Notebook: NC State women win back-to-back ACC titles for a program first

Once again, NC State women's basketball found itself down multiple possessions in the fourth quarter, but nothing was going to stop the Wolfpack from winning its second consecutive ACC Tournament Championship for the first time in program history Sunday.

The Pack (20-2, 12-2 ACC) outscored Louisville 18-8 in the final 8:36 of the fourth quarter to come away with the 58-56 victory over the Cardinals in the title game.

Now NC State will wait for the NCAA Tournament selection show on Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. to find out its destination with the ACC's automatic bid to the Big Dance.

NC State junior center Elissa Cunane was named Tournament MVP for her performance during the Pack's three-day run.

Cunane once again led all scorers Sunday with 20 points of 7-of-12 shooting as well as a 6-of-8 mark from the free-throw line. She also added nine rebounds, tied for a team high with three assists and had two steals.

The 6-5 center averaged 23.3 points and nine rebounds per game during the tournament.

Cunane scored nine of her points in the fourth quarter, in which the Pack outscored the Cardinals 18-13.

Senior guard Kai Crutchfield was also selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team for her performance this weekend. Crutchfield led all scorers with 10 fourth-quarter points in the Wolfpack's comeback win over Georgia Tech in the semifinals.

Fifth-year senior guard Raina Perez was used to being the go-to scorer down the stretch when she transferred to NC State from Cal State Fullerton, where she was the Big West Player of the Year in 2019-20.

The graduate transfer came through in the clutch for the Wolfpack Sunday.

With the game tied and just over two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Perez pulled up from just beyond the free-throw line and nailed a jumper to give the Pack a two-point lead with just 2.1 seconds remaining.

NC State was able to stop a last-second heave attempt from Louisville guard Dana Evans, the ACC Player of the Year, to hold on for the victory.

Perez finished the contest with nine points, three assists (which tied for a team high) and two rebounds.

The 5-4 guard averaged 6.6 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game throughout the tournament.

20 Points was the margin NC State outscored its opponents by in the three games of its ACC Tournament run this season. In three fourth quarters, the Wolfpack outscored teams 62-42 combined during the tournament.

83 Percent was NC State's efficiency from the free-throw line Sunday afternoon. After going 12 of 19 from the line in the quarterfinals, the Pack shot a combined 22 of 25 from the strike on Saturday and Sunday.

59 Percent of the Wolfpack's field goals came off of an assist (22 field goal makes, 13 assists). Only seven of Louisville's 25 made field goals came off of an assist (28 percent).

+7 Was the plus-minus rating of Cunane, Perez and sophomore forward Jada Boyd individually. No other Wolfpack player had a positive plus-minus rating in the win over Louisville.

6 Blocked shots came from Boyd in three games during the tournament. Prior to Friday, Boyd had just four blocks on the season.

WES MOORE: "This team is just so resilient and they just find a way to win. Obviously dug an eight-point deficit there in the fourth period, and they didn't blink an eye, just kept battling.

"Again, Elissa was unbelievable all weekend. Kai Crutchfield did a great job defensively with her match-ups. And then Raina Perez, what do you say? It was funny because she had about that same look a few minutes earlier and she tried to get it to Elissa, which is a good plan, but I just told her, 'Hey, take the shot,' and she took it when it counted most.

"Just so thankful for what she's brought to our team, as well. But it was everybody contributed and made big plays when we needed them. Louisville is so, so talented and so well-coached. They did a great job defensively, low-scoring game, but we found a way to get it done. Players made plays. Great day for NC State."

Q. You've been pretty open about the idea of doing special things, like talking ambitiously back to last year, and to win a second ACC Tournament title is something the program has never done. What is the significance of that particular element, another special thing, especially in light of the last year and what it's been like?

WES MOORE: "Yeah, there's a time there when I thought we may never get to put the hat and the tee shirt on and have the balloons rain down on you. This league is very, very good. Great players, first of all, great coaches, and it's just an unbelievable experience, like I said.

