NC State advanced to the second round of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball with a 79-58 win over North Carolina A&T Sunday.

The one-seeded Wolfpack will face eighth-seeded South Florida Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN2 for a chance to make what would be the program’s third-consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Here are three questions that remain after the Pack’s first-round victory this weekend:

We likely won’t know much more about Jones’ status until Tuesday.

For those that missed it, Jones suffered from what appeared to be an ankle or knee injury midway through the second quarter of the Pack’s win over North Carolina A&T Sunday. She was able to hobble off of the court on her own power but went straight to the locker room and did not return for the remainder of the game.

“They don't know,” NC State head coach Wes Moore said afterward. “We've got a doctor traveling with us. They said they'll just get an MRI tonight and see what it is, what's going on in there. They don't think it's an ACL or anything like that, but it's really tender and soft to the touch. We'll get some ice on it and hopefully she'll feel better.

“She's a big part of what we do and a great leader for us. We won't know until we get that later tonight.”

While it’s unfair to speculate how far the Wolfpack could go if Jones had to miss the remainder of the tournament, there’s no question her absence would present a major obstacle.

The senior forward isn’t the team leader in any one statistic, but she ranks among the top three in almost all of them among the NC State roster.

Jones is the Wolfpack third-leading scorer (11.9 points per game), second-leading rebounder (7.1 rebounds per game) and is second on the team in assists (2.9 assists per game).

She’s also the Wolfpack’s leader on the floor and seems to play her best in the biggest moments, which is a key weapon in March.

Jones made the game-winning three-pointer in the road win over then-ranked No. 1 South Carolina. She had a career-high 25 points in the comeback road win over Boston College, and she also grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds in the road win over then-ranked No. 1 Louisville.

Moore hit it on the head, there’s no denying that Jones is a vital part of NC State’s success this season. Wolfpack fans hoping the women can make a long run in San Antonio should also be crossing their fingers Jones can make a speedy recovery.