NC State women will face UConn this season in rematch of ESPY-nominated Elite 8 showdown
NC State women's basketball released its finalized nonconference schedule Tuesday and it includes a trip to UConn, giving the Wolfpack a chance to avenge last season's Elite Eight loss to the Huskies.
Also highlighting the Pack's out-of-ACC games is a trip to Iowa, home of one of the most dynamic players in women's basketball, Caitlyn Clark, who led the nation in scoring (27 ppg) and assists (8 apg) last season as a sophomore.
Ranked No. 12 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 after going 32-4 and sweeping the ACC with its third straight tournament crown, NC State has 11 nonconference matchups slated for the 2022-23 season, beginning with a preseason tuneup against UNC Pembroke on Nov. 3.
The Wolfpack will host Quinnipiac on Nov. 7, Elon on Nov. 10, Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 13 and Charlotte on Nov. 16.
NC State will head to UConn on Nov. 20, beginning a home-and-home series that will bring the Huskies to Reynolds in 2023-24.
UConn, ranked No. 2 in the ESPN preseason poll, knocked off the Wolfpack in a dramatic doublie-overtime national quarterfinal game on its way to the national championship game, won by South Carolina. That Huskies-Pack showdown was one of four nominations for the ESPY Awards' Best Game.
UConn will again be led by Paige Bueckers, the national player of the year her freshman season, now a junior after spending a chunk of last year recovering from ankle surgery.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Wolfpack will play former North Carolina Player of the Year Shea Ralph's Vanderbilt squad on Nov. 24 and West Virginia on Nov. 25 in Mexico at the Cancun Challenge.
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Then comes the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with the Wolfpack playing at Iowa (No. 6 in ESPN's poll) on Dec. 1, with a game at Georgia — which dealt NC State one if its rare losses last season — four days later on Dec. 5.
The Wolfpack will close out its nonconference schedule at home against South Florida on Dec. 11 and Davidson on Dec. 15.
The ACC schedule will be released in the coming weeks, with NC State set to play home games against Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Virginia Tech this season.
NC State women's basketball roster update
The Wolfpack will look different this season after losing two-time All-American post Elissa Cunane and five-year players Kai Crutchfield and Kayla Jones, along with graduate transfer Raina Perez.
The addition of national championship-winning transfer Saniya Rivers from South Carolina — a former national high school player of the year out of Wilmington's Hoggard High — will help. Last year's transfers Diamond Johnson and Madison Hayes should see more playing time, along with skilled guard Aziaha James.
Camille Hobby is ready to shoulder the load in the paint, and seniors Jada Boyd and Jakia Brown-Turner bring back more talent and experience.
Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State women's basketball vs. UConn on 2022-23 regular schedule
