On Friday at 4:30 PM PT on ESPN, No. 2 Stanford women’s basketball will take on No. 3 NC State in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament in Portland, Oregon. Stanford comes in at 30-5 overall while NC State comes in at 29-6.
Last time out: Stanford is coming off a thrilling 87-81 victory over Iowa State in overtime. Stanford junior Kiki Iriafen stole the show with 41 points and 16 rebounds.
RECAP: No. 2 Stanford WBB wins OT thriller over No. 7 Iowa State
On NC State: The Wolfpack have had a strong season, going 13-5 in the ACC. In the NCAA tourney, they defeated No. 14 Chattanooga 64-45 in the first round and No. 6 Tennessee 79-72 in the second round. They’re coming with a lot of momentum.
The Wolfpack are led by junior guard Aziaha James, who is averaging 16.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Junior guard Saniya Rivers is the number two scorer for this Wolfpack team with 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. There are also three other players scoring 10+ points per game, so they have a lot of depth.
As a team, the Wolfpack average 73.7 points per game on 42.7% shooting from the field, 32.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.0% shooting from the foul line. They average 43.4 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 6.5 steals, 4.4 blocks, and 12.2 turnovers per game. They average a +6.7 rebound margin and a +0.9 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 59.9 points per game on 35.6% shooting from the field, 29.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.3% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is keep feeding the post. With Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen inside, they are very tough to stop. That’s their strength offensively and as a team they gotta lean into it this time of year. If you’re gonna get beat, you don’t want it to be because you didn’t give your best players opportunities.
The next thing Stanford needs to do is make their threes. NC State defends the perimeter really well. That’s a big part of their success. If Stanford is making threes on them, that will go a long ways towards victory.
Finally, Stanford needs to make sure they take good care of the ball. Ball security has been an issue for them at times and I’m sure NC State will look to force turnovers. If Stanford is taking good care of the ball, I like their chances to win.
Prediction: I think this one will be close, but I’ll give Stanford the edge here. 77-73 Cardinal is how I see this one shaking out.
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