NC State not feeling any pressure vs. UConn
The NC State women’s basketball team has waited a year for this opportunity.
NC State plays Connecticut at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN, with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The journey had been relatively smooth this season, but adversity struck early and often against Notre Dame on Saturday, who the Wolfpack had lost against in the regular season Feb. 1.
Pressure is being down 59-51 to Notre Dame with 6:41 left in the game and needing to get “cookies”
with a steal and layup by senior guard Raina Perez to help win the game 66-63.
“I think it would be huge [to beat UConn] and we finally got over the Sweet 16 hump,” Perez said. “To have another great against UConn would be huge as well.
“It’s UConn, they are always a good team. We just have to fight real hard and we can get there.”
NC State coach Wes Moore understands pressure, but of a different kind. The program has snapped streaks that include getting to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1998, along with winning the regular season ACC and ACC Tournament in the same season for the first time since 1984-85. The regular season title was the first since 1990.
“It would have been real easy to feel like it wasn’t going to happen today,” Moore said. “That is just in them. We kept battling.
“The key to our success is high character young ladies,” Moore said. “I want to enjoy the journey. I am selfish and I want to enjoy the ride. I want them to. I want this to be the best four years of their life.”
NCSU didn’t get to play at Louisville this season, but the Notre Dame game was on the road. Last year, NC State won at Louisville in front of 2,989 fans, and won at South Carolina in front of 3,500.
The Wolfpack won 66-58 at Indiana on Dec. 2. The Hoosiers were the squad that UConn defeated Saturday thanks to a monster third quarter. UConn rolled to a 75-58 win over Indiana and improved to 28-5 overall.
"Tomorrow is a home game for them," NC State senior center Elissa Cunane said. "There is no question about that. We've gone to South Carolina and beat them at their home, and gone to Louisville and beat them at their home. Then Indiana this year."
Moore had complained about the possibility of playing Connecticut in Bridgeport, Conn., after the brackets came out. Bridgeport is a little over 79 miles away from Storrs, Conn. With the game a little over 24 hours away, Moore’s focus is now on the court and not how many fans are in the stands.
“Connecticut fans are great and they love their women’s basketball,” Moore said. “You have to respect that.”
Moore will be doing a home-and-home with UConn starting next year on the road.
“We’ll be coming back next year,” Moore said.
Moore said the focus is on what the Wolfpack do, rather than anything else by doing “what they’ve done all year.”
“We are excited about the opportunity and trying to take one more step,” Moore said. “I think it [getting to the Final Four] would be pretty special no matter who it is. I keep saying it, but this is why these kids came back.”
The Huskies are young in the backcourt with a freshman and second-year freshman in Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers respectively. But both were super star prep recruits, as was the majority of the Huskies roster. Fudd’s mother attended NC State before transferring to back home to Georgetown.
Moore said the Wolfpack need to keep UConn off the offensive boards — the Huskies had 15 offensive rebounds against Indiana. It’s about energy and flying around on defense.
“Geno has built something special here,” said Moore, who visited UConn coach Geno Auriemma in the past to soak in his knowledge. “The rest of us are just trying to get there.
“They are all great players and I tried to recruit most of them. I guess Geno is just cooler than me.”
One of the season-long themes is how Super Seniors such as Perez, Kayla Jones and Kai Crutchfield came back for unfinished business of doing better than reaching the Sweet 16. Senior center Elissa Cunane rounds out the seniors and she held the team together with her inside play against Notre Dame.
“She just did so many things during the game to give us an opportunity,” said Moore on Cunane getting 16 points and 10 rebounds. “They’ve come back and it has paid off.”
The togetherness has been evidenced by only nine players departing the program prematurely since 2016.
“I think that says a lot about the people in that locker room,” Moore said. “They enjoy being around each other. They enjoy playing together and competing together.
“They’ve put this program back on the map.”
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