ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Zamareya Jones scored 15 of her career-high 30 points in the first half to help build a double-digit lead and seventh-seeded North Carolina State went on to beat 10th-seeded Tennessee 76-61 on Friday night in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack (21-10) will play second-seeded Michigan (26-6) on the Wolverines’ home court in the second round Sunday. They might be without All-ACC guard Zoe Brooks, who injured his right leg in the quarter and didn’t return.
“Hopefully we can get her back,” coach Wes Moore said. “All I know is it was a foot, which is better than a knee.”
The Lady Vols (16-14) have dropped eight straight games for the first time in the NCAA women’s basketball era that dates to the 1981-82 season, and they matched the 2015-16 team’s school record for losses.
“This is not the game we wanted, it isn’t the season we wanted,” coach Kim Caldwell said. “Nothing that we can really say to help this loss.”
Instead of starting the game with a sense of urgency, Tennessee seemed flat and N.C. State took advantage.
The Wolfpack made their first eight shots — sometimes without much resistance — and went on a 15-0 run to take a 19-4 lead.
Talaysia Cooper slammed the basketball on the court at halftime after Tennessee gave up an offensive rebound and putback in the final seconds of the first half to trail 40-29.
Cooper, the Lady Vols’ leading scorer, who was benched in the team’s last game at the SEC Tournament, appeared to be agitated as she walked off the court while having an an animated conversation with a member of the team’s staff.
Cooper put her frustrations aside to score 24 points and it didn’t help that Janiah Barker, who’s second on the team in scoring, was ruled out with an illness.
Mia Pauldo made a 3-pointer with 3:03 left in the third to pull the Lady Vols within two points, but N.C. State outscored them 9-2 to start the fourth ahead 57-48.
Khamil Pierre had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolfpack and Qadence Samuels scored 12.
“I’m just real proud of this team, especially when Zoe goes out and we were shorthanded,” Moore said.
Tennessee’s troubles
The Lady Vols didn’t seem to put up much of a fight in the final quarter of their last game, a month after Caldwell said last month there was “a lot of quit in us,” after a 93-50 loss at South Carolina.
“I feel like we played hard,” Cooper said.
Tennessee, which last won on Feb. 12 against Missouri, lost their previous seven games by an average of nearly 10 points and had another familiar result against the Wolfpack after opening the season with a three-point setback.
Pat Summitt led the Lady Vols to eight national titles and her legacy looms over Caldwell as she tries to pick up the pieces of the slumping program after her second season in charge.
“There have been very few times that I have hit failure and have never hit failure to this extreme,” said the 36-year-old Caldwell, who previously coached at Marshall and led her alma mater, Glenville State, to the 2022 Division II national title. “It’s a tough place to do it publicly.”
Scouting report
The Lady Vols were 7 of 36 on 3-pointers, struggling against a zone defense that seemed to surprise them.
“We watched a lot of games and there were several teams down the stretch that played zone against them,” Moore said.
Up next
The Wolfpack advanced for the eight time in their last nine NCAA Tournaments and will have to beat the Wolverines in front of their fans to reach the Sweet 16 for the seventh time Moore.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
