NC State got a huge game tonight from Aziaha James (28 points). What a revelation she's been this season, and a huge reason why her team has made a mockery of the preseason polls. Great things were always expected of Rivers, but James has been their best player.
James is the X factor. She’s incredibly streaky, she can do things no one else on the team can do on offense. When she’s on she is dynamic for sure.
I’d argue Hayes or Rivers has been State’s best player from the standpoint of consistency and being complete players. Neither has the entire offensive repertoire that James possesses but they are incredibly pivotal to State’s success. Hayes is a fantastic 3 point shooter, does all the dirty work, plays tough defense, rebounds well and never ever forces anything. Rivers has been great defensively this year and has slowly grown into the PG role. She can be great scoring it as well as we saw against UConn but what she does more often than not is stuff the stat sheet with steals, assists, rebounds and then has the ability to carry you by scoring every so often.
James’ growth has been great watch, and her flash and flair on offense makes her a very fun player to watch. She can get after it on D, I don’t mean to knock her there, but in general I’d like to see her be more consistent. When the shots not falling I’d like to see her find ways to impact the game the way Hayes, Rivers and Mimi Collins can without scoring it.
The whole starting 5 for the Pack have all made really really big strides since last year.
