I really did not have much interest in State's game against Anderson-an exhibition game. I did have enough interest to look at the box score and noticed the absence of Aziaha James, Madison Hayes and Zoe Brooks from not only the starting line-up, but the box score. I knew Caitlin Weimar has a hip injury which may end her season, so I did not expect her to play. But what about the others?
I read this from ESPNW before I started looking as to why
Aziaha, Madison and Zoe did not play:
Best case: The backcourt trio of Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers and Zoe Brooks is even better than a season ago. Rivers goes to another level. She's able to take over games with her athleticism but also becomes more of a 3-point threat. Add five-star freshman Zamareya Jones into the mix and the guard production is among the best in the ACC. Boston University 6-4 transfer Caitlin Weimar eventually returns from a hip injury and is a defensive force. The Wolfpack aren't quite able to catch Notre Dame in the ACC but get healthy enough by February and make a run to the Elite Eight.
Worst case: James, Brooks and Weimar are all starting the season less than 100% healthy, and the Wolfpack are slow out of the gate with games against South Carolina, TCU and possibly LSU before Thanksgiving. Weimar's recovery from hip surgery forces her to miss significant time, and NC State doesn't have enough size. The Wolfpack never truly compete for the ACC title, and they can't rekindle the magic of last season's Final Four run.
Since previously, Crème had State only behind Notre Dame in his rankings and 9th, I wondered why State was 13th and behind Notre Dame, Duke and UNC of all teams. In reading the "Worst case" paragraph, I immediately felt I needed to listen to Coach Moore's post-game presser after the Anderson game to find out why Aziaha, Madison and Zoe were starting the season unhealthy. I learned that Aziaha has suffered a knee injury. According to Coach Moore, an MRI showed no ligament damage for Aziaha, but she did suffer a bone bruise which puts her behind Zoe and Maidson who both have suffered ankle injuries and ahead of Weimar in recovering.
Will Zoe, Madison and Aziaha be ready for Tuesday's game against ETSU or even ready for the big game against South Carolina? We certainly hope so.
State is 2-0 against ETSU winning at home in 2015 by a score of 73-58 and winning at ETSU in 2017 by a score of 78-58. State is predicted to beat ETSU 73.4 to 59.4 by REALGM.com. Neither herhoopstats or warrennolan have any information with regard to this game.
ETSU had an overall record of 18-12 last season and a conference record of 7-7. ETSU did not play an exhibition game so a possible starting lineup for the 24-25 season is not available.
Of the starting five in ETSU's final game, a loss to Mercer in the Southern Conference Tournament, only fifth year five-seven senior Courtney Moore and six-two junior Meghan Downing return. Moore averaged 8.3 ppg and shot 343 from the floor. Moore hit 42 arc shots shooting 318 from there. Downing averaged 5 ppg and shot 520 from the floor. Downing did not attempt a three-point shot. ETSU is definitely undersized having only one other player than Downing six feet or above which is six-two freshman Kennedy Younkin.
Would love to see Laci Steele shoot better than 1-6 in this game. Time for sophomore's Laci Steele and Maddie Cox to step-up. Go Pack!
Loading comments...