NC State sheds self doubt to win 'frustrating' game vs. JMU
Aziaha James doesn’t have time to doubt herself, she explained Thursday night. There’s simply too much responsibility on the star senior guard at any given moment, especially when NC State struggles offensively like it did against James Madison.
The Wolfpack won 61-47 despite shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 25 percent from three against the Dukes. It was a rough start for James, who began the game 2 for 11 in the first half and 1 for 6 from three.
Even when the shots weren’t falling, she did not waver. NC State missed 16 of 18 threes in the first half, but James came out of the locker room ready to turn the game around.
“Just being one of the leaders, seeing how the team’s energy is down [and] just picking it back up, attacking hard, doing what coach Moore said, making sure everybody’s head’s on straight,” James said. “It starts with me.”
She finished the game with a team-high 21 points and put up 10 in the third quarter to go along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists Thursday. James acknowledged after the game that this is a young team outside of its star core.
During non-conference play, James did what she could to help them grow up in preparation for a challenging ACC schedule. She’s a leader and helped pull the Pack back into focus during a rocky 14-point win.
“We had a lot of missed threes, so just focusing on attacking more, boxing out, rebounding more,” James said. “Coach Moore emphasized getting a lot of O-boards, and I think that’s our challenge. We’ve got to stay on top of ourselves.”
Head coach Wes Moore called out the Pack’s lack of second-chance points in the postgame press conference. Counting 5 missed free throws, NC State was off the mark on 46 shots against James Madison. That led to 11 offensive rebounds and 3 second-chance points.
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That did not hurt the Pack against the Dukes—JMU missed 48 field goal attempts, including 21 threes— but Moore doesn’t feel any better about the final result.
“When you’re not shooting well, you’ve got to recognize that and play that much harder and try to figure out a way to go get it,” Moore said.
NC State’s head coach does not like calling timeouts. He wants to save them for late-game situations, but the Wolfpack pushed his buttons in this game. Moore was not happy with the effort and criticized how the Dukes beat NC State down the floor.
He was far from happy with the program’s shot selection as well. The Pack hit 7 of 28 threes. NC State attempted 12 triples in the second quarter and missed all of them.
“You can’t just stand out there and play horse when it’s not going in,” Moore said.
James and the Wolfpack built a 13-point lead early in the game and never let James Madison pull any closer than 6 Thursday night. But the vibes were pretty low. Moore was yelling until he was red in the face late in the game, and the Pack turned the ball over 16 times while scoring 20 of its 61 points in the paint.
That was NC State’s non-conference finale. After a 10-day break, the Pack will be back on the court for its ACC home opener against Clemson Dec. 29.
“U-G-L-Y,” Moore said. “We ain’t got no alibi. Frustrating night.”
