Here are some thoughts from those who covered NC State Wolfpack women's basketball's 58-56 win against Louisville in the 2021 ACC Tournament title game.
The Pack won back-to-back ACC Tournaments for the first time in program history:
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.
Once again, NC State found itself down multiple possessions in the fourth quarter, but nothing was going to stop the Pack from winning its second-consecutive ACC Tournament Championship in program history Sunday.
The Wolfpack (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 in the Big Dance.
This time it was only eight points.
N.C. State senior guard Raina Perez hit a jumper from the free-throw line with two seconds remaining on the clock, the game-winner to ice the second straight ACC tournament title for the Wolfpack. Before that shot Perez, who started the game 2 for 2, had missed her previous six shots. With the big basket, her first since the first half, the Pack defeated Louisville, 58-56.
But the shot that counted the most was nothing but net for the graduate senior.
“I was honestly looking for the pass. I hadn’t made a shot all second half. I think that was all in my head,” Perez said. “I had to take it and what do you know, it went in.”
After a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback in the semifinals, the mountain wasn’t as high to climb for N.C. State in the ACC championship. The Wolfpack went on a 13-6 (and counting) run, once again living life on the wild side.
“This team is just so resilient,” head coach Wes Moore said. “They just find a way to win. Obviously, dug an eight-point deficit there in the fourth quarter and they didn’t blink an eye, just kept battling.”
For the second year in a row, the NC State women’s basketball team sits atop the ACC, beating the Louisville Cardinals 58-56 in the 2021 ACC Championship.
No player was more clutch than graduate guard Raina Perez, who, with two seconds remaining on the clock, hit the game-winning jumper.
“I was honestly looking for the pass,” Perez said. “I hadn't made a shot all second half, so I think I was kind of more in my head. But then they doubled on [Cunane], and I was wide open. I had to take it, and what do you know, it went in.”
In the fleeting moments of the game, Louisville’s Dana Evans got the last shot up with just over a second left on the clock. Despite making 199 3-pointers over the last three seasons, Evans missed at the perfect moment for the Wolfpack, clinching the win.
“This team is just so resilient and they just find a way to win,” said head coach Wes Moore. “Obviously dug an eight-point deficit there in the fourth period, and they didn't blink an eye, just kept battling.”
Junior center Elissa Cunane took home the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award after putting up 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists, with nine of her points coming in crunch time.
“It's amazing to win back to back,” Cunane said. “It's tough in this league. Winning once was hard. Winning twice was harder. Especially through this season with COVID and everything, it's just amazing to be able to be on top again.”
• Aaron Beard, Associated Press — No. 3 NC State beats No. 5 Louisville 58-56 for ACC title
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Wes Moore believed North Carolina State had enough talent to win another Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament when he brought in a graduate transfer to add some experience at the point.
And Raina Perez sure rewarded him for it.
Perez hit a jumper from near the left elbow with 2.1 seconds left to help third-ranked N.C. State beat fifth-ranked Louisville 58-56 in Sunday’s championship game, securing the Wolfpack’s first back-to-back titles in program history.
Perez’s shot broke a tie game in a tense finish between two of the nation’s top teams who remained locked in a one-possession game for the final 4 1/2 minutes.
“This team is just to resilient and they just find a way to win,” Moore said.
In the end, the second-seeded Wolfpack (20-2) again ended the tournament by cutting down nets, posing for selfies and frolicking in balloons from the rafters above.
“Winning once was hard,” tournament MVP Elissa Cunane said of the title runs. “Winning twice was harder.”
It started with Cunane, who scored 20 points as the steadying go-to inside presence after scoring 27 in the quarterfinals against Virginia Tech and 23 in the semifinals against Georgia Tech.
Then there was Perez, last year’s Big West Conference player of the year at Cal State Fullerton. She arrived to replace a veteran point guard in Aislinn Konig, last year’s tourney MVP.
On the winning play, the 5-foot-4 Perez initially started to pass to Cunane rolling into the lane, but had to pull the ball back when the pass wasn’t there. Instead, she collected her feet and shook off six straight misses dating to the second quarter to cleanly bury the jumper.
“I was honestly looking for the pass,” Perez said. “I hadn’t made a shot all second half, so I think I was kind of more in my head. But then they doubled on (Cunane), and I was wide open. I had to take it. And what do you know, it went in.”
Sunday's ACC championship game was a classic.
A top-5 matchup and rematch of Louisville's first loss of the season, on Feb. 1, Louisville and NC State lived up to the hype. The Wolfpack, though, outlasted Louisville defeating the Cardinals 58-56 to win the ACC Tournament championship.
Louisville was led by Dana Evans, who finished with 15 points and took the potential game-winning shot but the 3-pointer was off the mark. For the second time in three years, Louisville came up one win short in the ACC Tournament. The last time it won the ACC Tournament was in 2018.
Now the Cardinals wait to see if it'll be a No. 2 seed of No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.
• Brett Friedlander, North State Journal —Wolfpack women repeat as ACC Tournament champions
GREENSBORO — Raina Perez was 2,500 miles away playing for Cal State Fullerton when NC State broke a 29-year drought by winning the ACC women’s basketball tournament last March.
As such, she’s one of the few current members of the Wolfpack that didn’t know what it’s like to cut down the nets as a conference champion.
Not any more.
The graduate transfer point guard took a step back from her defender and calmly sank a 17-foot jumper with 2.8 seconds remaining Sunday to give State a 58-56 victory against top-seeded Louisville and its second straight ACC Tournament title.
The victory not only earned the Wolfpack (20-2) the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but it could also have solidified a No. 1 seed for its quest for an even more prestigious prize.
“I was honestly looking for the pass,” said Perez, who was 3 for 9 from the floor and had missed her six previous field goal attempts since the second quarter. “I hadn’t made a shot all second half, so I think I was kind of in my head. But then they doubled on (tournament MVP Elissa Cunane) and I was wide open. I had to take it and, what do you know, it went in.”
Perez’s game-winner came with the score tied at 56 and provided an exclamation point to a back-and-forth final that featured 15 lead changes and four ties.
The dramatic ending was set up when State’s Kai Crutchfield, who had bothered ACC Player of the Year Dana Evans with her tight defense all game, forced the Louisville star into missing an off-balance jumper with 28 seconds remaining.
Cunane retrieved the errant shot for her ninth rebound, allowing the second-seeded Wolfpack to hold for the final possession.
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