Aziaha James leads No. 21 NC State past James Madison

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Aziaha James scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half and No. 21 N.C. State beat James Madison 61-47 on Thursday night for its fifth straight victory.

James took over in the third quarter by scoring 10 of N.C. State’s 12 points to build a 40-27 lead with 4:42 left in the frame. But the Wolfpack only made one more field goal the rest of the quarter as JMU got within 42-33. James also scored the opening four points of the fourth quarter to regain a double-digit lead.

Madison Hayes added 11 points and Zoe Brooks scored 10 with six assists and three steals for N.C. State (9-3), which closed its nonconference slate. Wes Moore picked up his 840th win — 282nd with N.C. State — in his 1,100th game as a head coach.

Kseniia Kozlova had 15 points and 13 rebounds for James Madison (8-4), which was picked to finish first in the Sun Belt preseason poll. Peyton McDaniel, the preseason Sun Belt player of the year, was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting after averaging 14.5 points per game coming in.

Both teams shot below 34% from the field in the first half and combined to go 3 of 30 from 3-point range. JMU made just 6 of 29 shots but only trailed 26-17 after N.C. State went 3 for 21 in the second quarter.

The Wolfpack have nine days off before hosting Clemson in their second ACC game of the season on Dec. 29, while James Madison battles Troy to begin Sun Belt play.

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