Wolfpack women's basketball's 2023-24 campaign came to a close in the national semifinal of the 2024 NCAA Tournament as NC State fell to top-ranked and undefeated South Carolina by a 59-78 score in Friday night's national semifinal game.
NC State ends its season with a 31-7 overall record after appearing in its 29th overall and seven straight NCAA Tournament and earning a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 1997-98. The Wolfpack earned nine wins over AP Top 25 teams this year to tie a single-season program record, reached its third Elite Eight in program history and second in three years and was the runner up at the 2024 ACC Tournament as it made its fourth championship game appearance in the last five seasons.
The Wolfpack was just the seventh NCAA Division I women's basketball team to start the season unranked in the AP Top 25 and reach the Final Four that same year.
Aziaha James led the Wolfpack in scoring with 20 points, her fourth-straight 20+ point performance in the NCAA Tournament.
River Baldwin joined her in double figures with 12, as did
Zoe Brooks also with 12.
NC State trailed by just one (32-31) after a first half that had four lead changes and four ties over the course of 20 minutes. The teams were tied at 16 through 10 minutes, and the Wolfpack managed to counter a 6-0 run by South Carolina and slim down what was the largest lead by either team in the opening half.
The Gamecocks took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Wolfpack 29-6 to build up a double-digit lead that it held from the 6:50 mark of the period through the rest of the game. NC State shot just 1-of-11 from the field in the third, while the Gamecocks shot 12-of-20 and hit five threes in the same 10-minute span. The Pack was unable to make up ground from that in the fourth.
https://gopack.com/news/2024/4/5/womens-basketball-nc-states-2023-24-season-comes-to-end-in-ncaa-tournament-semifinal