NC State player accidentally cracks her head on ESPN camera

An unfortunate incident led to some momentary pain for an NC State women’s basketball player after the team clinched a spot in the Final Four with a 76-66 win over Texas.

As players were sticking the NC State label to a whiteboard printout of the bracket following the win, an ESPN camera leaned in overhead to get a closer look.

Then a player attempted to rise quickly, having watched the team affix the NC State label to the board. She cracked her head on the bottom of the ESPN camera, grabbing her head in obvious pain. You can watch the incident below.

An NC State player hit her head on an ESPN on ABC camera while celebrating the team's Elite Eight win over Texas.

Ouch. 🏀📹🤕# #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/grtVCVoE9d

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 31, 2024

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Hopefully there’s no long-term damage done by the incident, which happened by accident in the heat of the moment. An injury would be one of the few things that could spoil an otherwise terrific day for the Wolfpack.

The program made the Final Four for just the second time in its history, with the other appearance coming in 1998.

Star Aziaha James led the way in the win over the Longhorns, scoring 27 points in the win. She was electric beyond the 3-point arc, where she had seven makes.

Her make from 3-point range with 3:48 remaining helped her set a new career high and gave NC State a 68-60 advantage over Texas. That was all she wrote for the Longhorns.

Texas battled back to overcome a double digit deficit in the second half and make it a 54-48 game by the 1:06 mark in the third quarter. However, NC State ended the half with a 3-pointer from James, her sixth of the game, to take a 57-48 lead into the fourth.

NC State jumped out to an early lead in the game behind the play of James, who poured in 21 points across the first half of action. The Wolfpack held a 43-31 advantage at halftime after James went 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

James made her impact known from the start, recording 10 of her first half points in the first quarter. That would prove to be the story of the game as her performance shined too bright for Texas to overcome.

Madison Booker did all she could for Texas in the loss to finish with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, truly making her impact known across the stat sheet. The Elite Eight appearance was the seventh in school history for the Longhorns.

On3’s Chandler Vessels also contributed to this report.