North Carolina State University Athletics
Brown-Turner, Cunane, Konig Shining Bright at FIBA Women’s AmeriCup
6/16/2021 9:55:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – NC State women's basketball team members Elissa Cunane and Jakia Brown-Turner (United States) and alumna Aislinn Konig (Canada) helped their respective squads go unbeaten in group play at the 2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup.
All three women will continue action at the event after both Team USA and Team Canada secured spots in the medal rounds. The United States enters the quarterfinal round as the No. 1 seed from Group B, and Canada is the top seed coming out of Group A. If both squads remain unbeaten through two more rounds of play, it will mark a meeting between Pack members past and present in the championship game.
Cunane has made her presence known amongst a highly-talented Team USA frontcourt. Through the group round, the Summerfield, N.C., native is averaging 11.0 points on 43.3 percent shooting and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds. Cunane has also shown tremendous care with the ball, committing just one turnover in three games and snagging six steals across those same outings.
She's got all the moves 🤩@ecunane_ | #AmeriCupW pic.twitter.com/cEiswrS1ZQ
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) June 12, 2021
The Wolfpack center has hit double figures in every AmeriCup outing thus far, with her best scoring output coming with 12 points against the Dominican Republic in Saturday's tournament opener. In that game, she shot a blistering 5-of-8 (.625) from the floor.
Konig also continues to make noise for Team Canada, leading the way for her squad with 82 minutes of action spanning four victories. The 2020 NC State graduate scored 38 points (9.5 ppg) and dished out 10 assists (2.5 apg) during group play. The sharpshooter has knocked down a team-leading 12 triples and is operating at a 41.4 percent accuracy rate from long range.
#AmeriCupW @acekonig 🎯🎯🎯 ➕ 3⃣ @CanBball pic.twitter.com/sApqrKNK1J
— FIBA Women's AmeriCup (@americupw) June 15, 2021
Konig dished out six assists in her AmeriCup debut game alone, and she hit double figures in scoring in that game against the US Virgin Islands (12 points) and versus El Salvador (14 points).
Brown-Turner also joins Cunane on the United States roster. In her 12.9 minutes per game, the Oxon Hill, Md., native has compiled averages of 4.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. Brown-Turner scored five points against both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to close out group play.
@JustJakiaa and @ecunane_ 🤩🤩 Go fight like Wolves!!!! 🐺🐺 pic.twitter.com/LOho9v1SwC
— Coach Batth (@CoachErinBatth) June 10, 2021
The quarterfinal round of the 2021 AmeriCup is set for Thursday, June 17. The top four teams from each preliminary pool advanced to compete for medals. The semifinals are set for Friday, June 18, and the bronze and gold-medal games will be contested on Saturday, June 19.
The top four finishing teams at the AmeriCup will advance to compete in one of four 2022 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournaments in hopes of earning one of the 12 spots in the 2022 FIBA World Cup.
Quarterfinal Matchups
United States vs. US Virgin Islands - Thursday at 12:10 p.m. EST
Canada vs. Dominican Republic - Thursday at 3:10 p.m. EST
All AmeriCup games are available live on ESPN+. The daily schedule for the medal rounds can be found here.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
