NC State needed just three weeks to go from unranked to the top five of ESPN’s women’s college basketball Power Rankings.
The Wolfpack were picked to finish eighth in the ACC preseason poll, which now seems preposterous. But they finished 20-12 overall and 9-9 in the ACC last season, losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Then because of graduation and transfers, NC State lost four players who started at least 20 games. One of them was guard Diamond Johnson, who was injured for the latter part of the season and played just 22 of NC State’s games.
It seemed as if it might take the Wolfpack a while to find themselves this season. Instead, NC State already has victories over then-No. 2 UConn and No. 3 Colorado. The latter came Saturday to conclude the Paradise Jam, where the Wolfpack beat Kentucky, Cincinnati and the Buffs by an average of 27 points.
The Wolfpack, who play in the ACC/SEC Challenge this week vs. Vanderbilt, are averaging 82 points, compared to 70.8 last season. Guard Aziaha James, who averaged 4.2 PPG as a freshman and 6.8 as…
