Wolfpack women arrive in Cleveland ahead of Final Four bout with South Carolina

By Brett Knese, WRAL reporter

The NC State Wolfpack women’s basketball team arrived in Cleveland on Tuesday to prepare for its first Final Four game in 26 years.

Before departing for the Buckeye State, Wolfpack fans gathered outside of Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on Tuesday afternoon to send the team off to Cleveland.

“It was nice just seeing everybody supporting us,” Wolfpack guard Saniya Rivers said.

Friday's game will be the second time in program history the Wolfpack have played in the Women's Final Four. The last time was in 1998, when the late Kay Yow coached the team and fell to Louisiana Tech.

Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore said his team is the party crashers of the Women’s Final Four, and he wants the Wolfpack to hold on to that motto throughout the weekend.

“We’re here at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we’re the ones no one sent an invitation to, so we kind of snuck in,” he said.

The Wolfpack will need that party-crasher mentality when they take on the undefeated and top-overall seed South Carolina Gamecocks at 7 p.m. on Friday.

“That’s a tough team, and they’re well coached,” Rivers said. “I know we’re going to fight as hard as we can for 40 minutes because there’s a championship on the line.”