 at home but is only 2-3 elsewhere.
I have seen the Pack play twice but I was scouting their opponent. I watched the 1st half of the Sweet 16 game last season when they upset Stanford. I also recently witnessed the close game vs Clemson (83-79).
North Carolina State plays inconsistently. When they are ***on*** their game, they blow teams out. The Cardinal led by 10 points at halftime last year. However, the Wolfpack exploded in the 2nd half, outscoring Stanford, 50-30.
They visited Louisville this season on 12/15 and crushed them, 72-42. This was Louisville's season scoring low by a wide margin. Jayda Curry was held to 1-10 shooting. On the other hand, Clemson hit 15-31 threes on 12/29 to pull off a near upset.
2024-25 Women's Basketball Roster - NC State University Athletics
Cal will have to play at their best to upset NCS. If they don't, the Wolfpack will likely prevail. The Pack returns four of their top six players from their runner-up national finish in 2023-24. These four guards play between 28.6 to 31.4 minutes each game! NC State is led by 2 first team all-ACC players. Their super star is #10 Aziaha James. She's the one that raises the level of her game to 29 (Stanford) points when the team needs a big effort. She is a 5-10 senior PG that is their top scorer (16.5) and major three-point threat with 29 treys made. She is second in assists and tied for second in steals. James also is 3rd in rebounds (5.3/g). The best all-around player and top defender is Saniya Rivers (#22). She is a 6-1 senior wing that contributes 12.2 points to the offense but leads the team in several other categories. She is the top rebounder w/ 6.5 boards per game, #1 in steals (21) + #1 in shot blocks (15). Saniya is third is assists. Soph 5-10 PG Zoe Brooks (#35) is second in scoring with 12.4 ppg. She leads the team is assists (3.3/ g) and is tied for 2nd in steals. Zoe also grabs 4.3 rpg. She earned all-ACC Freshmen Team honors. This trio of ball-handlers all possess positive assist to turnover ratios. The final guard, Madison Hayes (#21), possesses different skills. She is a 6-0 5th year SG that is second with an average of 6.1 boards while adding 9.3 points per game. Hayes is also 2nd in three-point shots made with 18.
The fifth starter is their center. Two different post players split the minutes almost evenly. A 6-6 Swedish freshman has started the last 3 games. Tilda Trygger (#18) gets 14 minutes and registers 3.9 points + 3.2 rebounds per contest. She is 2nd on the team in shot blocks w/ 10. Her counterpart is 6-3 soph Mallory Collier. She sees 15.6 m and also averages 3.9 points plus 3.4 boards. The first guard off of the bench is frosh, Devyn Quigley, who tallies 4.2 ppg over 11.5 minutes of PT. She hits over 40% on her three-point shots.
Overall_Stats.pdf
I believe that the winner of this game will score 70 points or more. Both defenses have yielded approximately 60 points per game. Cal has outscored its opponents by16.94 while North Carolina State has out distanced their opposition by 14 points. Both teams average in excess of forty rebounds per game but are actually tied with a positive rebound margin of 5.5.
The difference is this ballgame might be turnovers, or three-point shots made. The Wolfpack commits 4.7 less turnovers than do the Bears. The speed of the NC State backcourt may cause Cal problems. In long distance fire power, the Bears average 10.1 treys per outing as compared to 6 for the Pack.
This is a battle between the #21 & #24 ranked teams tonight, so I hope that the game lives up to its billing.
I apologize for delivering this report the day of the game. My wife's mother passed away last night at age 102.
GO BEARS!
I have seen the Pack play twice but I was scouting their opponent. I watched the 1st half of the Sweet 16 game last season when they upset Stanford. I also recently witnessed the close game vs Clemson (83-79).
North Carolina State plays inconsistently. When they are ***on*** their game, they blow teams out. The Cardinal led by 10 points at halftime last year. However, the Wolfpack exploded in the 2nd half, outscoring Stanford, 50-30.
They visited Louisville this season on 12/15 and crushed them, 72-42. This was Louisville's season scoring low by a wide margin. Jayda Curry was held to 1-10 shooting. On the other hand, Clemson hit 15-31 threes on 12/29 to pull off a near upset.
2024-25 Women's Basketball Roster - NC State University Athletics
Cal will have to play at their best to upset NCS. If they don't, the Wolfpack will likely prevail. The Pack returns four of their top six players from their runner-up national finish in 2023-24. These four guards play between 28.6 to 31.4 minutes each game! NC State is led by 2 first team all-ACC players. Their super star is #10 Aziaha James. She's the one that raises the level of her game to 29 (Stanford) points when the team needs a big effort. She is a 5-10 senior PG that is their top scorer (16.5) and major three-point threat with 29 treys made. She is second in assists and tied for second in steals. James also is 3rd in rebounds (5.3/g). The best all-around player and top defender is Saniya Rivers (#22). She is a 6-1 senior wing that contributes 12.2 points to the offense but leads the team in several other categories. She is the top rebounder w/ 6.5 boards per game, #1 in steals (21) + #1 in shot blocks (15). Saniya is third is assists. Soph 5-10 PG Zoe Brooks (#35) is second in scoring with 12.4 ppg. She leads the team is assists (3.3/ g) and is tied for 2nd in steals. Zoe also grabs 4.3 rpg. She earned all-ACC Freshmen Team honors. This trio of ball-handlers all possess positive assist to turnover ratios. The final guard, Madison Hayes (#21), possesses different skills. She is a 6-0 5th year SG that is second with an average of 6.1 boards while adding 9.3 points per game. Hayes is also 2nd in three-point shots made with 18.
The fifth starter is their center. Two different post players split the minutes almost evenly. A 6-6 Swedish freshman has started the last 3 games. Tilda Trygger (#18) gets 14 minutes and registers 3.9 points + 3.2 rebounds per contest. She is 2nd on the team in shot blocks w/ 10. Her counterpart is 6-3 soph Mallory Collier. She sees 15.6 m and also averages 3.9 points plus 3.4 boards. The first guard off of the bench is frosh, Devyn Quigley, who tallies 4.2 ppg over 11.5 minutes of PT. She hits over 40% on her three-point shots.
Overall_Stats.pdf
I believe that the winner of this game will score 70 points or more. Both defenses have yielded approximately 60 points per game. Cal has outscored its opponents by16.94 while North Carolina State has out distanced their opposition by 14 points. Both teams average in excess of forty rebounds per game but are actually tied with a positive rebound margin of 5.5.
The difference is this ballgame might be turnovers, or three-point shots made. The Wolfpack commits 4.7 less turnovers than do the Bears. The speed of the NC State backcourt may cause Cal problems. In long distance fire power, the Bears average 10.1 treys per outing as compared to 6 for the Pack.
This is a battle between the #21 & #24 ranked teams tonight, so I hope that the game lives up to its billing.
I apologize for delivering this report the day of the game. My wife's mother passed away last night at age 102.
GO BEARS!