"I didn't know if it would ever happen, and now it's happened back to back. Just again, it's all about the players. I learned that a long time ago. When it counted, they made some plays.

"It's really great for our program, obviously, trying to break through in there. I had somebody tell me a few years ago when I first got here, 'There's a pecking order in women's basketball, and you'll never change that.' Well, you're right, I didn't, but we've got some players that are trying to change that."

Q. You spoke about this a little bit in your opening statement that just this team found a way to get it down in the fourth quarter. But through this year you guys have had big fourth quarters a few times that have led you to wins. I'm curious, is that an attitude thing? Is that a leadership/veteran thing? Is it all of the above, something else?

WES MOORE: "Yeah, I don't know. If I knew, I'd sure as heck battle it, I can tell you that. But they've been that way all year.

"We played a very good Boston College team on the road in our first ACC game, were down 16 with about six and a half minutes left, six minutes left. They found a way to win. Even here at the tournament we dug a hole yesterday against a very good Georgia Tech team, and I think we were down 10 in the fourth quarter. They just step up and find a way to get it done.

"It helps when you've got Elissa Cunane in there to go to and lean on, but all weekend we've had different players step up and make big plays. I think it's more about just the heart of a champion, if you want to call it that. They just found a way to make plays, and as Jim Valvano would say, 'Never give up.' They just keep coming."

Q. You just talked about her a little bit, Elissa Cunane. She was getting so much pressure on her and turning the ball over a little bit early in the game, but for her to stay calm and hit those free throws and get that defensive board at the end to give you guys ultimately the game-winning shot, wins the tournament MVP, we've talked about her all season, but what does she mean to this program and out there today?

WES MOORE: "Yeah, she always jokes about when I was recruiting her, the way I would say it to her is, 'We run this four-out, one-in system, and you would be really good in that system.' She gives me a hard time about my southern twang.

"She really is, she's the centerpiece. Without her we'd be running that doughnut offense with nothing in the middle. I say that, now Camille Hobby has been pretty danged good, too, but Elissa is a special player. Again, we ride her pretty hard, and she just finds a way to get it done.

"And you're right, they gave a lot of attention to her, and she just -- even though she turned it over a couple of times against the double-team and the pressure — she doesn't hang her head or she doesn't doubt herself. The girl has got a lot of confidence. I think because of that, our team has a lot of confidence."

Q. It was about a year ago this upcoming week where everything hit the fan, so I was wondering from your perspective how hard was it to get to this point, and does it mean a little more to win this championship considering everything that you've had to go through to get here?

WES MOORE: "I don't know.

"Again, last year it was something that hadn't been done in 30 years, so I don't know. Last year was pretty special. They're all special.

"Again, just because of this league being so great and so many players and coaches that are unbelievable, to be the last one standing is really special. I think doing it last year was special, and then to have the season end, to have kind of the rug ripped out from under you, I think we'd have been a No. 2 seed last year in the tournament. We were excited about that opportunity.

"I guess the only silver lining was we had a great group of seniors that ended their careers with a win, and there's not many people that get to do that. From that standpoint, it was special, but I'm excited to hopefully have a chance to keep playing this year.

"This team has got to work. You could see we struggled in about every one of these games. We can't take anything for granted. We still have some things that we hopefully can clean up a little bit and get better, but it's exciting to be at this point and to feel like this year we're going to get to play.

"We owe a lot to a lot of people, obviously the ACC office for making this work. We had a three-week shutdown, which really was tough, but our kids handled it and came back strong.

"But the ACC office had to do a lot of juggling all year, so give them a lot of credit. And then just being over here, the Greensboro Sports Committee, they do such an awesome job putting this tournament on, especially this year with all the COVID testing that has to be done and trying to keep people separated, contact tracing, all that. It's great.

"We appreciate everybody making it work."

