Another weekend and another game shook up the women’s basketball national landscape as No. 1 Notre Dame fell on the road to No. 13 NC State 104-95 in double overtime Sunday.

“We always play together. We’re a sisterhood. We’re a family,” NC State sophomore Zoe Brooks said. “We know if we play together, we can beat anybody in the country.”

The Wolfpack showed that Sunday.

The Fighting Irish moved into the No. 1 spot last week after UCLA, the previous No. 1, dropped a game to USC (on the same weekend that then-No. 4 South Carolina was stunned at home by then-No. 7 UConn and then-No. 3 Texas held on against then-No. 5 LSU at home). A season after the women’s NCAA title game outdrew the men and several games pulled in record-breaking attendance and audiences, parity has been the overarching theme as no team has yet to separate itself on the national stage.

Sunday’s game — the first time an AP No. 1 team had been forced to double overtime since 2006 — featured 21 lead changes with no team ahead by more than seven points until the second overtime. But by the time it reached double OT, it was all NC State as the Wolfpack outscored the Fighting Irish 12-3 for the final margin.

The Wolfpack’s defense forced three turnovers and recorded four steals in the final five minutes alone, capping an impressive defensive day that saw one of the nation’s top offenses in Notre Dame stymied into early shot clock attempts and a slew of missed shots at the bucket. Outside of shooting, the NC State pressure also impacted the Fighting Irish’s general offensive flow. So far this season, Notre Dame has averaged 18 assists per game (with a 55 percent assist percentage), but NC State’s defense forced more one on one as the Irish finished with just a 42 percent assist percentage on the day, their third-worst outing of the season.

The Wolfpack overcame 17 turnovers and a disadvantage in paint points with a nearly perfect performance from the free-throw line and better-than-usual 3-point shooting. NC State, a 66 percent free-throw shooting team went 24 of 26 from the line, hitting their first 23 attempts. The Wolfpack knocked in 38.1 percent of their 3-point attempts as Notre Dame — which led the country in 3-point shooting percentage at 41 percent — struggled from range, connecting on just a quarter of its 3-pointers.

In a game crowded with talented guards featuring two of the best backcourts in the nation, Brooks put the best performance on the floor. She scored a game-best and career-best 33 points and added 10 rebounds. It marked the most points for an NC State player against a No. 1 team in 25 years. Brooks was a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line.

Fellow NC State backcourt members Aziaha James (20 points) and Saniya Rivers (14 points and 13 rebounds) proved crucial while Notre Dame’s backcourt did everything possible to hold off an upset. Hannah Hidalgo finished with 26 points and was the only Irish player to get to the free throw line, while Olivia Miles (22 points and nine rebounds) and Sonia Citron (23 points and seven rebounds) helped maintain calm for the Irish as their outside shooting struggled. Citron proved crucial in the second half, scoring 21 of her 23 points after halftime.

While NC State owned the second overtime and the game’s storyline, Citron walked away with the play of the game by knocking in a tough, step-back 3-point attempt with 0.6 seconds over James to tie the game at 84 and send it to OT.

Notre Dame and NC State last met in the 2024 ACC Tournament title game as the Fighting Irish eked by with a 55-51 win. The Wolfpack have pulled themselves within one game of the top spot while also owning the tiebreaker against Notre Dame with two games left in the ACC regular season.

Even though Sunday’s game might not change the ACC standings, depending on how the season’s final week shakes out, NC State’s win signals that the pool of potential NCAA title favorites this season is even wider than expected. NC State’s backcourt has Final Four experience and showed that when push comes to shove, it can execute to the final buzzer (even in double overtime).

With no team having established true dominance over the women’s basketball landscape this season, the race to the Final Four seems more open than ever as the regular season’s final week approaches.

NC State will close the regular season with games against SMU and Wake Forest, the two last-place teams in the ACC. Notre Dame will face Florida State and Louisville at home as the Irish vie for their second regular-season ACC title in three seasons.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, North Carolina State Wolfpack, Women's College Basketball

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