GREENSBORO – A 79-61 Sweet 16 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday afternoon ended the NC State women’s basketball team’s historic season, but there is no reason for disappointment going forward.
The Wolfpack is losing two starters, senior forward DD Rogers and graduate guard Kiara Leslie, but those two have left the Wolfpack in capable hands.
“As far as our program goes, we owe a lot to [Rogers and Leslie],” head coach Wes Moore said. “We’re excited about where we’re headed and we owe that to [Rogers and Leslie].”
Freshman center Elissa Cunane, who received praise from some of the top women’s basketball coaches in the NCAA for her late-season play, went toe-to-toe with two-time Big Ten Player of the Year center Megan Gustafson all game and came away with a double-double, notching 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Cunane started the year on the bench, but a rash of key injuries left the Pack shorthanded and pushed her into a starting role. The Summerfield, NC, native answered the call, averaging 17.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game over the team’s last 12 games and providing a glimpse into the future of the Wolfpack’s future star.
“In the ACC and college basketball as a whole, you just need to get experience,” Cunane said. “And with that under my belt this year, hopefully it will help me next season. I’ll have to grind out this summer … and work hard every single day. I’m not going to take it easy just because I had a good season.”
Also returning for NC State is junior guard Aislinn Konig, the team’s vocal leader and one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in ACC history. After falling short of the postseason two years in a row, the Wolfpack has made the NCAA Tournament in all three of Konig’s seasons. Three appearances and a 5-3 record in NCAA Tournament play has turned Konig from a wide-eyed newcomer into a grizzled veteran leader.
“I think everyone who has been to the [three] tournaments with me will have a chip on their shoulder,” Konig said. “We’re going to come in [to next season] with a chip on our shoulder and [play] fiery. We want this badly.”
Along with returning sophomore guard Kai Crutchfield, who also got thrust into a starting role unexpectedly due to injuries and shined as a weapon from beyond the arc, the Pack has one of its best recruiting classes ever, with No. 17 recruit Jakia Brown-Turner and No. 32 Jada Boyd arriving in Raleigh.
“I think ESPN ranked [the recruiting class] top 10,” Moore said. “Now back-to-back Sweet 16s, we’re getting in homes [to recruit] that we weren’t able to get into a few years ago.”
As disappointed with the result of the game as she was, Rogers was equally excited for the future of the NC State women’s basketball program.
“Going forward if they have the right energy, they can go far,” Rogers said. “I expect big things from them next year.”
Freshman center Elissa Cunane passes to senior forward DD Rogers while being tightly guarded on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at Greensboro Coliseum. Cunane recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Wolfpack’s 79-61 loss to the Hawkeyes.
