Cunane leads Wolfpack past Florida State 69-62

The rematch between N.C. State and Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament supposedly would feature two first-team All-ACC forwards, N.C. State grad student Kiara Leslie and Florida State redshirt junior Kiah Gillespie, a Maryland transfer.

But a freshman overshadowed them both.

Elissa Cunane, a 6-foot-5 center enjoying a homecoming game, poured in a team-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead third-seeded N.C. State to a 69-62 win over sixth-seeded Florida State on Friday night in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Ninth-ranked NC State (26-4) will play second-seeded and third-ranked Louisville (28-2) in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. It will be the Wolfpack’s second consecutive trip to the tournament semifinals.

Louisville, projected as one of the four No. 1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament, beat Clemson 75-67 behind 24 points from senior guard Asia Durr, the two-time ACC Player of the Year. Louisville is the reigning ACC tournament champion and beat N.C. State 92-62 at Louisville on Feb. 28.

Cunane, who prepped at nearby Northern Guilford High, established herself early on the low block. She had 13 points by halftime, although she shot only 4-of-9 for the half, but added a 5-of-6 performance at the free throw line.

“It was great to come and play in front of my friends and family,” she said.

FSU had won the regular-season meeting with NC State, 75-70 on Feb. 7, but the smaller Seminoles had no answer for Cunane after their own freshman center, 6-3 Valencia Myers, picked up two fouls before the game was three minutes old. Myers would eventually foul out late in the fourth quarter.

Cunane was even more efficient in the second half, making all four of her shots, including a 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining that gave the Wolfpack a 56-45 lead. She missed a first-half attempt beyond the arc, but for the record she’s 4-of-7 out there on the season.

“We’re comfortable with Elissa taking the three,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. “We’re more comfortable with her on the block. We should have gotten her the ball more there in the second half.”

“We struggled when Valencia Myers got her second foul,” Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. “That was tough for us (because) we’re not very deep in the post. They (NC State) are not deep in the post, but they did a better job of not fouling.”

With Cunane leading the way, the Pack enjoyed a 32-16 advantage in points in the paint, with senior forward DD Rogers adding 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Two free throws by Rogers with 1:12 remaining gave the Pack a 63-53 lead, but FSU made it interesting in the final minute by drilling three 3-pointers, two by guard Nicki Ekhomu, who led the Seminoles with a game-high 23 points.

Her third triple of the night cut the Pack’s lead to 65-62 with 38 seconds left, but Leslie and Kai Crutchfield each made a pair of free throws to keep the Seminoles at bay.

Aislinn Konig added 12 points for NC State, including a 3-of-7 effort on 3-pointers. Leslie, who according to Moore was bothered by a stomach ailment, finished with 10 points despite shooting 4-of-13.

Nausia Woolfolk had 11 points for Florida State, while Gillespie finished with eight on a 4-of-13 shooting night.

Semrau said despite the loss, she liked the Seminoles’ prospects for the NCAA tournament.

FSU was the eighth-youngest team in the nation, and that was before losing three players to major injuries along the way.

“They’ve accomplished a lot this year,” Semrau said.

This story was originally published March 9, 2019 at 12:10 AM.