No. 13 NC State’s 2OT win over No. 1 Notre Dame gives women’s basketball showcase thriller

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sonia Citron was down to the final frantic seconds, her top-ranked Notre Dame team down three and on the verge of its first loss since November. There was just enough time to launch a contested 3-pointer over N.C. State’s Aziaha James.

The ball dropped cleanly through, sending Citron’s jubilant teammates to mob her while leaving James walking in fists-clenched disbelief.

Yet James later had her own highlight-reel response, a transition layup in which she smoothly took the ball around her back to change hands and avoid a strip attempt by Olivia Miles during the 13th-ranked Wolfpack’s clinching run in the second overtime.

Big shots. High-level guard play. A packed house and a national spotlight beyond. The Wolfpack’s 104-95 victory in the double-OT classic Sunday had it all in what turned out to be the latest showcase moment for the sport, down to former NBA great Magic Johnson weighing in on social media in real time about a game that seemingly didn’t want to end.

“That means there’s more eyes on our game,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said, referencing ESPN’s “College GameDay” show being at Reynolds Coliseum.

The late-season stakes were already compelling enough for the game. The top-ranked Fighting Irish (24-3, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had won 19 straight games to reach No. 1 for the first time under Ivey, and a win would allow them to clinch the league’s regular-season title outright.

Then there was N.C. State (22-5, 14-2), aiming to keep alive its chances of at least sharing that regular-season title while also chasing its first win against a No. 1-ranked team at home since 1978.

The buzz had already built coming into Sunday. Wolfpack fans had lined up hours before doors opened at the venerable campus arena. Seven WNBA teams had scouts on hand for a game featuring Notre Dame’s backcourt of Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles battling the N.C. State backcourt featuring Saniya Rivers — a versatile guard with length — and a gifted, explosive scorer in James.

The Irish and Wolfpack went on to provide a captivating show, a reminder that there’s talented players and teams eager to take the baton from last year’s stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese that had been at the forefront of the sport’s rapid rise in popularity.

Beyond Rivers and James (20 points), N.C. State’s Zoe Brooks went for a career-high 33 points while repeatedly challenging Hidalgo (26 points). And as the game wore on on its way through 21 ties and 21 lead changes, it began to feel bigger than merely a single game on the league’s regular-season schedule.

By the end, Wolfpack players were mobbing each other on the court to celebrate a draining-but-thrilling win. And it wasn’t long before they took that party to the campus Memorial Belltower to celebrate with fans — the site where N.C. State marked the unexpected double Final Four by its men’s and women’s teams last spring.

“Starting from this morning, I was honestly getting really emotional this morning when I found out that the students were camping out at like 10 p.m. last night,” said Rivers, who came within an assist of a triple-double. “You think back and it’s just like: people usually don’t even like women’s basketball. But it’s just evolving ever since a year or two ago, and everybody is starting to get more involved.”

Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said the team had come by to pass out doughnuts to fans waiting in line beforehand.

“I mean, it was a lot of fun,” Moore said. “That’s what I told our players: ‘You worked hard to put yourself in this position. Now enjoy it.’ … And it was everything you could hope.”

And that included getting a couple of big-time shots, too.

The first came from Citron, who had 21 of her 23 points after halftime along with that OT-forcing 3 that had Johnson to excitedly posting on X: “Wow wow wow.”

“It actually didn’t work out exactly as planned, but I knew the ball in my hand and I had to shoot it,” Citron said, adding that she “wasn’t open how I was supposed to be.”

It didn’t matter, just like Miles’ running-back attempt to stop James’ jaw-dropping score in the second OT.

Sporting a bandage over her right eyebrow from earlier in the game, James smoothly took the ball around her body, handing it from her left hand to her right as Miles ran by, and then back to her left for the finish without breaking stride.

The layup sent Wolfpack fans into a shocked roar. Johnson was just as impressed, calling it “unbelievable” in his post on X.

“This has been the best women’s college basketball game this season!” he added.

It was hard to argue otherwise.