Aziaha James continues standout campaign with career-best effort in win over No. 10 Duke

There’s just something about the color blue. Anytime Aziaha James lines up across from either shade from the Triangle, either Carolina’s light version or Duke’s dark iteration, a deeper sense of motivation rises to the surface. 

They’re the Wolfpack’s nearby rivals, after all. But when James prepared to take on the Blue Devils, ranked 10th in the nation, on Monday night in a primetime matchup on national television for NC State’s annual Play4Kay game, the senior guard was ready for a battle. 

At first, it seemed as if it wasn’t James’ night. She had a team-best 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting at halftime, but three costly turnovers were a part of the reason Duke led by 11 at the half. It didn’t take long for James to shake that as she exploded for 27 points in the second half alone to propel No. 14 NC State 89-83 over Duke, the Pack’s first ranked win of the year. 

James finished with a new career-best 36 points on an efficient 15-of-19 shooting, surpassing her previous career-high 33 that she set against … wait for it, Duke last season. 

“Them blues, it doesn’t sit right with me,” James said with a toothy grin postgame. “Just bringing it my all every time we play them, that’s just it. We don’t like blues.”

So how did James, who had an up and down opening 20 minutes, find a new gear in the final two frames? It was all about her ability to attack the Blue Devils’ pressure. That was NC State’s halftime game plan as a unit, but James being a three-level scorer, took that to heart. 

The Virginia Beach, Va., native didn’t have a shot she didn’t like in the second half. Get to the rim with an acrobatic layup? Check. What about a mid-range jumper? Check. And a shot from deep? Yeah, she can hit it from there too. 

James scored 12 in the third quarter before she closed the game with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field. 

For sophomore guard Zoe Brooks, who had a front row seat for most of James’ second-half explosion as the Pack’s point guard, NC State’s shooting guard continues to amaze her.

“She scores the ball in so many ways, you can’t guard her,” Brooks said. “It’s literally impossible. She can score the three, pull up, and go to the basket. It’s very hard to guard her.”

James set her career-best total coming off her lowest scoring output of the year in the Wolfpack’s last outing, a 90-83 win at Wake Forest on Thursday night. 

NC State coach Wes Moore didn’t think James’ confidence would waiver, she’s got plenty of that. Instead, he just let her do her thing for the final 20 minutes — which turned out to be a critical decision as the Wolfpack stormed back. 

“Sometimes you just gotta get out of the way and let her go, huh?” Moore said. “This is her time of year. Last year, February and March, she was unbelievable. … She’s got confidence, and she makes things happen, which makes it easy on the old coach. Sometimes you can get out of the way and let them go.”

While James had the motivation to score after a rocky first half, her stats weren’t the biggest driver against the Blue Devils. Instead, as the Pack hosted more than 100 breast cancer survivors on a night where it raised more than $477,000 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, James was determined to send everyone home with a win. 

Anything less would have been unacceptable. That powered James to the explosion — and she interacted with the crowd for nearly the entire night in the process. 

“Today meant a lot for us,” James said. “This was Kay Yow’s day, so we didn’t want it to go a different way. We had to lock in and stay focused.”

James has now scored in double figures in every game but one, including 10 performances with at least 20 points. She has hit her stride as the Wolfpack’s go-to scorer, something that James might not have thought was a possibility as a freshman when she averaged 4.2 points in 9.6 minutes a night. 

Instead of looking for a new opportunity, James stuck it out. It worked out in her favor as she’s averaging a career-high 16.9 points in 29.8 minutes a game on an uber efficient 44.6 percent shooting mark. 

Moore, who has watched James blossom into one of the best scorers in the nation, appeared to be the most proud of her in the minutes after another career-defining effort against Duke.

“I love that kid,” Moore said. “She stayed here in the program. Didn’t play as much as she would have liked her first year or two, but she cut out the outside noise. And boy, I’m glad she stayed.”

James not only stayed, Wes. She made her mark — and continues to each night with this being her latest chapter in what has been an All-America caliber campaign.