PORTLAND, Ore. — This year’s women’s NCAA Tournament features some of the most well-known names in the sport: Caitlin, JuJu, Paige, and Angel.
Maybe “Zaza” should be included in that list now that North Carolina State guard Aziaha James has helped the Wolfpack reach the Final Four.
“As you saw this weekend, she is an impressive player,” teammate River Baldwin said.
Known as Zaza by her teammates, James scored 29 points — 25 in the second half — in the third-seeded Wolfpack’s 77-67 Sweet 16 win over Stanford, then had 27 — including a career-high seven 3-pointers — in a 76-66 Elite Eight victory over top-seeded Texas.
Now she’s heading to the national semifinals in Cleveland, where N.C. State (31-6) will face undefeated South Carolina (36-0) on Saturday.
Two years ago, James was a freshman when the Wolfpack tried to reach the Final Four after a long period. But they lost in double-overtime to UConn.
“People didn’t know my name my freshman year, but you know my name now,” James said with a laugh after the victory over Texas.
Late in the game, James went into a timeout and raised her arms, encouraging the Wolfpack fans behind the bench to stand up. In that moment, Zaza was just as much of a star as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, USC’s JuJu Watkins, UConn’s Paige Bueckers or LSU’s Angel Reese.
Her outstanding performance was overshadowed by a controversy over the court at the Portland Regional. Before the game, Texas coach Vic Schaefer discussed the issue with NCAA officials and N.C. State coach Wes Moore.
It soon became clear what they were discussing: The 3-point lines on each side of the court were different. Schaefer even estimated later the difference was “about a foot.”
The game continued, with both coaches agreeing it probably didn’t make a difference in the end. It definitely didn’t bother James, who made seven of her nine attempts from beyond the different arcs.
Against Stanford, she received cheers for making a 3 from the logo.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know what I would do without Zaza in my ears. We probably hug at least three times a game,” said teammate Saniya Rivers.
James wasn’t even born the last time N.C. State reached the Final Four in 1998. They were stopped by Louisiana Tech, which is the closest N.C. State has come to a national title.
A 5-foot-9 junior from Virginia, James has found her stride this season. She’s averaging 16.4 points to lead the team — a 9.6 point improvement over last year.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in Zaza since the beginning of the year, she’s really stepped up as a leader,” Baldwin said. “And we feed off her energy.”
Moore agreed.
“She worked so hard over the summer,” he said. “She used to maybe hang her head if things didn’t go well, if a shot didn’t go in, if I got on her. But now she is a woman. She handles adversity and keeps coming back.”
James and the rest of the Wolfpack have something to prove as their run in the tournament continues: N.C. State was picked to finish eighth in the ACC before the season.
Zaza is having the last laugh.
“It feels amazing,” James said. “You know, people doubted us and we didn’t care what the media had to say. We didn’t care what anybody had to say. We showed up on the court every time and we proved who we are.”
