NC State women's basketball junior center Elissa Cunane and sophomore Jakia Brown-Turner were both named finalists for the 2021 USA Basketball Women's AmeriCup Team.
After four days of competition against 20 of the nation's top collegiate women's basketball players, Cunane and Brown-Turner were the only two representatives from the ACC of the 13 finalists. They will return for a training camp beginning June 1.
From there, 12 players will make the official roster before the team departs to San Juan, Puerto Rico to compete alongside 10 nations from North, South and Central America from June 11-19. The top four teams in the June event will move on to compete in one of four FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament with the chance to earn one of 12 spots in the 2022 FIBA World Cup field.
Cunane is coming off of her second consecutive season as a unanimous first-team All-ACC selection. She was also named a first-team All-American by ESPN and a second-team All-American by the United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the Associated Press (AP).
The 6-5 center from Summerfield, N.C. led the Wolfpack in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in 2020-21. She also shot a team-best 53.3 percent from the field, 38.7 percent on three-point attempts and 84.3 percent from the free-throw line.
She was named the 2021 ACC Tournament MVP after NC State claimed its second straight conference title in Greensboro for the first time in program history. She averaged 23.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest during the Pack's three-game run in Greensboro.
Brown-Turner was also a consensus first-team All-ACC selection in 2020-2021 after earning ACC All-Freshman team honors in 2019-20. She was also an honorable mention All-American according to the AP.
A two-year starter for the Pack, Brown-Turner is the highest-ranked recruit (No. 16 overall in 2019 class) in head coach Wes Moore's tenure at NC State according to ESPN/HoopGurlz.
Brown-Turner was team's second-leading scorer and fourth-leading rebounder last season, averaging 13.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. She also made a team-high of 40 three-point attempts and averaged 37 percent from beyond the arc.
Here is the full list of athletes, selected by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee and the USA Women's Senior National Team Committee:
Grace Berger, G, Indiana
Aliyah Boston, F, South Carolina
Jakia Brown-Turner, W, NC State
Veronica Burton, G, Northwestern
Elissa Cunane, C, NC State
Destanni Henderson, G, South Carolina
Naz Hillmon, F, Michigan
Rhyne Howard, G, Kentucky
Haley Jones, G, Stanford
Diamond Miller, G, Maryland
Ashley Owusu, G, Maryland
Sedona Prince, F, Oregon
NaLyssa Smith, G, Baylor
——
• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
