Small But Mighty: Zoe Brooks Propels Wolfpack to Win
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RALEIGH — Zoe Brooks stands just 5-foot-10, but packs a much stronger punch than her height allows her to when she takes the court for NC State. Now in her junior season, the guard hit her stride in ACC play with the Wolfpack's latest win over Stanford, scoring 18 points and adding six assists and three rebounds.
She leads quietly, sometimes too quietly for head coach Wes Moore, but her level of play never slips. It might not always be as efficient as it was in Thursday's 74-56 victory, but Brooks drives without fear and never appears intimidated by the competition, even if defenders tower over her inside.
Brooks thrives against the Cardinal
Before the game started, Brooks was honored after she scored her 1,000th collegiate point in the Wolfpack's win over Davidson before Christmas. No play encapsulated what Brooks means to NC State than a moment in the fourth quarter when she missed one shot inside, leaped in the air to collect her own rebound through the trees and then finished through a foul for an and-one opportunity.
"It's always fun going against people that are taller than me," Brooks said, smirking. "I feel like everybody's taller than me. I'm always one of the most small players on the court, but I feel like all it takes is heart. You have to have a lot of heart going against people much taller than you and sometimes more athletic."
Quick four points to end the half 😤 pic.twitter.com/65jV2HHuvP
— NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) January 1, 2026
Brooks often saves her best play for the key moments, scoring eight as NC State pulled away from Stanford in the fourth quarter. Her ability to finish inside despite being undersized makes her impossible to guard at times, as she darts around the court with her impressive ball-handling skills and weaves through traffic entirely unafraid of traffic in the lane.
"You just have to be crafty around the rim," Brooks said.
Crafty might be the best way to describe the veteran guard. While her athleticism is solid, her body control and knack for dictating the pace of the game offensively make her unstoppable when the shots are falling like they were against Stanford.
1K points ball for @zoebrooks35 ‼️
— NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) January 1, 2026
Proud of you 35 🫶 pic.twitter.com/Scj1q6FLDs
With the grueling non-conference slate in the rearview mirror, Brooks appears to be turning things on again. No one on the current team knows Moore better than the veteran guard, as Brooks was a contributor in her first two seasons with the Wolfpack. Now, the rest of the roster is catching up and starting to play to Moore's standard.
"I feel like last year we even started off pretty slow, had a couple losses early in the season, so I guess that is how we started off this year, too," she said. "But, we always pick it up and figure out what we need to work on and what mistakes we're making to try and move forward to ACC play... I think the emphasis moving forward is just keep defending, rebounding and shots will fall."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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