CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When N.C. State guard Zoe Brooks was asked which opponent she most looked forward to facing this season on Monday, Oct. 6 at ACC Tipoff, her answer came fast.
“UNC,” the junior said.
Teammate Zamareya Jones echoed it instantly – then Brooks added, “And Duke.”
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“Local rivals,” coach Wes Moore said.
Every year, the Triangle teams compete for top spots in the ACC. N.C. State finished as the regular season champion last year, only to fall to Duke in the ACC tournament championship game. Duke and UNC then met in March Madness, with the Blue Devils taking down the Tar Heels in the Sweet Sixteen.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, it will be no different.
“These are three teams that are three great examples, all three hosted an NCAA Tournament,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “They’re great examples for women’s basketball and the support that their communities give them.”
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Duke’s continuity heading into 2025-26
The Blue Devils return 10 letter winners from last years squad, including four starters in Delaney Thomas, Ashlon Jackson, Jadyn Donovan and Taina Marr. They also return ACC Rookie of the Year in Toby Fournier, who is entering her sophomore season with a heightened sense of confidence, and have four first-time players in freshmen Emilee Skinner and Anna Wikstrom along with redshirt freshman Arianna Roberson and redshirt sophomore Riley Nelson.
Mar 30, 2025; Birmingham, AL, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Toby Fournier (35) grabs a pass in the lane in front of South Carolina Gamecocks forward Sania Feagin (20) at Legacy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News
Sixth-year head coach Kara Lawson will make sure her team is ready by the time conference play comes around, making sure not to keep it easy on her team in non-conference action, with the Blue Devils slated to play LSU, Baylor, South Carolina and West Virginia, just to name a few.
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“I think the philosophy is really to get exposed, and I think it’s really hard to get exposed in games you win by 60 or 70,” Lawson said. “So if you are playing a ton of those, then I don’t think you know a lot about your team or everything that you need to know about your team entering conference play.”
And while finishing 29-8 last year as the ACC tournament champs and making it to the Elite Eight, Duke is making sure not to get caught up in last year’s results.
“You can’t take anything from last year into this year,” Fournier said. “There’s no carryover.”
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Seniorless NC State squad
N.C. State returns two starters from its 2024-25 team in Brooks and Tilda Trygger and returns seven members overall. The Wolfpack, though, in their 13th season under Moore, have no seniors. In their place, Moore will look for his younger players to step up.
“The great teams we’ve had have had great senior leadership, and we’re depending on some younger players to provide that leadership,” Moore said. “With Zoe being a junior and having started and played quite a bit her first two years, and Zamareya, McDonald’s all American out of high school. Had a great freshman year. We are counting on these two heavily to provide some leadership.”
Zoe Brooks #35 of the NC State Wolfpack takes a shot on the basket as Vanessa de Jesus #2 of the Duke Blue Devils defends during the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game at Greensboro Coliseum Complex on March 09, 2025.
The Wolfpack also face a tough non-conference slate, with three of their first four games being against teams that finished in last year’s top 15.
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“I think it prepares you,” Moore said. “The ACC is unbelievable. It’s so strong. 18 great programs, schools, universities in the league. You’d better find out early what your weaknesses are and what you need to fix.”
North Carolina loses 60% of production
North Carolina returns eight members from last year’s squad with six newcomers but expect the Tar Heels to have a different look.
“You don’t lose two of the best post players (Alyssa Ustby and Maria Gakdeng) the league has seen in a long time and try to replace them immediately in the same way,” Banghart said. “So we have some posts that need to step into that opportunity. … Then we bring back a lot of experienced guards, talented guard play, as well as what we brought in both through the portal and freshmen in recruiting.”
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Despite losing nearly 60% of their production from last season, UNC will rely on returners Reniya Kelly, Indya Nivar and Lanie Grant, but plenty of its newbies are already making names for themselves.
“Taliyah Henderson,” Kelly said. “Nyla Harris,” Nivar said.
Nov 25, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Reniya Kelly (10) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard Lexi Donarski (20) celebrate during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
And similar to its other Triangle teams, the Tar Heels will be made sure to be prepared come time for conference play due to a gauntlett of a non-conference schedule.
“We kind of are going to go against people that are really experienced and had a great year last year,” Banghart said. “I think that will bode well as we continue to persistently prepare for what’s going to be the ACC gauntlet.”
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Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke, NC State and UNC women’s basketball gearing up for another fierce season
