#9 NC State Takes Perfect Record to UNC for Thursday Night Matchup

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RALEIGH – Entering the week as one of four remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I women's basketball, the ninth-ranked Wolfpack (14-0, 3-0 ACC) will make the short trip to local rival North Carolina on Thursday evening. Tip-off from Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C., is scheduled for 7 p.m., and live television coverage will be provided by RSN (Fox Sports South in Raleigh).

A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD...
• Be the 931st win in program history (930-467)
• Be the 713th win of head coach Wes Moore's career (712-227)
• Be Moore's 155th win at NC State (154-58)
• Be Moore's 67th ACC victory at NC State
• Be the Wolfpack's second-best start to a season (15-0) in program history, which would rank behind last season's 21-0 start

NOTING THE WOLFPACK (14-0, 3-0 ACC)
• Ranked ninth in the AP Poll since Dec. 9 and moved up one spot to No. 8 in the USA Today Poll on Jan. 7
• Selected to finish second in the ACC this season
• No. 4 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (32.4)
• No. 6 in rebound margin (+12.6)
• No. 11 in field-goal percentage defense (.331)
• No. 13 in three-pointers per game (9.1)
• No. 13 in scoring defense (53.9)
• No. 14 in scoring margin (+21.0)
• Owns the conference lead in five of those categories: scoring margin, field-goal percentage defense, rebounding margin, defensive rebounds per game and three-pointers made per game

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS (11-3, 2-1 ACC)
• Predicted to finish ninth in the conference this season
• First season under the leadership of head coach Courtney Banghart
• 12th nationally in rebounds per game (44.2)
• 16th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30)
• All five Tar Heel starters average in double figures with at least 12.3 points per game each
• Janelle Bailey paces the team by averaging a double-double with 14.7 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game

SERIES HISTORY (NC State leads 58-51)
• Thursday's game will be the 110th meeting between NC State and North Carolina. The teams have met at least once every year since January 1975.
• The Pack has won five of its last six meetings with the Tar Heels, including earning back-to-back victories inside Carmichael Arena.
• Overall, UNC owns a 26-19 advantage in the series when playing in Chapel Hill.
• The squads last met on Feb. 24, 2019 in the second of two games during the 2018-19 regular season. NC State came away with the 74-69 win in that outing, which was played at UNC.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS ON THE ROAD
Now in season seven under Coach Moore, the Wolfpack has earned 43 true road wins (averaging 7.0 per completed season) since the start of the 2013-14 campaign. In the prior eight seasons from 2005-06 to 2012-13, the Wolfpack earned 32 true road wins (4.0 per season).

CAN'T STOP CUNANE
Wolfpack sophomore Elissa Cunane enters Thursday's game having scored 26+ points in each of the last two outings. She tallied a total of 54 points between NC State's games against Virginia Tech and Virginia to average 27.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two victories. Cunane has now scored 20 or more points in five of the Pack's last eight outings.

The center ranks 11th nationally in double-doubles (8), eighth in field-goal percentage (.650) and 19th in rebounds per game (10.4). All three of those numbers, as well as her 17.5 points per game, lead the team, and her field-goal percentage paces the conference this season.

1K ACE
With a step-back three at the end of the first quarter against Virginia on Sunday, senior guard Aislinn Konig reached the 1,000-point milestone. The achievement made her the 34th player in program history and the 14th active ACC player to surpass 1,000 career points in her NC State career. Konig reached the milestone in 102 career games played.

SHARING SUCCESS
NC State averages 15.4 assists per game in 2019-20, but the Wolfpack has dished out 19 or more in each of its past two games to exceed its season average. The team assisted on 19 of its 27 made field goals against Virginia Tech before setting a season high with 24 assists on 28 made baskets against Virginia.

DIVERSE SCORING ATTACK
NC State has managed to put together a well-balanced variety of scoring options from the field. The Pack averages 74.9 points per game this season, with 32.9 of those coming inside the paint and 27.2 generated from long range.

COMING UP
NC State at Notre Dame • Sunday, Jan. 12 • 4 p.m.

#GoPack | @PackWomensBball

#9 NC State Takes Perfect Record to UNC for Thursday Night Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Elissa Cunane

Aislinn Konig