North Carolina State University Athletics
Elissa Cunane Featured on Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 List
1/5/2022 6:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Senior center leading team in scoring, rebounding through 14 games
LOS ANGELES – NC State women's basketball senior Elissa Cunane has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 for the third season in a row, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Wednesday evening.
Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the 2021-22 season thus far, the list is made up of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sports most prestigious honor that recognizes the National Player of the Year.
Cunane has been named a finalist and selected for the Wooden Award National Ballot each of the last two seasons. She joins fellow ACC players Lorela Cubaj (Georgia Tech), Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech) and Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame) in this year's Midseason Top 25.
The All-American center averages a team-leading 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and has helped the fifth-ranked NC State squad to a 12-2 record and two nationally-ranked wins to start the 2021-22 campaign. She shoots an efficient 52.3 percent (67-of-128) from the field and has also dished out 17 assists to her teammates on the year.
Cunane has scored 10+ points in a team-leading nine outings this season, highlighted by 20-point games against No. 2 Maryland and No. 17 Georgia. She posted a pair of double-doubles against Florida (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Maryland (20 points, 10 rebounds) to put her career total at 27. Her best shooting mark of the season was that game against the Terps when she went 8-of-9 from the field.
After reaching the 1,000 career point milestone in the first game of her junior campaign, the Wolfpack senior became the 18th member of NC State's 1,500+ point club on Dec. 12 in what was her 100th career game. She also notably set the program record for career free throws made in the Pack's season opener against Pitt, surpassing the previous mark of 428 while ranking just fifth in team history in free throws attempted. Her career scoring total (1,545) ranks 15th in NC State history and 34th among active NCAA Division I players.
A native of Summerfield, N.C., Cunane is also on watch lists for the Lisa Leslie Award, the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Trophy. She was also named ACC Preseason Player of the Year ahead of the year.
Later this season, the Los Angeles Athletic Club will send this year's final National Ballot of 15 players to its group of voters. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, and the winner of the 2022 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's following the NCAA Tournament in April.
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