The No. 10 NC State women’s basketball team won three games in three days during the ACC Tournament this past weekend, beating Georgia Tech, Boston College and No. 22 Florida State en route to winning the program’s first ACC title since 1991. Here are some takeaways from the Wolfpack’s championship run.
Freshmen make huge impact
Freshmen Jakia Brown-Turner and Jada Boyd are no underlooked newbies. Brown-Turner has started over 30 games and both of them were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team. In the ACC Tournament, the duo was vital in helping NC State win its first ACC championship in nearly 30 years. Boyd helped lead the charge in the semifinal win over Boston College, tying Konig for the team high in points with 16 while pulling down eight rebounds and nabbing three steals. In the championship against Florida State, Brown-Turner hit back-to-back 3s in the second half on her way to the first double-double of her career, while Boyd’s energy and tenacity in the second half propelled her to 10 points, three rebounds and two timely blocks. The freshmen might be young, but they don’t lack confidence.
Konig cements legacy
Senior guard Aislinn Konig took home some hardware this past weekend, earning ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for her role in leading NC State to the championship. Konig averaged 16.7 points per game and shot 10 for 25 from the 3-point line as she paced the Wolfpack in scoring and 3-point shooting. In her final year donning the red and white of NC State, Konig delivered on the big stage in her last shot at an ACC championship and she’s got the trophies to prove it.
What shooting slump?
After starting off 13 for 13 from 3-point range in its regular-season finale against Virginia, it seemed like the Wolfpack might have broken out of its February shooting slump. That momentum carried over into the ACC Tournament, and NC State knocked down 24 3s in its three games and shot over 36% from long range. Led by Konig’s 10, six different Wolfpack players hit multiple 3-pointers as NC State bombed away from deep, averaging eight makes on 22 attempts per game. When the Pack is hot from deep, few teams in the country can play better, and last weekend, no team in ACC was able to.
Stars aligned in other games
When the ACC Tournament bracket was first released, it looked like NC State might be in for a gauntlet. With Georgia Tech, Duke and Louisville all potentially in the Wolfpack’s path, it looked like NC State may get to play the three teams that handed the Pack a three-game home losing streak in February. However, some lower seeds paid NC State a couple of favors, as six-seed Boston College knocked off third-seed Duke and All-ACC guard Haley Gorecki in the quarterfinals, and four-seed Florida State took down first-seed and No. 4 nationally ranked Louisville Saturday afternoon in the semifinals. NC State took care of business against Georgia Tech and Boston College in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, and earned a hard-fought win over an excellent Florida State team in the championship.
Shades of the “Cardiac Pack” take form in Greensboro
NC State may have won the ACC championship, but the Wolfpack didn’t cruise by any means. Fighting through adversity became a theme of the weekend as the Pack battled back from early- and late-game deficits during its three wins. First, NC State fought back from a 14-point second-quarter deficit against Georgia Tech, then the Wolfpack erased a seven-point first-quarter Boston College lead in the blink of an eye, using a dominant 31-6 run to create an overwhelming lead of its own. Lastly, the Pack stared down a five-point fourth-quarter deficit after an 11-0 Florida State run and closed out the game on a 13-3 run over the final two and a half minutes to win the championship.
Cunane loves playing in front of the hometown crowd
Less than 30 minutes down the road from her hometown of Summerfield, North Carolina, sophomore center Elissa Cunane showed out on the court of the Greensboro Coliseum. The 6-foot-5 Wooden Award finalist averaged 15 points and six rebounds per game, shot 12 for 17 from the free-throw line, rejected two shots and came up with two huge steals in the fourth quarter of the championship game. With her friends and family in the crowd, Cunane also knocked down the go-ahead and game-clinching free throws to win the title.