Q. Raina obviously came to NC State to have these games and have these moments. She told us that she knows that she belongs and she's kind of been proving that. How cool is that for her to have that moment and that shot in this game?

WES MOORE: "Yeah, unbelievable. Like I said, we've got a lot of really good players, but I don't know where we'd be without Raina. Because we lost last year Ace Konig first of all, who was MVP at this tournament a year ago. Then we lost Kaila Ealey, somebody who had been in our program for five or six years because of injuries; had great experience.

"To lose both of them the same year to graduation, and Kai Crutchfield can play some point, but we love her more at the 2. We felt like we needed some experience. We had some freshmen, young players, but we felt like we needed somebody with experience that you could just drop into this lineup and not miss a beat. I think that's what's happened.

"For her to come in and first of all be accepted — you've got to give our players credit, too, for having open arms and being excited — but a lot of that has to do with Raina, not only as a player. She works, she comes in and prepares like a pro, but she also is just an unbelievable person off the court, great personality, fun to be around, and so that's why it worked.

"It doesn't always work that way, but Raina made it work on the court and off, and our team is whole lot better because of it."

Q. You mentioned the pecking order. Now that you've won the ACC again, you beat Louisville again, is this enough to get you on the 1 line?

WES MOORE: "You know, I'm not really concerned about it. I mean, I realize it's a 1-16 versus a 2-15, and then on down the line. To me at the end of the day if you do -- if you're able somehow some way to get through your bracket and get to that point — it's just a matter of you're going to wear dark uniforms and we're going to wear white, and we've been pretty good in black uniforms this year.

"So it's nothing we can control. On one hand you got an argument. You knocked off two No. 1s on their home court. On the other hand, we lot a couple of games, stuff we can control.

"I'm not worried about it. And like I said, I don't mind flying under the radar. At NC State it seems like we kind of do that, so I'm fine with it."

Q. How do you handle this next week or so, because it's not like you're going to be home for the first two rounds because everyone is going to Texas. How do you deal with the next 10 days or so before you start playing again?

WES MOORE: "We're going to do what we've always done, and we're going to take three days off right now. I think we all need it.

"I was kind of second-guessing myself with us getting the double bye. I wondered if maybe I should have given them two days off this week to start it when we finished last Sunday. Could have gave them Monday and Tuesday off and still had a couple of days to prepare. You don't even know who you're playing at that point.

"But this week we're going to take three days off. They need it. They need a rest and give them a break, and then we'll come back and practice two days, take a day off, practice two days, take a day off. We'll have at least four practices in there where we can focus on us, which will be great.

"Usually you're preparing for the next game, the next opponent, and now this time we're going to have four days that we can look at ourselves, look at film from this weekend and see what we need to clean up and do better, so I'm excited about that. I think we need that."

Q. You've mentioned that you guys have come back from 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter yesterday, eight-point deficit today and many comebacks this season. Why do you think this team seems to play its best when there's a hole to climb out of?

WES MOORE: I don't know, but I wish they'd quit doing it. You got to remember, I'm not a spring chick, okay, and it's probably not good for my heart over there. I wish they would kind of cut that out.

"Maybe in the fourth quarter they say, 'Heck with that coach over there and let's just play ball.' Who knows? Maybe they just ignore me in the fourth period and that's why we're so good.

"Like I said, I think they're just winners. I think they've got heart. Again, several of those players -- yesterday Kai Crutchfield stepped up unbelievably in the fourth period, and that's a senior leader for you. Kayla Jones has done that several times, another senior. Raina Perez, graduate student, and then Elissa Cunane. She's a junior, but that girl has got a lot of confidence, and she'll keep coming at you. You may double her, you may force her into a turnover, but you'd better keep playing because she's going to bring it back.

"Again, she made some big plays down the stretch today, especially getting to the foul line and knocking down free throws. Unbelievable, all of them. They just find a way to get it done."

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