NC State thrives in the paint during blowout exhibition win vs. Catawba
NC State led wire-to-wire in its exhibition bout against Catawba College. The Wolfpack allowed 26 second-half points and scored 52, leaving Reynolds Coliseum with a 101-58 victory Thursday night.
Despite three-point shooting struggles, making 3 of 22 attempts from deep, NC State scored 58 points in the paint, attempted 29 free throws and showed off a reliable mid-range game to surpass the century mark. All 11 scholarship players played at least 11 minutes.
The Wolfpack played fast to start the game, relying on the speed and controlled handles of junior guard Saniya Rivers and freshman guard Zoe Brooks to score 11 fast break points in the first half. In the opening period, 9 NC State players recorded at least 1 minute, and the hosts took an early 31-18 lead.
Graduate forward Mimi Collins, senior guard Madison Hayes, graduate center River Baldwin, junior guard Aziaha James and Rivers started the game. They are the only five returning players from last year’s squad.
Hayes and James led NC State in scoring with 23 points apiece. Both Pack guards scored at all three levels and were the only members of the program to hit threes.
“I thought Madison Hayes played extremely well, especially in the first half,” head coach Wes Moore said. “Our veterans did a good job. Aziaha James obviously had a good game as well.”
Brooks was the first player off the bench for the Pack, and the former five-star recruit played an impressive first game of collegiate competition. She finished the game with 13 points on 50-percent shooting, with 4 steals, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. No one else finished with more than 2 dimes Thursday night.
“We’re excited about all of our freshmen, but Zoey seems to be a little bit ahead of the others right now, and that’s a good thing,” Moore said.
In the second quarter, Catawba caught fire from behind the arc, nailing a quartet of threes to narrow the gap to 12 going into the media timeout. At that point, the Wolfpack opponents had taken 18 of its 28 shots from deep.
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Catawba hit 12 of 40 three-point shots Thursday night. NC State scored a game-low 18 points in the second period but still held its opponent to 14 points.
The Pack quickly pulled away in the third quarter. James erupted for 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting, and the hosts outscored Catawba 26-10.
Rivers found her defensive stride in the fourth quarter, recording 2 steals that turned into a pair of open fast break layups. She scored 6 points in 5 fourth-quarter minutes, wrapping up her exhibition performance with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Despite the lopsided final score, Moore praised Catawba’s effort. The Wolfpack’s opponent grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and stressed NC State’s post players with mobile centers who could shoot.
“We have a lot of things that we’ve got to cleaned up in a hurry because, as good as Catawba was, as well as they played, it’s fixing to get in a whole lot deeper waters, and we’re going to have to do the little things,” Moore said.
NC State shot 50-percent from the field and out-rebounded Catawba by 13, forced 23 turnovers and scored 32 points off of those miscues. The Pack officially starts its regular season Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m..
