NC State
28-3,17-1ACC
#21/24 Virginia Tech
23-9,13-5ACC
#3 NC State Punches Ticket to Third-Straight ACC Tournament Title Game with Win Over #21 Hokies
3/5/2022 1:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The third-ranked NC State women's basketball team (28-3) secured its third-straight berth to the ACC Tournament championship game with a 70-55 victory over No. 21 Virginia Tech (23-9) in Saturday afternoon's semifinal.
The Wolfpack moves on to the title game for the 17th time in program history. NC State will take on either third-seeded Notre Dame or seventh-seeded Miami on Sunday at noon.
Senior Elissa Cunane and junior Jada Boyd led the Pack's offensive attack as a total of seven players hit the scoring column in Saturday's win. The team assisted on 16 of its 28 buckets in what was another balanced outing.
After multiple nine-rebound games at the event, Cunane posted her first career ACC Tournament double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Boyd came off the bench to score 16 points, which tied for the most in an ACC Tournament game for the forward. She shot 7-of-10 and also added in a pair of blocks in just 16 minutes of action.
NC State opened up a 10-point lead on two occasions in the second quarter, but Virginia Tech scored the last six of the half to put the Wolfpack's lead at 31-27 after 20 minutes.
The Hokies hung tight at the start of the third quarter, but Elissa Cunane hit a three at the 1:37 mark to start a period-closing Wolfpack run. NC State scored the last seven of the third and led by 10 (54-44) going into the fourth quarter.
The run carried over into the final period, as the Pack scored the first six to open up a lead of 16 (60-44) at the 8:38 mark. NC State led by as many as 17 points late in the game and never let Virginia Tech get closer than 11 points in the last 10 minutes to close out the win.
Both Cunane and graduate guard Kai Crutchfield knocked down a pair of threes, and the Pack held Virginia Tech to just four triples on the afternoon. NC State also dominated the boards with a 49-23 rebounding advantage. Sixteen of the Pack's rebounds were off the offensive glass.
The win was NC State's eighth over a ranked opponent this season, tying a single-season program record.
The Pack turns its attention to preparing for Sunday's tournament finale, which is set to be televised nationally on ESPN.
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