Women’s basketball AP poll, takeaways: Conference races heating up as regular season enters final week of play

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The ACC trophy was set to be handed to Notre Dame on Sunday until NC State pushed the pause button with the second upset of the No. 1 team in as many weeks.

“You mentioned us being party crashers last year, so I guess we’re party crashers again,” NC State senior guard Saniya Rivers said. “And we’re here to stay. We’re here to fight. And we’re hoping to cut down some nets this season.”

Though Notre Dame rolled through the first 15 games of ACC play, it’s NC State that reached the Final Four a year ago, losing to eventual champion South Carolina. The Wolfpack returned three starters and 72% of its scoring from that team, including Naismith preseason watchlist guards Rivers and Aziaha James. With sophomore Zoe Brooks, their backcourt rivals that of Notre Dame’s vaunted group.

Yet, there had been little enticing about the Wolfpack’s season until the last month. They lost to South Carolina, TCU and LSU in the non-conference schedule with their best result a win over Ole Miss. In early ACC competition, they beat Louisville by 30, but lost to California by seven.

Of their last six games, five were against ranked opponents. They went 4-1, using two overtimes to down the Fighting Irish, 104-95, after 21 ties and 21 lead changes at a roaring Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wolfpack’s only loss was by one to North Carolina a week ago. It pushed the race for the regular season conference title to the final week. The Wolfpack (22-5, 14-2) would need to win out, combined with at least one loss by Notre Dame (24-3, 15-1), to swap spots.

The Fighting Irish have a tougher schedule with Florida State (21-6, 11-4) and Louisville (19-8, 12-4), which are both in the battle for a top-four seed in the ACC. NC State can’t drop easy ones to the two worst teams in the league, Wake Forest (2-14) and SMU (2-14). No matter how it plays out, Notre Dame and NC State could see each other again in the ACC tournament.

NC State Wolfpack guard Aziaha James celebrates…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-24 17:09:00

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