That’ll work.
NC State made its first six shots out of the halftime break and scored 34 points in the third quarter to break the game open and cruise to an easy win at Stanford. The Pack had to overcome a slow start, but scored 56 points in the game’s middle 20 minutes to bury Stanford.
State trailed by six points after the first quarter, and both Zoe Brooks and Aziaha James had two fouls, so Wes Moore needed his bench to step up, and it did. Both Mallory Collier and Laci Steele gave the Pack good minutes in the second quarter, and it was Collier who gave State its first lead a 23-22 with five and change left in the half. The next 15 minutes belonged to the Wolfpack.
Zoe Brooks was tremendous in the third quarter, scoring from all three levels to put her team in control of the game. Stanford couldn’t stay in front of her, and she hurt the Cardinal in a number of ways. Aziaha James, who sat the entire second quarter, wasted no time getting back into the flow, and scored 10 points in the third.
NC State shot 13-20 (4-8 on threes) from the field in the third and did not turn the ball over as it built a lead as large as 27. Stanford was able to pick up the pace in the fourth quarter but never got any closer than 14.
Saniya Rivers was also very good in this one, and picked up her offense when James and Brooks went to the bench. She ended up playing every minute, and led the team with 17 points. James finished with 15, Brooks had 14, Madison Hayes scored 11 (3-6 from three), and Tilda Trygger had 10.
This is a good win. Stanford has an underwhelming record but has played a difficult schedule, and it had been undefeated at home—it beat a good FSU team in Palo Alto on Thursday night.
NC State is in a tie for third in the league standings at 4-1, and life will get a little easier in the near term, as the Pack returns home for games against Pitt and Virginia this week.