NC State women's basketball reflects on bonds built during Final Four run

By Ethan McDowell

Mimi Collins played her final game in an NC State uniform last Friday night. She scored 7 points and grabbed 5 rebounds against South Carolina but, when she stood in the locker room addressing the team, she talked about more than the NCAA Tournament loss. 

Collins focused on the future, on the genuine bonds that she built with her teammates during her two seasons in Raleigh. 

The graduate center extended invites to her future wedding, imploring everyone to attend. They all have her number, and Collins wants them to reach out if they ever need anything. 

NC State built bonds forged in the fire of a Final Four run — a historic 2023-2024 season that returned the program to a stage it had not reached in 26 years. Those connections are unbreakable, and Collins would not trade her final season for anything. 

“This experience has been heaven-sent,” Collins said. “As a senior, I couldn’t ask for more. I literally love these girls to death. I told them that after the game.”

The Wolfpack players made it clear after the game that they would not change anything about this group. Graduate center River Baldwin credits her two years in Raleigh with helping her fall in love with basketball again. 

Beyond a supportive coaching staff and a passionate fanbase, NC State’s players always had each other’s backs. They call each other sisters because they have a relationship that transcends the history they achieved on the court. 

“I wouldn’t trade my two years in Raleigh for anything,” Baldwin said. “I found a family here, a true family.”

Head coach Wes Moore spoke with Baldwin before the season, breaking down her responsibilities on this year’s team. The center had spent most of her career as a role player, but NC State needed to run the offense through her at times.

Baldwin finished the year with career highs in points, rebounds and blocks per game.

“I’ve loved having her,” Moore said. “I’m going to miss her. But right now, we’re going to be running that donut offense with a big hole in the middle without her.”

Junior guard Saniya Rivers stood in the postgame locker room with a lump in her throat. She looked around at her teammates and thanked them. All she wanted was a chance to get back to the Final Four, and they made her dreams reality — even if the team fell short of its ultimate goal.

The experienced leader of the Pack understands she is not supposed to be okay with the way things ended but, after the Wolfpack won 31 games, took down multiple top 5 teams and advanced to the national semifinal, Rivers shed tears of joy.

“I know you’re not supposed to be satisfied, but I am truly satisfied with what we’ve done this season,” Rivers said. “We’ve proved what we’ve had to prove.”

Collins’ future will take her beyond the Pack, but these bonds will remain strong. Even after her collegiate career ended in Cleveland, she was already thinking about her future trips to Raleigh. 

“I’ll forever be an NC State alumni. I might feel too old but I don’t mind coming down to hang out with them,” Collins said.

Rivers said the best part of Collins’ postgame remarks are they are 100 percent genuine. Their friendship dates back to when they were both at their former schools. Over two years in Raleigh, they grew extremely close. NC State’s starting point guard said she has learned so much from both Collins and Baldwin. This whole team is extremely close.

When talking about her connection with Rivers, Collins sees that bond extending way beyond their careers together on the court.

“She’s a great human being,” Collins said. “I love her to death. She’s so sweet, she’s so caring, she shows true love to all of us, and that’s a friendship that I’ll never want to lose.”

Baldwin and Collins have exhausted their collegiate eligibility. Senior guard Madison Hayes said they each brought valuable traits to this team

She pointed to Collins’ aggressiveness, Baldwin’s ability to draw charges and the overall competitiveness of both players. It will not be easy to replace them, but Hayes will be returning for her graduate season. Hayes said the Pack is not going to move on from this semifinal loss any time soon.

“We’re going to learn from this game and then, when it comes down to this point again, at some point, we’ll know what we have to do,” Hayes said.

Freshman forward Maddie Cox backed up Collins this year. The upperclassman forward sang the praises of the first-year player all season long during press conferences. She helped Cox grow throughout her first season, and that means a lot to the freshman.

“Her being a mentor, a big sister, was really helpful the entire season,” Cox said.

In the backcourt, Rivers plans to spend some time talking to freshman point guard Zoe Brooks, who stepped up Friday to score 12 points and pull down 5 rebounds. The first-year member of the program who spent most of the season as the first player off the bench was emotional after the game, Rivers said.

She reached a stage few freshmen do, and her upperclassman counterpart just wants to emphasize that Brooks had a a great debut season.

“Zoe was in here heartbroken and crying, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet but, when I do get a chance to, I’m going to tell her she had a hell of a season,” Rivers said. “She has nothing to hang her head down about.”

The Wolfpack backcourt of star guard Aziaha James, Hayes, Rivers and Brooks will be back again next year. To help bolster next year’s squad, NC State’s rising senior guard pointed to the transfer portal. Rivers, Hayes, Baldwin and Collins are all transfers, and they filled four of the five spots in the Pack’s starting lineup this year.

She believes the Pack can “absolutely” make another run at a Final Four next year.

“We made it all the way to the Final Four,” Rivers said. “Who wouldn’t want to run with the Pack?”