Zoe Brooks is ready for her closeup, and other NC State-Maryland takeaways

Brooks cooks

The headline of the day was Zoe Brooks, who seems poised to take over for the Wolfpack after some of last season’s bigger-name stars left town. Brooks posted 20 points in 38 minutes on the floor, leading her team in both categories and tacking on five steals and four assists for good measure. She also took over towards the end of the game when Maryland had N.C. State on the ropes and scored seven of her team’s last nine points.

Overall, it was a very good night and a nice way to bounce back after a subpar outing against High Point. Brooks didn’t do much from the perimeter or midrange, but she made up for it with plenty of slashing and paint points. She will be looked to as a vet and a leader this season for N.C. State, and she fared well in this second exhibition.

“I feel like every game I’m just trying to do whatever to help the team win,” Brooks said afterwards. “I care about winning a lot more than my personal performance. I gotta do a better job scoring and getting my teammates involved. But I know at the end I had to be aggressive to pull away from them.”

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Transfer talent shines

It was a big night for two of the marquee transfers that head coach Wes Moore brought into his program, as Khamil Pierre and Qadence Samuels both had excellent evenings. Pierre, who came to Raleigh after two good years at Vanderbilt, was a complement to fellow big Tilda Trygger.

Pierre got into foul trouble late, but otherwise played well. She posted 16 points in just 22 minutes on the floor, providing a nice option in transition and down low in the post. The forward proved a good partner to Brooks as well, as an outlet for the slashing guard. Pierre seemed happy to be playing in a scheme that relied on the entire group, instead of running sets through just her and former Commodore co-star Mikayla Blakes.

“We ran a lot of stuff last year through just me and Mikayla, and Mikayla especially,” Pierre said. “So being able to be around people [where] it’s more of a complete team, it feels good and it feels like better overall basketball.”

UConn transplant Samuels also had a good showing with her new team. She proved a nice replacement for Pierre after the latter got into foul trouble, hauling in 11 boards. Samuels wasn’t a huge part of the Huskies’ system last season, but she had a nice showing Sunday. Factor in the 14 points and eight rebounds Samuels posted against High Point and it makes up a good preseason for the forward.

Tilda Trygger’s upward trajectory

We all knew that Trygger would be good, particularly after an outstanding freshman season. That said, she looked even better against Maryland. Trygger was a force to be reckoned with both in the paint, scoring 15 points at an efficient 4-for-6 clip from the field along with 6-for-8 from the free throw line. The sophomore from Stockholm attracted a lot of defensive attention from a feisty Terrapin defense, but fought through it with the poise of a veteran. Six rebounds and a block rounded out a solid performance to put Trygger solidly on other teams’ radar as one of the more dangerous post players in the ACC. She’ll be especially lethal in the company of Pierre.

Plenty of work to be done

N.C. State’s maturity shined through late, as the Wolfpack battled back in the final minutes to take the lead and the game. They closed things out by not allowing a made field goal in the final six minutes as Brooks took over. That said, there’s plenty to work on. The team only totaled 10 assists and got into some foul trouble — every starter picked up at least three and Pierre exited early. Wes Moore suggested that he was happy with the outcome but knew he would need more from this group later in the season.

“We’re way overrated right now. You know, all those ratings are based on what you did last year,” Moore said. “So we got a lot to prove, and a brutal schedule coming up to try to prove it. But again, I did like the fight we showed in the second half, and the ability to come back and find a way.”

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Oluchi Okananwa is (still) very good

One of the bigger gets in the transfer portal this year for Maryland was guard Oluchi Okananwa, a former Duke standout and reigning ACC Tournament MVP. After two seasons coming off the bench for the Blue Devils, Okananwa joined the Terrapins. On Sunday, she showed the sort of damage she can do as a starter. The junior had 21 points and seven rebounds, along with a court presence that few others can generate. She caused problems poking the ball away and getting down low to grab boards, tacking on a few threes for good measure.

Maryland was a good team last year, and will look to be even better with a force like Okananwa out there. In the postgame presser, it seemed like Moore may still have been seeing ghosts after his group’s loss to Okananwa’s Duke in last year’s ACC Championship.

“According to my stats, [Okananwa] only hit 10 threes last year, and it seemed like she hit all 10 of them against us, probably,” Moore said. “So today again, she came out and hurt us.”

While the game was a little sloppier than he would’ve liked, Moore generally seemed satisfied. The Wolfpack played strong second-half defense against a high-flying Maryland group. It’s still early, and both teams will have plenty of time to refine their games and improve in the coming months. But real games are approaching fast. N.C. State will come back to the First Horizon Coliseum in just a week to start its 2025-26 campaign against an excellent Tennessee Volunteers team.