A third ranked matchup in four games. The first ranked matchup of the season in Reynolds Coliseum. The return of former Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles, who fell in double overtime the last time she was in Raleigh.
The stage was set for No. 10 NC State women’s basketball, facing No. 17 TCU. But under the bright lights, the Wolfpack (2-2) crumbled, falling 69-59 to the Horned Frogs (4-0).
“Energy is the biggest thing we need right now,” said sophomore forward Tilda Trygger. “We need to get our energy up because when we ain’t hitting shots, we need to do other stuff. Today, we didn’t do enough of that.”
The Pack’s scoring inconsistencies have been prevalent all season, and Sunday’s match wasn’t an exception. NC State struggled to put the ball in the basket, shooting 33 percent from the field despite an improvement from 3-point range, where the team shot 32 percent.
NC State’s top scoring options — junior guard Zoe Brooks, junior forward Khamil Pierre and sophomore guard Zam Jones — couldn’t find the bottom of the net, shooting a combined 6-37 from the field. Brooks scored just six points, Pierre marked eight and Jones was held scoreless.
“I think a lot of it is we’re taking some tough shots,” said head coach Wes Moore. “But I do think we, at times, had some decent looks and just didn’t knock them down. Just gotta get everybody clicking at the same time when you’re playing this level of competition. It’s tough when your veteran players are having an off night.”
The Wolfpack’s ‘veteran’ players are two juniors and a sophomore. The 2025 campaign is the first in program history with no seniors on the roster, and the absences of Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers and Madison Hayes are continuing to impact the rest of the team.
“We hadn’t lost here at home in a long, long time,” Moore said. “But it’s a new team and no seniors, so we’ve got to have everybody step up a little bit.”
While the stars struggled, the bench played its best game of the season, contributing 23 points, with freshman guard Ky’She Lunan scoring a career-high 10. Lunan made her presence felt on both ends of the floor, registering four of the team’s seven total steals in under 22 minutes.
For most of the season, NC State has thrived in the paint, but TCU’s size advantage made it nearly impossible to mark consistency down low. Five of the Horned Frogs’ seven players who took the court measured at six feet or taller, allowing them to be the first team to outrebound the Wolfpack this season.
The size difference forced Trygger to alter her play. For the last three games, the 6-foot-6 Swede has staked her claim in the post, using her size mismatch to anchor the NC State offense. But when faced with two 6-foot-7 players guarding her, Trygger went back to her European stretch-style of basketball, knocking down three of her seven attempts from long range, the only Wolfpack player with multiple 3-pointers.
“It’s pretty unusual to play against girls that are taller than you,” Trygger said. “I went out on the 3-point line and shot more. I tried to attack, but you gotta go around them more than just go through them because they can block shots.”
After three ranked matches in four games, the Wolfpack now sits with two losses in November. Though ranked losses, it’s still a troublesome sign for a team that’s been ranked inside the top 10 all season.
“We’re not gonna lower our standards,” Moore said. “We’re gonna keep our expectations high and play a good schedule.”
Luckily for Moore and his squad, NC State is now set for a four-game home stretch against mid-major schools, beginning on Wednesday with a match against Coastal Carolina. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network.
