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GREENSBORO, N.C. – As long as Elissa Cunane is on the floor, the NC State women’s basketball team believes it has a chance.
The Wolfpack still has a chance to successfully defend its ACC Tournament title, thanks to the junior center’s heroics on Saturday,
Cunane scored all of NC State’s points and grabbed three defensive rebounds during a closing 8-2 run that lifted the second-seeded Wolfpack to a 66-61 win over third-seeded Georgia Tech the final semifinal game of the day at Greensboro Coliseum.
NC State (19-2) will face top-seeded Louisville (23-2) in Sunday’s noon championship game (ESPN2). Despite the loss, Georgia Tech (15-8) remains in prime position for an NCAA at-large selection.
The Yellow Jackets seemed in even better position to advance past the Wolfpack at one point Saturday, holding a five-point lead at halftime and pushing the margin to 10 points (53-43) when Loyal McQueen knocked down a 3-point shot with 8:51 remaining in the game.
But that seemed to be NC State’s cue to flip the switch. With Kai Crutchfield and Jakia Brown-Turner leading the way, the Wolfpack charged back to within 59-58 and held possession with less than three minutes to play.
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The stage was set for Cunane, who led all players in scoring with 23 points.
The 6-5 All-American started things out with a layup that just beat the shot clock and put the Wolfpack up 60-59, the first lead for NC State since the four-minute mark of the first half.
Cunane followed with a three-point play at 1:38 that made it 63-59, and then added three free throws in the final 18 seconds.
Kayla Jones added 12 points for NC State, while Crutchfield and Brown-Turner finished with 10 apiece. Crutchfield scored eight points to key the Wolfpack’s fourth-quarter comeback, and Brown-Turner had five.
Lorela Cubaj turned in a double-double for Georgia Tech with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor.
OF NOTE
- NC State will appear in the ACC Tournament finals for the 16th time in the event’s 44-year history and will be seeking its sixth title overall. Prior to last year’s championship with Wes Moore at the coaching helm, the Wolfpack’s previous titles had come under the legendary Kay Yow in 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1991.
- The Wolfpack will play in back-to-back ACC Tournament finals for the first time since 1990 and 1991.
- NC State won 80-74 on Feb. 1 at Louisville in a battle of nationally-ranked top-five teams. Each team has lost only one game in the 33 days since. NC State will enter Sunday’s game ranked No. 3 nationally, while Louisville is number five.