Eleven seconds. The time it takes to tie your shoe or grab something from the fridge.
That’s how close NC State women’s basketball was to stealing a win over No. 9 Louisville, a win that likely would’ve propelled the Wolfpack back into the top 25.
With a two-point lead and just 41 seconds on the clock, the red-and-white needed a bucket to seal its upset victory. Freshman guard Ky’She Lunan’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim, and amid a cluster of bodies fighting for the rebound, junior guard Zoe Brooks came up with the ball with 11 seconds remaining.
But instead of holding onto the ball and dribbling the clock out, Brooks went for a putback and missed — a costly error.
The Cardinals (18-3, 8-0 ACC) came up with the rebound, shot two game-tying free throws and forced overtime, where they dominated the Wolfpack (13-6, 6-2 ACC) en route to an 88-80 comeback win.
“We just gotta take care of the ball better,” Brooks said. “Especially towards the end when it’s really close and continue to stick together and try to execute the plays that Coach Moore runs.”
It’s not fair to pin all the blame on Brooks. Yes, hold the ball, and maybe we see a different outcome, but without her, NC State wouldn’t have even been in a position to win in the first place. Brooks was the Wolfpack’s go-to scorer down the stretch, recording 10 points in the fourth quarter. Her only miss was the ill-advised putback attempt.
But even worse, NC State shouldn’t have even needed that many from Brooks to be in contention because just a quarter prior, the Wolfpack had an 11-point lead over the Cardinals. The difference maker? Sophomore guard Imari Berry went on an 8-0 run all by herself in the final minute of the third quarter to bring Louisville within a bucket.
The momentum-flipping 60 seconds were just one example of Berry’s highlight-filled game. Those overtime-forcing free throws? Berry. The game’s leading rebounder? Also Berry, grabbing 12 boards. The game’s leading scorer? That was Berry too, scoring a career-high 33 points off the bench.
“[She did] everything,” Brooks said. “I feel like she was shooting the ball well from three, getting to the basket. She had a good all-around game.”
Amidst her 8-0 run, Berry knocked down two 3-pointers. Louisville had been ice cold from long range, shooting 0-11 from beyond the arc until Berry got it rolling with her back-to-back threes to close out the third quarter. Perhaps the Cardinals just needed to see it go in, as they knocked down three more 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes of the game.
But still, the Cardinals didn’t need 3-pointers to keep the game close. They did so by dominating the rebound margin, surprising considering the Wolfpack leads the ACC with 45.1 rebounds per game, due in large part to junior forward Khamil Pierre’s 12 rebounds per game — good for third in the country.
“A big focus of ours was to try to keep Khamil off the glass,” said Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. “She’s so, so talented. Tilda [Trygger] as well. They do a great job of getting to the ball, and we thought our guards were going to have to rebound. Our posts were going to do everything we could to keep them off the glass.”
The strategy worked, controlling the rebounding margin 44-35. The Cardinals held the Wolfpack frontcourt to just six rebounds each, forcing a battle between the guards for rebounds. And while junior guard Qadence Samuels helped balance out the margin with a season-high eight boards, it wasn’t enough to close the gap.
With the loss, the Wolfpack is now 0-3 in ranked games where it had led by double digits. It previously squandered an 11-point fourth-quarter lead to then-No. 18 USC and a 10-point third-quarter lead to then-No. 9 Oklahoma.
“I still think that we’re a very young team,” Brooks said. “We don’t have any seniors, so I feel like in moments like that, that’s when seniors take over and lead, not just by example but vocally. I feel like we’re gonna continue to grow as a team and we’re gonna get better during crunch time.”
Coming up next, the Wolfpack will be on the road to face the Virginia Cavaliers on Sunday, Jan. 25. Tipoff is set for noon and will be streamed on ACC Network.
