It looks like there won’t be any post-loss slump for the No. 8 NC State women’s basketball team this season. After suffering its first loss 17 days ago, the Wolfpack (19-1, 8-1 ACC) has won five straight games and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
With a neck-and-neck 76-68 win over rival North Carolina, the most recent of the winning streak, NC State hasn’t just bounced back with wins; it’s bounced back with total domination on the court. The Wolfpack is outscoring teams by over 23 points per game during its winning streak and hasn’t trailed in the second half for a single second.
Sophomore center Elissa Cunane’s dominant 22-point, 17-rebound performance helped put away a strong North Carolina team and keep NC State’s winning streak alive. With a career-high 14 made free throws on 16 attempts, Cunane showed out after struggling in the Pack’s first game against the Tar Heels, its only loss.
“I think I just slowed down a lot,” Cunane said. “The first game, I was going everywhere and turning the ball over a lot, and so my coaches and teammates really talked to me and said, ‘Elissa, calm down. You know who you are, just take the ball to the basket,’ and so I was able to do that.”
Last year after NC State was handed its first loss, the Wolfpack slipped up a bit during the home stretch of ACC play. It went just 4-4 after starting off ACC play 8-0 and limped to the finish line.
Not this year.
Just a few days after its loss to North Carolina, the Pack got right up off the mat with a blowout win over Notre Dame. On the road against the defending ACC champions and 2019 national runners-up, the Pack scored a season-high 90 points and shot over 56% from the field.
Later that week, NC State arrived back home in Raleigh and trounced then-No. 13 Florida State 68-51, holding the Seminoles to 26 points below their season average. It was much of the same three days later against Wake Forest, with the Wolfpack overcoming a sloppy offensive performance by holding the Demon Deacons to just 45 points.
Then, in one of the most lopsided 10 minutes of play in program history, the Pack used a 30-4 third quarter to bulldoze last-place Pittsburgh, doubling up the Panthers 88-44. With Sunday night’s Tobacco Road rivalry win over North Carolina just the latest in NC State’s post-loss win tour, the Wolfpack hasn’t just bounced back from its first loss — it’s roared back.
With only one game remaining against a ranked opponent, a home showdown with No. 5 Louisville, there’s a realistic chance NC State’s post-loss winning streak lasts through the regular season. With a serious shot at the ACC regular season and tournament crown, the Wolfpack is picking up steam as it hits the home stretch of conference play.
