NC State
Virginia Tech
#3 NC State Opens ACC Tournament Action Friday Night in Greensboro
3/4/2021 8:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wolfpack earned double bye into quarterfinal round for third season in a row
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Having secured the two seed at the ACC Tournament for the second season in a row, the third-ranked NC State women's basketball team (17-2) earned a double bye and will open competition at the tournament in the quarterfinal round on Friday evening. The Wolfpack will practice at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday and will play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech on Friday at 6 p.m.
Live television coverage for the quarterfinal game will be provided by the ACC's Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports South/Carolinas in Raleigh). Patrick Kinas will also have the call on WKNC 88.1FM in Raleigh.
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD...
• Be the 962nd win in program history (961-473)
• Be head coach Wes Moore's 744th career win (743-233)
• Be Moore's 186th win at NC State (185-64)
• Be NC State's 52nd victory at the ACC Tournament (51-38)
• Clinch the Wolfpack's fourth ACC semifinals berth in a row
NOTING THE WOLFPACK (25-4)
• Ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and been ranked in the national top five since Dec. 7
• No. 2 nationally and first in the conference in defensive rebounds per game (31.8)
• Paces the league in field-goal percentage defense (21st nation- ally - .357), three-point field-goal percentage (22nd nationally - .374), rebound margin (23rd nationally - +8.1) and assists per game (26th nationally - 16.3)
• Also top-25 nationally in field-goal percentage (13th - .470), scoring margin (13th - +17.2), scoring offense (15th - 79.4), rebounds per game (16th - 43.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (22nd - 1.24)
• Four members of the squad with scoring averages in double digits - Elissa Cunane (15.6), Jakia Brown-Turner (14.8), Kayla Jones (13.0) and Jada Boyd (10.7)
• Cunane and Brown-Turner both rank in the top 10 in the ACC with their scoring numbers
• Shot better than 50 percent as a team in a total of seven games this season
• Cunane (2nd - .557) and Brown-Turner (7th - .460) rank in the top 10 in the league in field-goal percentage, with Cunane's number also ranking 19th in the nation
• Raina Perez (2.85) owns the ACC's top assist-to-turnover ratio and also ranks second in assists per game (4.9)
• Held five of its opponents to under 30 percent shooting and 14 of 19 opponents to under 40 percent
• Averaging 38.4 points in the paint and also a threat from distance with an average of 7.4 made three pointers per contest
• Outscored in the paint on just one occasion and beating out its opponents in that category by an average margin of +12.6
• Put together three-point shooting percentages of 40 percent or better in eight outings, including two games with 50+ percent marks
TOURNEY TIME
• The 2021 ACC Tournament marks the Wolfpack's 44th appearance in the conference tournament.
• The Wolfpack enters the week as the two seed for the second season in a row. NC State has not been a one seed at the ACC Tournament since it won the regular season crown in 1990.
• The Pack has appeared in the championship game a total of 15 times.
• Overall, NC State owns a 24-15 record in games played in the quarter- final round of the ACC Tournament.
• This season marks the third year in a row that NC State has earned a double bye into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
CHAMPIONSHIP CHASE
NC State enters the 2021 ACC Tournament as the defending champion after taking home the title in 2020. It was the program's fifth ACC Tournament title in 46 completed years and its first since 1991, breaking a 29-year streak.
The Pack was the No. 2 seed in last year's tournament and beat No. 7 seed Georgia Tech, No. 6 seed Boston College and No. 3 seed Florida State on its way to the championship win.
Cunane and then-senior Aislinn Konig were named to the All- ACC Tournament Team, with Konig also garnering honors as the tournament's MVP. Konig was the leading scorer for the Pack last season (16.7), but NC State returns its next five top scorers in 2021 - Cunane (15.0), Brown-Turner (9.3), Boyd (8.7), Jones (5.7) and Kai Crutchfield (5.3).
PACK-OLADES
A well-balanced NC State squad was rewarded with high honors from the ACC on Tuesday. Five players were recognized as All-ACC Team members or with a yearly award.
Cunane: Unanimous First Team All-ACC
Brown-Turner: Unanimous First Team All-ACC
Boyd: ACC Co-Sixth Player of the Year
Jones: First Team All-ACC (coaches), Second Team All-ACC (BRP)
Perez: Honorable Mention All-ACC (BRP)
NC State is the only program with three First Team selections by the head coaches and joins Virginia Tech as the only two schools with a pair of unanimous First Team players.
WOLFPACK WES
In a vote of his peers and fellow ACC head coaches, Wes Moore was named ACC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 17-2 regular-season record and a 12-2 mark against league opponents. He was previously named unanimous ACC Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, which marked the first time that the honor had been claimed by an NC State head coach. Moore is also a semifinalist for the 2021 Naismith Women's Coach of the Year award.
Moore's 743 career wins rank eighth among active NCAA Division I women's basketball head coaches. He is the winningest active ACC coach, with Virginia Tech's Kenny Brooks coming in next with his 436 career wins.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
