NC State
26-3,17-1ACC
#23/RV Virginia Tech
21-8,13-5ACC
#3 Wolfpack Outlasts #23 Hokies 68-66 to Close Out Regular Season
2/27/2022 8:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BLACKSBURG, Va. – No. 3 NC State women's basketball team (26-3, 17-1 ACC) wrapped up regular-season action with a 68-66 road victory at No. 23 Virginia Tech (21-8, 13-5 ACC) to secure the outright ACC regular season title on Sunday night.
The victory over the Hokies was NC State's seventh against a ranked opponent this season.
Elissa Cunane led all scorers on the floor with 22 points, just one shy of a season high for the senior center. She was one of three double-figure scorers as forwards Kayla Jones (12 points) and Jada Boyd (11 points) also contributed to the Pack's tally.
Those three played a huge role in a dominant attack in the paint. NC State outscored Virginia Tech 48-22 in the category with over 70 perfect of its scoring production on the night coming inside.
The Wolfpack also managed to minimize turnovers and capitalize on the Hokies' mishandles with 21 points off of turnovers.
Needing just seven points coming into the game, Jones reached the 1,000-point milestone with a backdoor layup in the first quarter. It made her the 36th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.
NC State hit its first four shots of the night to jump out to an early advantage and led by as many as 11 points on two occasions in the first quarter. The Wolfpack shot 61.1 percent (11-of-18) in the opening 10 minutes and limited the Hokies to just 4-of-14 shooting in the meantime, including holding them without a mark from the field for the first four minutes.
A tighter second quarter ended with a five-point Wolfpack lead (39-34) at the break. NC State went on to outscore the Hokies 21-17 in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead (60-51) into the final quarter.
Both teams shot under 35 percent in the final period, and Virginia Tech managed to tie the score at 66 with 1:20 remaining, but Cunane knocked down a jumper on the Pack's next possession to put the Wolfpack back in front. Virginia Tech was unable to get a good look before the buzzer as the Pack held on for the win.
NC State is the No. 1 seed for the 2022 ACC Tournament that is set to run March 2-6 in Greensboro, N.C. The Wolfpack will open tournament action on Friday, March 4 after a double bye and will face either No. 8-seed Boston College or No. 9-seed Florida State in that quarterfinal matchup.
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