
Three-Peat Complete! NC State Women’s Hoops Wins 2022 ACC Tournament Title
3/6/2022 1:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – NC State women's hoops added to a historic 2021-22 campaign with its third-straight ACC Tournament championship win, defeating seventh-seeded Miami 60-47 at the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
NC State's sweep of the ACC regular season and tournament titles marks the team's third time accomplishing the feat and its first time doing so since the 1984-85 season. The team has now won seven ACC Tournament titles in program history. The Wolfpack also tied the program record for single-season victories, matching the 1977-78 team's mark of 29 wins.
Elissa Cunane led the team with 17 points, and Raina Perez (12 points) and Diamond Johnson (11 points) both knocked down a pair of threes to join her in double figures. Kayla Jones pitched in a team-leading 10 rebounds in the game.
Cunane was named ACC Tournament MVP for the second year in a row after averaging 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 52.8 percent shooting (19-of-36). Jada Boyd (First Team) and Jakia Brown-Turner (Second Team) also earned All-Tournament Team nods for the first time in their careers.
The Wolfpack scored the last 10 points of the first half to shift momentum and the lead in its favor. NC State went into the break up 32-23, with that 10-0 Pack run capped off by a pull-up three by Perez that beat the halftime buzzer.
NC State went on to hold Miami to just 3-of-14 (.214) shooting in the third quarter to build up a double-digit lead. The Hurricanes went without a field goal (0-of-9) from 8:26 to :16 in the period. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, shot 50 percent in the third quarter and took advantage of another nine unanswered points to lead by 18 (51-33) through 30 minutes.
Johnson hit a three to close the third quarter and another to open the fourth quarter to push NC State's lead to over 20, and Miami never got closer than 11 in the fourth quarter.
The Pack will be back in action in two weeks for the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. The Selection Sunday show will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. on March 13, and the first and second round games will then be played Friday, March 18 through Monday, March 21 at the home courts of the top 16 seeds.
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