North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Tabbed Nation's No. 4 Team in Preseason Coaches Poll
11/3/2021 12:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Ranking marks the highest preseason Coaches Poll ranking in program history
RALEIGH – After being tabbed the No. 5 team in the nation in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, the NC State women's basketball team was ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll released on Wednesday. It marks the highest preseason Coaches Poll ranking for the team in its history, beating out last year's mark of No. 6.
The Wolfpack has been voted as a Top 25 team by the national panel of coaches in every poll since Feb. 6, 2018, and the squad spent the entirety of last season in the Top 10 of the poll.
For the second year in a row, the Wolfpack enters the season as the reigning ACC Tournament Champion. The team's win in 2021 marked the first back-to-back conference tournament titles in team history. NC State also earned its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and reached its third-straight NCAA Sweet 16.
The Pack returns its top eight scorers from last year's team, including four players who averaged double figures, and nearly 94 percent of its total points scored last season. All five starters from 2020-21 (Jakia Brown-Turner, Kai Crutchfield, Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones, Raina Perez) are back with the team, as is ACC Sixth Player of the Year Jada Boyd.
NC State also welcomes a freshman class that was ranked as high as 12th nationally and added transfer sophomores Diamond Johnson (ACC Newcomer Watch List, 2021 Second Team All-Big Ten) and Madison Hayes (2021 SEC All-Freshman Team), who were both top-30 players coming out of high school.
Following a free Wednesday night exhibition against UNC Pembroke, the Wolfpack officially opens its 2021-22 season at home on Nov. 9 with a highly-anticipated top-five matchup with No. 1 South Carolina. NC State is also set to take on No. 4 Maryland and No. 8 Indiana during non-conference play. Single-game tickets for all of NC State's home games are on sale now.
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