NC State head coach Wes Moore and sophomore guard Zamareya Jones addressed the media following the Wolfpack’s 87-61 whipping of Miami on Sunday, December 14, 2025 at Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida.
Opening statement…
Okay, just really proud of our team, the effort. They came out ready to play, and when you're on the road, that's really important. We've had some tough games down here, so I thought Z here came out, a lot of energy, made some big plays, hit some big shots for us to start the game, and I think that momentum is contagious, and everybody got some confidence out of it.
We shot the three a lot better today. We got scoring inside, so I like our balance, but like I said, I think our defense set the tone, and I'm proud of the way they were able to come out and start the game.
What did you guys do to shut down? I mean, Miami really, really struggled in the first half. They came around a little bit in the second half, but for both of you, what is it that you think you guys did? What did you see that you were able to exploit?
JONES: I'm going to say energy, Coach Moore was preaching coming out with energy, knowing the scout and just putting it forward, basically, so I feel like first half of the count, we got a lot of energy on defense and offense.
Let's spend a point of emphasis on the scout. Are you getting better at that as a team?
JONES: We're definitely getting better. We could definitely do more, get better at it, but we've been getting a little better throughout the game. Like the first half, we were locked in energy.
Our energy on defense led to offense, so for sure, we definitely locked in on the scout.
It looks like Khamil, and I'm outside looking in, but it's almost like she's got a 20-20 in her. If, as long as it's there, I mean, where do you see, for her, I mean, can she be a dominant player in this league?
JONES: For sure, she definitely can be a dominant player. She showed she's a dominant player in the SEC and ACC, so I feel like just keep investing in her and telling her, like, you got it. Khamil's a dog, so she's going to come out every day.
She's going to give you at least 12 rebounds every game, so she's just a rebound machine, and she can score, for sure.
And how do you do that within the construct of the team, get her to be the best version of herself, you to be the best version, and all that?
JONES: I just say don't worry about scoring as much. You do other stuff like rebounding, assists, getting steals, doing anything you can. It's not about scoring, so just like Coach Moore said, get the ball inside, and if she doesn't get it inside, then kick it out to us. Just playing together as a team and not really focusing on my stats, focusing on the team stats.
Coach Moore said in his opening statement, this has been a hard place for NC State to play, and this has been a hard team for him. He said he's had issues with them. You guys, did y'all emphasize that going into this game, and how big is it to do this in December? You got two ACC games to get off to a road victory this early.
JONES: It feels good. It's my first time playing here, so I just came in with the mindset, oh, we have to create our own energy, so we just came out here and played our game.
Did you guys do anything particular? Gal Raviv was just off today, and then she got into the court.
COACH MOORE: Yeah, I mean, again, she's a great player, and obviously she was a big part of our scout, and I thought our guards did a pretty good job. We were trying to mix up the way we were playing, pick on the ball with her to kind of keep her a little bit off balance, but, yeah, I mean, I think, I think our kids' guards on the ball, posts that were helping them to pick on the ball, action, did a great job, and then, obviously, hate to see her turn her ankle there in the second half, but she seems to be like, feel like she's going to be okay, and, again, she's a great player.
Obviously, her and Kyle were a big part of our scout, and trying to slow those two down, and I think for the most part, our players did a nice job.
So, Wes, I'm sorry. I thought I had to ask a question to the student first. I'm going to be a little redundant here.
COACH MOORE: You're not hurting my feelings at all.
Okay. Okay. Well, I'll just preface, it's going to be a little redundant. First of all, Khamil, I feel like, you're looking from the outside, she's a 20-20 potential player, not average-wise, but she can have monster games. Your thoughts on that? Is she sort of getting to where you think she can be?
COACH MOORE: Yeah, I mean, Khamil, like Z said, unbelievable talent, unbelievable potential, high ceiling. I think she's still learning her way around us a little bit. New team, new system, all that.
So, I think that's part of it, and just challenging her to be the best player she can be. I mean, she can, like I said, she can be really special. So, I think she still needs to, focus on trying to put 40 minutes together, so to speak, and not taking a possession off.
But she made some big-time plays today, both ends of the floor, coming over, blocking a shot on defense. Obviously, always does a great job on both ends on the boards. And then she had a tough matchup down there on the block.
We got her the ball, and she's, she's got a little fadeaway and turnaround off the glass. I mean, she's got some good moves, and she, again, we're banking on her being a big part of what we're doing.
Her response to when you pulled her after the three-pointer, did you like that?
COACH MOORE: Yeah, that's just, again, she's got the potential, I think, to get there on that. And so, just reminding her, though, that right now we were trying to focus on getting the ball inside and swinging the ball, getting good ball movement.
But I do think she's capable of it. But at the same time, you have to deal with what's working. And I thought they were, I thought they were both doing a really good job of scoring around the rim. So, we kind of wanted to make sure we stayed focused on that.
Miami's been a tough program, to the question I asked you. And you mentioned this, too. This has been a hard place to win. I don't think I've ever seen NC State win a game here in person.
COACH MOORE: It's been a tough place for us. And, you know, they're always athletic. They always play really hard.
Heck, last year we beat them by two on our home court, and we went, what, 18-0 at home? So, it was one of the toughest games we had all year. So, yeah, I got a lot of respect for them and what they do.
And, again, we're fortunate we got off to a really good start and were able to get some momentum and some confidence and get carried over.
You build up with the road win. Now you got Georgia Tech coming into Raleigh.
COACH MOORE: Yeah, it's what we needed. Again, I may have overscheduled this. Non-conference, we had a lot of road games.
We had a lot of really tough games, high-ranked teams, which is what we normally want to do. We want to be challenged, and we want to put ourselves out there on the big stage. But I might have overdone it a little bit.
But, again, we tried to focus on the conference as a new season, and let's come down here and try to be 1-0 when we leave. And so they were able to accomplish that, and, yeah, now we get to play at home and finish this semester off with some momentum. So, it's a big step for us.
I knew, again, this would be a big challenge.
And then my final one, sir. You guys, you have Georgia Tech. You have this, as you said, it's building up to the end of the semester. Is there anything in terms of high-level concern? Where are you at with this team? How are they taking the coaching? Are they coachable? Where are they at? I mean...
COACH MOORE: We're still a work in progress. And, again, I know I'm tough. I'm not going to be satisfied with okay or good. I want them to be great individually, as a team. And it's not just basketball.
It's life. I want them to be unbelievable young women once they leave NC State. And I want them to make their mark in the world, whether it's basketball or something else.
So, I'm not going to settle for them being okay. I think we can be one of the best teams in the country if we really buy in. And I'm talking about scouting, film, taking things away from people, being focused and playing with energy.
We had all that today. And it started. We had a great practice yesterday. Okay? And it was in the evening. But, again, great practice. And I think there's a correlation. It carries over. And we came out today ready to play with a lot of confidence.
