North Carolina State University Athletics
Cunane Named to Semifinalist List for Naismith Player of the Year
3/9/2022 12:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA – NC State women's basketball senior Elissa Cunane was featured on the list of 10 semifinalists for the 2022 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's Player of the Year award, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Tuesday.
Cunane was also named to the organization's semifinalist list last season. She is also on the John R. Wooden Award National Ballot and is one of 10 finalists for the Lisa Leslie Award.
A consensus First Team All-ACC honoree for the third season in a row, Cunane averages a team-leading 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while operating at a 52.6 percent clip (164-of-312) from the field. She is also shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from distance and 82.8 percent (101-of-122) from the charity stripe, one of just 32 players nationally and the only center in the country with such percentages.
Cunane was most recently named ACC Tournament MVP for the second season in a row after helping lead NC State to its third-straight title at the event. She is the only player in program history to earn the honors twice in her career.
This season, Cunane has scored 10+ points in a team-leading 25 outings, highlighted by five 20+ point games. Her 23-point performance at Duke marked her highest scoring output of the season, and she has also posted eight double-doubles on the year.
Cunane became the 18th member of NC State's 1,500+ point club on Dec. 12 in what was her 100th career game, and she currently ranks sixth in program history with her 1,804 points. 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 at the time. She has upped that number to 498 this season.
On her career, Cunane averages 14.9 points (currently good for ninth in NC State history) and 7.9 rebounds, and she has shot above 52 percent from the field every season for a career average of 53.9 percent.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club will announce its four finalists on March 25 and will name its National Player of the Year on April 2.
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