BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The NC State women’s basketball team fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies 91-87 in double overtime in the Elite Eight on Monday, March 28 inside Total Mortgage Arena.
The loss brings an end to a magical season for the Wolfpack (32-4, 17-1 ACC) in one of college basketball’s best games of the year. Both teams left it all out on the court, battling back and forth in a game that featured high scorers, great shots and a buzzer-beating 3 courtesy of junior wing Jakia Brown-Turner.
“First of all, just couldn’t be prouder of our players,” said head coach Wes Moore. “Come in, tough environment, great team, and went toe to toe with [UConn]. That’s the way they’ve been for the whole season. As great of players as they are, they’re even better people, and it’s just been such an honor to be around them and to work with them.”
Senior center Elissa Cunane, graduate forward Kayla Jones, and graduate guards Kai Crutchfield and Raina Perez all finished their Wolfpack careers by pouring their hearts on the court, as the program-defining players finished the game with a combined 45 points, 25 rebounds and 15 assists.
“I love my teammates, I especially love the seniors,” Brown-Turner said. “I’ve been playing with them for a while. They play hard. They help us, they help me. They’ve been helping me since I was a freshman. They just taught me a lot. I learned a lot from them.”
Entering the game, NC State knew what it was getting with a No. 2-seeded UConn (29-5, 16-1 Big East) team playing in what was essentially a home game and a star-studded roster featuring players like Paige Bueckers, Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd. Still, the Wolfpack battled back after falling behind by as much as 10 to take the game into not one, but two overtimes.
Brown-Turner was the hero of the game for the Wolfpack, hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer down three in the first overtime, leaving 0.8 seconds left on the clock and sending the game to another overtime period. Brown-Turner finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in one of her best games in a Wolfpack uniform.
“Well, I just tuned the crowd out and just played hard for my team, did everything I could to get stops, rebounds and score, just anything to help the team,” Brown-Turner said. “I really didn’t hear the crowd. Like when I’m on the court, I get zoned out.”
The game got out to a rough start for the Pack, with the team missing several layups, committing seven turnovers and hesitating on open shots. Further, NC State committed four travels in the game. The box score made things seem closer than it felt, due in part to the play of junior forward Jada Boyd and NC State’s efforts at the free-throw line. NC State made all of its first nine attempts from the charity stripe and Boyd, who finished the game with 14 points, had six points in the second to pace the Pack.
Toward the end of the first half, NC State’s graduating class was on full display. Cunane got animated after a foul call, erupting for a block and quick score inside, looking unstoppable in the process, to end the second quarter. Crutchfield played all 40 minutes on Saturday and then played all 20 first-half minutes, helping hold Bueckers to just four points in the first half.
Despite a strong showing from Williams in the first half, Crutchfield’s defense on Bueckers stood out. However, that didn’t last, as Bueckers erupted in the second half to carry the Huskies to victory, scoring 23 points in the second half and overtime periods.
With Bueckers failing to miss a shot in the second half, the Wolfpack could’ve easily fallen behind and failed to make it a close game. Instead, sophomore guard Diamond Johnson hit a massive 3-pointer to nearly even the game out heading into the fourth. Johnson later extended the Pack’s lead with another huge 3-pointer and a massive game-tying layup later in the quarter.
“Like I said, I said great players but also great people,” Moore said. “We do have a great team. I think character and those things matter, and tonight that character almost got us over the hump because a lot of teams in this environment down 10 would have packed it in. They just don’t — their heart doesn’t do that.”
Dorka Juhász went down with a gruesome injury in the first half, and UConn’s bigs Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa both were in foul trouble late in the second half, leading to some easy buckets inside for Cunane, who hit the last shot of regulation.
Nelson-Ododa was fouled with 26 seconds left but missed both free throws, setting up a potential game-winner for NC State. Instead, the Wolfpack missed the shot and the game went into its first overtime.
Bueckers began her nuclear streak in overtime, scoring 10 points in the first overtime period but the Pack kept answering the call. Crutchfield was fouled on a 3-point attempt toward the end of first overtime period, but missed one of her three shots from the charity stripe, seemingly setting up a UConn win.
However, Brown-Turner buckled down and hit the biggest shot of her NC State career, sending the game to another overtime period and extending the high-octane matchup.
Despite NC State’s best efforts, Christyn Williams scored a flurry of points in the second overtime period, slightly getting the better of the Pack and ending its magical season.
“Yeah, I mean, this journey has been incredible, and this team has done so much and accomplished so much,” Cunane said. “Although this is hurtful right now, I am proud of all that we’ve done this season, and even to be playing in this game. I couldn’t be more proud of the team.”
The loss sets NC State up for a new era of basketball after having Cunane, Crutchfield, Jones and Perez for several winning seasons, NCAA Tournaments and, of course, back-to-back-to-back ACC titles. The Pack’s graduating class’s mark on the program is unmistakable and unforgettable, giving a bittersweet ending to their Wolfpack careers.
“Yeah, what a legacy they have now,” Moore said. “Again, another step would have made it a better legacy. But definitely got all the effort and heart that you could ask for out of them. But yeah, I can’t say enough about that group and what they’ve done, not only hanging banners in Reynolds Coliseum but also just the lives they’ve touched and the people that just have really bought into our program and all. I don’t know, we’re losing four great players, so
