No. 3 NC State stays undefeated, beats No. 22 Florida State in OT

RALEIGH, N.C. — Players for third-ranked North Carolina State sensed confidence from coach Wes Moore when their undefeated status was on the line Thursday night.

They rewarded him with a strong overtime.

River Baldwin scored 21 points against her former team before leaving with an injury and the Wolfpack never trailed in the extra session to pull out an 88-80 win over No. 22 Florida State.

“Especially in this overtime, he didn’t panic at all,” N.C. State guard Madison Hayes said of Moore. “He puts us in the best positions possible.”

Aziaha James had 18 points, Zoe Brooks scored 15, Saniya Rivers posted 12 points and Hayes finished with 11 points for the Wolfpack (14-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who defeated a Top 25 team for the third time this season. N.C. State made only three 3-point baskets, but two came in overtime from Hayes and James.

“This team obviously has given me a lot of reasons to have confidence in them,” Moore said. “They found a way to get it done. It was good we could kind of hold serve here at home. That’s important.”

Ta’Niya Latson poured in 30 points for the third game in a row for Florida State (11-4, 2-1), which overcame a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit. O’Mariah Gordon had 15 points and Makayla Timpson added 13.

“We pushed them to the brink,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “We have to learn from this and understand that we’re capable. Good teams just make you pay. … The players are so disappointed, and I totally get that. But we learned so much. We saw what we could be.”

N.C. State’s 63-51 lead from early in the fourth quarter shrunk to 67-64 on Gordon’s 3-pointer. The second of Latson’s back-to-back drives for baskets made it 72-70, and her two free throws with 1:01 left tied it.

James scored on a move into the lane and Latson matched it. Neither team got a shot to the rim on its final possessions of regulation, which ended at 74-all.

“Just that last play, it did not flow,” Wyckoff said. “It got tipped, unfortunately.”

Mimi Collins suppled nine points and 11 rebounds for N.C. State.

Baldwin had drawn five offensive fouls before falling to the floor with an ankle injury with 42 seconds to play in the third quarter. The fifth-year senior center didn’t return. Her ACC high for points had been 12 in the Wolfpack’s previous game at Virginia.

N.C. State led 59-51 entering the fourth quarter after a couple of huge third-quarter momentum swings.

Florida State opened the second half on an 11-2 run to grab a 45-42 lead. The Wolfpack responded, with Collins draining a 3 and Brooks scoring in transition to push N.C. State to a 54-48 edge.

Baldwin, in her second N.C. State season after three years with the Seminoles, shot 8 for 11 in the first half. She was averaging 10.5 points per game entering the game.

“Proud of the grit we showed,” Moore said. “Obviously, River Baldwin was playing at a high level. When she went out, they made a good run.”

The Wolfpack used 52.9% first-half shooting from the field to lead 40-34 despite going without a 3-point basket. Baldwin had 12 of N.C. State’s first 20 points.

Latson was 3-for-11 from the field in the opening half.

Florida State’s most recent win over a top 5 team came in February 2021 against then-No. 3 Louisville.

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: The Seminoles weren’t able to carry momentum to overtime, falling for the first time in three true road games this season.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack got into the lane enough to create offensive chances after Baldwin departed. There were enough shaky stretches for concern, but challenges like this will come in conference play.

UP NEXT

Florida State: Sunday at Clemson.

N.C. State: Sunday at No. 13 Virginia Tech.