# 2020–21 NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team

The 2020–21 NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wolfpack were led by eighth year head coach Wes Moore and played their home games at Reynolds Coliseum as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Wolfpack finished the season 22–3 and 12–2 in ACC play to finish in second place. They won the ACC tournament defeating Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Louisville along the way to their title. It was NC State's sixth title in school history. As ACC Tournament Champions, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the one seed in the Mercado Regional. In the tournament they defeated sixteen seed North Carolina A&T in the first round and eight seed South Florida before losing to four seed Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen to end their season.

## Previous season

They finished the 2019–20 season 27–4, 14–4 in ACC play to finish in second place. They advanced to the finals of the ACC women's tournament where they defeated Florida State to win the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1991. As winners of the conference tournament, the Wolfpack received the automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA Tournament was canceled on March 12, 2020.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Aislinn Konig | 1 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Surrey, British Columbia | Graduated |
| Kaila Ealey | 2 | G | 5'9" | Graduate Student | Raleigh, NC | Graduated |
| Grace Hunter | 23 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Graduated |
| Erika Cassell | 24 | C | 6'2" | Senior | Marietta, GA | Graduated |
| Katie Wadsworth | 40 | G | 5'6" | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Raina Perez | 2 | G | 5'4" | Graduate Student | Goodyear, AZ | Cal State Fullerton |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Genesis Bryant PG | Jonesboro, GA | Lovejoy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Dontavia Waggoner G | Nashville, TN | Ensworth | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | North Florida | W 93–65 | 1–0 | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| November 29, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | NC Central | W 108–70 | 2–0 | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| December 3, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 8 | at No. 1 South Carolina Jimmy V Classic | W 54–46 | 3–0 | Colonial Life Arena (3,500) Columbia, SC |
| December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | Coastal Carolina | W 98–46 | 4–0 | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| December 9, 2020* 7:15 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | Elon | W 76–47 | 5–0 | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| ACC regular season ||||||
| December 13, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | at Boston College | W 75–69 | 6–0 (1–0) | Conte Forum (0) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| December 17, 2020 7:00 p.m., RSN | No. 4 | Wake Forest | W 79–65 | 7–0 (2–0) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| December 20, 2020 Noon, ACCNX | No. 4 | Miami (FL) | W 78–47 | 8–0 (3–0) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| December 20, 2020 4:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | Duke | Postponed | Postponed | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| December 31, 2020 7:00 p.m., RSN | No. 3 | at Georgia Tech | W 84–75 | 9–0 (4–0) | McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA |
| January 3, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 3 | Boston College | W 76–57 | 10–0 (5–0) | Reynolds Coliseum (0) Raleigh, NC |
| January 7, 2021 8:30 p.m., RSN | No. 3 | at Virginia Tech | Postponed | Postponed | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| January 10, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 3 | at Wake Forest | Postponed | Postponed | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC |
| January 14, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | Virginia | Postponed | Postponed | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| January 17, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 2 Louisville | Postponed | Postponed | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY |
| January 21, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | at Florida State | Postponed | Postponed | Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, FL |
| January 24, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | Virginia Tech | W 89–87 | 11–0 (6–0) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| January 28, 2021 4:00 p.m., RSN | No. 2 | at Virginia Tech | L 71–83 $^{OT}$ | 11–1 (6–1) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| February 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 4 | at No. 1 Louisville | W 74–60 | 12–1 (7–1) | KFC Yum! Center (2,989) Louisville, KY |
| February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | at North Carolina Rivalry | L 69–76 | 12–2 (7–2) | Carmichael Arena (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 11, 2021 4:00 p.m., RSN | No. 4 | Clemson | W 86–65 | 13–2 (8–2) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| February 15, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 4 | Notre Dame | Postponed | Postponed | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| February 18, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN | No. 4 | at Wake Forest | W 66–47 | 14–2 (9–2) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 18, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | at Virginia | Canceled | Canceled | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| February 21, 2021 Noon, ESPN2 | No. 4 | North Carolina Rivalry | W 82–63 | 15–2 (10–2) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| February 25, 2021 4:00 p.m., RSN | No. 2 | Pittsburgh | W 83–53 | 16–2 (11–2) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| February 28, 2021 Noon, ACCN | No. 2 | at Syracuse | W 68–61 | 17–2 (12–2) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2021 6:00 p.m., RSN | (2) No. 3 | vs. (7) Virginia Tech Quarterfinals | W 68–55 | 18–2 | Greensboro Coliseum (1,259) Greensboro, NC |
| March 6, 2021 2:30 p.m., ACCN | (2) No. 3 | vs. (3) Georgia Tech Semifinals | W 66–61 | 19–2 | Greensboro Coliseum (1,122) Greensboro, NC |
| March 7, 2021 Noon, ESPN2 | (2) No. 3 | vs. (1) No. 5 Louisville Final | W 58–56 | 20–2 | Greensboro Coliseum (2,063) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN | (1 M) No. 3 | vs. (16 M) North Carolina A&T First Round | W 79–58 | 21–2 | Strahan Arena San Marcos, TX |
| March 23, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (1 M) No. 3 | vs. (8 M) No. 19 South Florida Second Round | W 76–67 | 22–2 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| March 27, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (1 M) No. 3 | vs. (4 M) No. 12 Indiana Sweet Sixteen | L 70–73 | 22–3 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. M=Mercado. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll and AP does not release a final poll.