It’s rare to see a regular-season rematch in the NCAA Tournament, even rarer in the Round of 64.

But after winning its regular-season-opening match against then-No. 8 Tennessee by just three points, No. 7 seed NC State women’s basketball learned from the rest of its regular season matches and took a controlling 76-61 victory over the No. 10 seed Lady Vols to advance to the Round of 32.

NC State remained a contender in the ACC for most of the regular season, but with such a young roster, it lacked the experience and leadership needed to contend in the top 25. The Wolfpack dropped every ranked match for the rest of the season and fell to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

But on Friday night, when junior guard Zoe Brooks played a season-low 17 minutes due to an injury, sophomore guard Zam Jones stepped up when the Pack needed her most, spending just a single minute on the bench and dropping a career-high 30 points on 9-of-15 from the field.

Jones has played in a mask since early February when she took an elbow to the face against then-No. 25 UNC-Chapel Hill. But in her first game without the mask, she simply returned to business as usual.

While Jones’ offense led the way on one end of the floor, the rest of the team took command on the other end of the floor, holding Tennessee to just 24-of-73 from the field and 7-of-36 from beyond the arc. Tennessee guard Talaysia Cooper scored 24 points, but the Pack allowed just one other player to eclipse the double-digit mark, shutting down the rest of the offense.

Junior forward Khamil Pierre didn’t skip a beat from her regular-season performance, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, marking her 22nd double-double of the season. The Vanderbilt transfer has been a focal point of this team and the team’s go-to post scorer. Pierre maintaining this level of play will be crucial for a deep postseason run.

Now, just because the Pack won doesn’t mean it played perfectly. NC State continued to struggle from 3-point range, shooting just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, two of which came from Jones.

Furthermore, NC State turned the ball over 16 times, unable to get out of its own way. It’s harmful to turn the ball over that much in any game, but especially in the NCAA Tournament in a win-or-go-home game, the Pack simply can’t waste that many possessions. As competition increases further into the bracket, better teams are sure to take advantage of such mistakes.

With the win, NC State moves on to battle the host, No. 2 seed Michigan, on Sunday, March 22. Tipoff in Ann Arbor is set for 1 p.m.