Wolfpack Women’s Hoops Collects ACC Honors Following Historic Regular Season
3/1/2022 9:19:00 AM | Women's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After putting together one of the best regular-season runs in program history, the NC State women's basketball squad (26-3, 17-1 ACC) collected high honors from the Atlantic Coast Conference as the league announced its yearly award winners on Tuesday morning. Elissa Cunane, Diamond Johnson, Aziaha James and Kayla Jones were all recognized for their successes during the 2021-22 campaign, as was head coach Wes Moore.
Johnson (ACC Sixth Player of the Year) and Moore (ACC Coach of the Year) were honored with annual awards, and four members of the Wolfpack squad were placed on the league's various all-conference teams.
Cunane was a consensus First Team All-ACC honoree, and James was a consensus All-Freshman honoree. Jones earned a spot on the Second Team All-ACC as voted on by the conference's coaches and was an honorable mention honoree on the Blue Ribbon Panel's list. Johnson was also an honorable mention honoree as designated by the Blue Ribbon Panel.
The Wolfpack has now claimed the Sixth Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons. Moore's selection as ACC Coach of the Year is his third such honor, as he earned the award from both groups of voters in 2016-17 and was honored by his fellow head coaches last season.
Elissa Cunane • Senior • Center
- Consensus First Team All-ACC
- Marks third such honors of her career after also being named an All-American by multiple outlets in 2019-20 and 2020-21
- Top 15 in the league and team leader in scoring (13.5 - 13th), rebounding (7.6 - 6th), field-goal percentage (.525 - 2nd) and free throw percentage (.826 - 4th)
- Season-high 23 points in Wolfpack's home win against Duke
- Currently a top 10 finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award and on late season watch lists for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year, the Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy
- Posted 10+ points in 22 games, 20+ points in four games and 10+ rebounds in 10 games as the centerpiece of the Pack's four-out, one-in offensive scheme
- Shot 50+ percent in 20 games, including season best 88.9 percent (8-of-9) against Maryland
- Seven double-doubles with five of those coming against conference opponents
- Averaged 8.6 points in the paint and also knocked down 10 threes this season
- Named ESPN.com's National Player of the Week on Jan. 10 following back-to-back 19-point games at UNC and Miami
- Program record holder in career free throws (487), seventh in points (1,752), seventh in career double-doubles (32) and sixth in rebounds (931)
Diamond Johnson • Sophomore • Guard
- ACC Sixth Player of the Year
- Honorable Mention All-ACC (Blue Ribbon Panel)
- Ranked second on the team in scoring (11.2) while coming off the bench in 28 of 29 regular-season games
- Leads team in steals (39, 1.3 per game) and threes (44, 1.5 per game), second in assists (60, 2.1 per game) and second in number of rebounds (129, 4.4 per game)
- Led team in scoring in eight contests, coming off the bench in each of those performances
- Two 20+ point games against Washington State (24) and Boston College (22), one of just two Wolfpack players to hit the 20-point plateau in 2021-22; 24-point outing against the Cougars still stands as highest scoring performance by member of well-balanced Wolfpack this season
- Fifteen games with 10+ points, 13 games with 5+ rebounds, 15 games with 3+ assists, 11 games with 2+ steals
Kayla Jones • Graduate • Forward
- Second Team All-ACC (Head Coaches Poll), Honorable Mention All-ACC (Blue Ribbon Panel)
- Earned all-conference honors for the second season in a row
- Averaged 8.6 points per game in 2021-22
- Scored in double figures in 12 games, most recently hitting her season high with 18 points against Syracuse
- Shot above 40 percent overall (.530) and from three-point range (.424)
- Posted double-doubles at Indiana (17 points, 11 rebounds), Boston College (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Duke (10 points, 11 rebounds) to put career total at 11
- 2.80 assist-to-turnover ratio in ACC play while averaging 2.5 assists per game against conference opponents; dished out season-high six assists in wins at UNC and at Miami
- Averaged 4.6 rebounds in her fifth season at NC State; hauled in nine offensive rebounds at Boston College which marked most by any ACC player this season
Aziaha James • Freshman • Guard
- All-Freshman Team
- First such honor for a Wolfpack rookie since Brown-Turner and Boyd were honored in 2019-20
- Ranked eighth among all ACC freshmen in scoring average (4.2 points per game)
- Shot 43.0 percent overall and 30.3 percent from distance in 21 games played
- Hit double figures in scoring in games against Elon and Saint Mary's; knocked down season-high and team-leading three triples in game against Phoenix
- Highest ACC scoring performance was nine points in Pack's road win at Virginia
Wes Moore • Head Coach • Ninth Season at NC State
- 2021 WBCA National Coach of the Year recognition last season; was also honored as ACC Coach of the Year by his colleagues in 2020-21
- Currently on late season watch list for 2022 Naismith Coach of the Year
- Guided the Pack to a 26-3 overall record and a 17-1 mark in league play during the 2021-22 regular season
- Team secured the first ACC regular season title in 32 years
- Authored seven victories over nationally-ranked teams, including two over top-five teams - No. 2 Maryland and No. 3 Louisville
- Wolfpack owns the longest active top-five streak in NCAA Division I women's basketball at 32 polls; team spent three weeks this season at No. 2, tying as a program best ranking
- Multiple milestone victories in 2021-22: 100 ACC wins (fourth-fastest active coach to reach mark), 200 wins at NC State (fifth-fastest head coach to reach at ACC school), 400 ACC wins for NC State (first league team to that mark)
- Winningest active ACC head coach with 774 career victories, which includes a 216-68 (.761) record at NC State
NC State earned the No. 1 seed at the upcoming ACC Tournament and opens postseason play in Greensboro, N.C., on Friday, March 4 at 2 p.m. The Wolfpack will take on the winner of the game between No. 8 seed Boston College and No. 9 seed Florida State. Friday's game will be broadcast live on the ACC's Regional Sports Networks.
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