‘Big Smile’ Cunane leaves FSU sad as Wolfpack defeats Seminoles, 68-51
The N.C. State media guide says that one of the nicknames for Elissa Cunane is “Big Smile.”
Late in the third quarter the 6-5 Cunane attempted a layup under her own basket. It rimmed out and Cunane found herself tied up with Florida State center River Baldwin, who is also 6-5 but has a little bit more size on Cunane.
“Big Smile” flexed her muscle, not smiling at all, while snatching the ball away from Baldwin and scoring on her second attempt.
If there was any doubt this was Cunane’s night in the post, it was all erased on that weight-room basket. The Wolfpack sophomore center had her 10th double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) as No. 9 N.C. State defeated the No. 11 Seminoles, 68-51, Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum. It was the seventh 20-point game of the year for Cunane and fourth in ACC play.
The play over Baldwin is a credit to Cunane’s improvement in the weight room, something she was proud to boast about after the game.
“I think work in the weight room has improved my mentality to play tougher,” Cunane said after swapping smiles with coach Wes Moore. “Not be so afraid of contact or anything.”
Cunane scored 12 in the first half, helping the Wolfpack (16-1, 5-1) jump out to a 15-point halftime lead.
The Wolfpack used a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter, breaking open a one-point game. N.C. State hit 6 of its final 7 shots from the field to end the opening quarter to take an eight-point lead into the second.
The Noles (15-3, 4-3) didn’t do themselves any favors by missing their first four shots from the floor to start the second. It also didn’t help that Cunane scored four points during that same stretch, getting more and more into a groove with every basket.
FSU threw three different players at Cunane — Valencia Myers and Kiah Gillespie also had their chances — but it didn’t matter.
Cunane’s scoring opened up the floor for freshman Jakia Brown-Turner and sharp shooter Aislinn Konig, who finished with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
“Our shooters were hot tonight,” Cunane said. “They couldn’t double down on me much.”
Cunane started off strong in the third quarter, scoring four in a row. Those four points were sandwiched between two layups from Koing, putting N.C. State up 44-28.
It was the third ACC loss for the Noles, who started the season winning 13 in a row. They’ve now dropped two of their last four. FSU came into the game as the top scoring team in the ACC (77.2 ppg) and the Pack held the Noles to a season-low 51 points.
“Defensively, great effort,” Moore said. “That’s a very talented Florida State team. They have a lot of weapons that we were concerned about. I’m very pleased to hold a team like that to 51 points.”
N.C. State has won four of its ACC games by double figures.
The Pack returns to action on Sunday, hosting Wake Forest at 2 p.m.
AND ONE
N.C. State never trailed after the first quarter. Florida State’s last lead was 8-7 after a layup from Nausia Woolfolk. That’s when the Wolfpack countered with a 7-0 run and never looked back.
PERSONAL FOUL
The only flaw Cunane showed in her game, if you can consider it a flaw for a 6-5 center, was her outside shooting. She went 0-2 on 3-pointers. She’s 8 of 17 from deep this season.
ICYMI
Konig was presented with a game ball before tipoff. Koing is the 34th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. The senior hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter against Virginia on Jan. 15 to hit the 1,000-point milestone.
MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS
9: Number of home wins for Wes Moore against AP Top 25 teams. Under Moore, N.C. State improved to 9-7 at Reynolds against ranked teams.
18: A career-high in points for Brown-Turner.
4: Number of players in double figures for N.C. State. Along with Cunane, Brown-Turner and Konig, junior forward Kayla Jones added 10 points in 31 minutes.
10: Number of home wins for the Wolfpack this year. N.C State is a perfect 10-0 at Reynolds.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 8:50 PM.
