ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — N.C. State star guard Zoe Brooks watched her teammates warm up as she stood on crutches and wore a protective boot on her right foot.
Michigan took advantage of her absence.
The second-seeded Wolverines beat the seventh-seeded Wolfpack 92-63 on Sunday, turning 22 turnovers into 35 points, to advance to the women's Sweet 16.
Brooks, an All-ACC guard, was injured Friday night when seventh-seeded N.C. State eliminated No. 10 seed Tennessee.
“She's very important to us, but let's face it, Michigan played great so it’s definitely not an excuse,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said.
Brooks was held out of practice Saturday in the hopes that she would be available to play against the second-seeded Wolverines. She wasn't ruled out until Sunday morning.
“I hated for her season to end like that,” Moore said. “Obviously, I hated it for our team because they depend on her a lot. She’s a leader for us. So that was tough, but again, it’s a team sport, and you’ve got to figure out a way to overcome.”
Brooks started in 31 games this season, averaging 16 points, a team-high 4.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds. She was a key player on N.C. State's team that reached the 2024 Final Four when she was a freshman.
Freshman Destiny Lunan started for the Wolfpack in her place. She had two fouls in the opening five minutes and didn’t play the rest of the half. Lunan fouled out midway through the fourth quarter with six points, limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
