PORTLAND, Ore. -- The 2-seed Stanford Cardinal looked in control of their women's NCAA tournament Sweet 16 matchup Friday versus the 3-seed NC State Wolfpack, leading by 10 at the half.
But second-half foul trouble -- culminating with presumptive 2024 WNBA lottery pick Cameron Brink fouling out early in the fourth quarter -- ultimately spelled doom as the Wolfpack stormed back for a 77-67 win. With Brink limited to seven second-half minutes, NC State outscored Stanford 50-30 after halftime to advance to their second Elite Eight in three years.
Stanford, meanwhile, suffered its first loss in the NCAA tournament when having a double-digit lead at halftime, having entered the game 56-0 in such contests.
"I didn't agree with all the calls. There's probably times where she did foul and didn't get called either. Before she got caught on a foul, she got totally knocked down, I mean, run into," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "When you're a senior, I mean, I think you just have to figure out how to stay in the game. That's very disappointing to have that happen."
The Pac-12 regular season champion Stanford led NC State 43-36 when Brink picked up her third foul with 5:35 left in the third. NC State outscored the Cardinal 41-24 the rest of the way.
It marked the second time Brink fouled out in consecutive games in her collegiate career. She also fouled out with 2:11 left in regulation of Stanford's second-round matchup against Iowa State, which went into overtime.
Brink picked up four fouls in the third quarter. However, early on it was junior star Kiki Iriafen who was in foul trouble for Stanford, playing six minutes in the first half. NC State also had to sit Mimi Collins and River Baldwin for large stretches before the break for the same reason.
"I think watching their game against Iowa State, we knew that it was possible to get their bigs in foul trouble," junior guard Saniya Rivers said. "Coming in we knew we needed to attack their bigs. Once we saw we got her out of there and Kiki in foul trouble, it definitely gave us some momentum."
With NC State coach Wes Moore emphasizing at halftime the importance of getting downhill, NC State's guard play shined as the game went on, fueling their comeback. Junior guard Aziaha James, one of the most improved players in the country, scored 25 of her 29 points in the second half, more than the entire Cardinal squad.
With Rivers (13 points) and Zoe Brooks (12) also hitting double figures, NC State's backcourt delivered in every phase.
"I think they pretty much opened the floor up," VanDerveer said of the third quarter. "... A lot of NCAA tournament success is about your matchups. This is a tough matchup for us in terms of our guards keeping their guards in front. They're very quick and very athletic. It was a very tough matchup for us. I applaud our team's effort. I thought people played hard. They stayed with things. We didn't get it done."
The Wolfpack return to the Elite Eight amid rather unexpected circumstances. After losing four starters from last year's team which lost in the first round of March Madness, NC State was picked to finish eighth in the ACC and was unranked in national polls to start the season.
Their win over UConn in their second game of the season, plus a strong run in a Virgin Islands tournament in November, gave the team an initial glimpse of what could be in store for them. They tied for second in the ACC before falling in the conference tournament title game to Notre Dame.
"These players are amazing. What they've done... They're just so close. I think that's been a big part of our success," Moore said. "The chemistry, the culture. They genuinely care about each other, pull for each other to do well. I see people over there that didn't get to play as much, whatever. They're just as excited and happy for the team. That's pretty awesome."