RALEIGH, N.C. -- NC State guard Zoe Brooks never panicked, flinched or hesitated. Not with the chance to take on the All-American guards leading Notre Dame, the nation's top-ranked team.
The 5-foot-10 Brooks scored a career-high 33 points to help the 13th-ranked Wolfpack beat No. 1 Notre Dame 104-95 in double overtime Sunday, swapping her typical role as wingman to touted backcourt teammates for breakout star of a thrilling game played in the national TV spotlight.
"I like challenges," Brooks, a sophomore, said.
Brooks came in averaging 13.5 points and her previous high had been 21. But she blew past that in a high-pressure matchup against the Irish's backcourt of Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, staying on the off-dribble attack of the paint to put the pressure on Notre Dame's interior defenders as well as constantly getting to the foul line in a draining 47½ minutes of work.
The day started with the Wolfpack players delivering doughnuts to fans lined up outside for hours to get in early on a day when ESPN's "College GameDay" was on site to highlight the matchup. By the end, Brooks was joining teammates in hopping around and celebrating on the court in front of a packed Reynolds Coliseum at the horn.
And it wasn't long before they took that party to the campus Bell Tower to celebrate with fans -- the site where NC State marked the unexpected double Final Four by its men's and women's teams last spring.
The Wolfpack ended Notre Dame's 19-game winning streak and denied the Irish the chance to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title outright. Now, after earning its first home win against a No. 1-ranked team since beating Wayland Baptist in 1978, NC State still has a chance to grab at least a share of that title.
"It's amazing," Brooks said. "We're all tired. We're all banged up, all hurting. We just kept fighting. We wanted to win this game rally bad, and we did everything we could to win."
Brooks made 9 of 20 shots overall and hit all 14 of her free throws while drawing a game-high eight fouls on opponents. She was unafraid to go right at Hidalgo, a first-team Associated Press All-American ranked second nationally in scoring (24.6) and a familiar opponent from their pre-college days.
Nor did she back off from driving against bigger defenders, like when she had her shot blocked in the paint by the 6-foot Liatu King but went right back up to snag the rebound and draw a foul. She responded by calmly sinking two more free throws for an 80-77 lead with 22.5 seconds left in regulation.
Sometimes she scored easily. Sometimes she ended up knocked to the floor. But in a game with slim margins of 21 ties and 21 lead changes, those big moments kept adding up until NC State was finally able to wrestle away control for good in the final (extra) five minutes.
"She got to the free-throw line 14 times individually, we didn't even have that many as a team," Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said, referencing the Irish's 10 attempts. "So, she did a great job of getting downhill, playing with a ton of confidence and it was one of those nights for her, having a career high. Hats off to her, she played well."
Brooks' lofty recruiting pedigree has indicated there were performances like this to come, notably as a McDonald's All-American and top-10 national recruit when she arrived before last season. But she had only twice cracked the 20-point mark in her career, with 21 points against ETSU in the season opener and then 21 in a loss at Florida State on Feb. 9.
NC State generally hadn't needed her to take on a role like that, with James being such an explosive and gifted scorer while Rivers is an all-around matchup headache with length and versatility.
Those players showed up Sunday, too. James had 20 points, including a highlight-reel transition layup in which she smoothly took the ball around her back to change hands and avoid Miles' strip attempt in the second overtime. And Rivers barely missed a triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and three blocks.
Brooks offered a glimpse of an even higher ceiling for the Wolfpack, coming behind a set of guards that stand as one of the few nationally good enough to counter the Irish's backcourt punch.
"Notre Dame deserves all the attention and all that they get," Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said of the Irish's guards. "But I like ours, too. We've got some pretty good ones."