ACC champions! NC State women win their first ACC basketball tournament in 29 years
They’ll be celebrating in Raleigh tonight.
By the time the Wolfpack’s travel party in Greensboro makes its way back to the Triangle, there might not be room left on Hillsborough Street.
The Bell Tower will be red and N.C. State lifers will remember what they were doing when the Wolfpack women’s basketball team ended its suffering. For the first time since 1991, State fans have a major championship to celebrate after defeating FSU 71-66 for the ACC championship.
Aislinn Konig hit a three to tie the score at 63 with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, waking up the fans wearing red in Greensboro. The crowd had been sitting on their hands most of the afternoon, and after 29 years of suffering, had been holding in their cheers for much, much longer.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” State coach Wes Moore said. “We’ve come a long way.”
After a Kayla Jones’ free throw put State up two, Jakia Brown-Turner grabbed the offensive rebound off the subsequent miss and was fouled. She hit both at the line to make it a four-point game with less than a minute remaining, and Wolfpack fans could sense it.
N.C. State (28-4) had a record-setting 14 wins in conference, six 20-plus-win seasons under coach Wes Moore and a top 4 nationally ranking this year, but a championship had still eluded them.
Once N.C. State came up with a jump ball with 47.5 seconds remaining, the Red-and-White party was on in Greensboro Coliseum.
Win No. 727 for Moore was the biggest in school history since the first Bush administration. Since taking over, Moore has put the team on the national radar with NCAA tournament trips, even hosting the opening rounds for two straight seasons (2018, 2019).
Konig, the lone senior in the starting lineup, was named the ACC tournament Most Outstanding Player after scoring 18 points in the title game, 13 in the second half. Elissa Cunane added 18, with 12 coming in the second half. Freshman Brown-Turner chipped in with 14 in her first ACC tournament experience.
The experience of winning it all was new for all parties involved, so much so that assistant coach Simon Harris had to give freshman Camille Hobby a quick tutorial of how to cut down the nets when the game ended.
One by one, members of the team climbed up on a podium to take a slice at their own little nylon piece of history. By the time it was just the rim remaining, the only fans left in the arena were wearing red. There was no way they were going to miss this and risk waiting another 29 years.
With the win, the Wolfpack earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, not that there was a chance they were going to miss it. This year, however, they head into the field with some momentum. N.C. State heads into March Madness winners of five in a row. After dropping three of their final six of the regular season, some wondered if the Wolfpack peaked too soon, if ACC teams figured them out, or a combination of both.
“A few weeks ago they thought we had peaked in January,” Moore said. “Right now we have a really good mojo about the team. We have a lot of people playing and contributing, and winning doesn’t hurt. We saw the ball go through the net a little bit our last two games; I think that helped us to get our confidence going. We are playing with confidence, we’re having fun. I feel good about where we are right now.”
The Wolfpack had slow starts to each of their tournament games and held a slim one-point lead late in this one. The team went without a field goal in the last 2:28, but the defense was solid, holding the Noles without a basket for the last 3:45, sealing the game from the foul line.
It’s almost fitting that the last made field goal came from Konig, who led the team with 80 3-pointers this year. After the game, standing on a podium, wearing a championship hat and holding the MOP trophy, Konig had a message for the Wolfpack faithful as they head into the NCAA tournament.
“We aren’t done yet,” Konig said to a loud ovation from the crowd. “There are no words to describe the type of feeling we have right now. To be a part of this legacy of N.C. State, it’s amazing.”
They will host the NCAA opening and second round for the third consecutive season.
Last season, the Wolfpack won 21 games in a row, but its year was derailed by injury and ended in the Greensboro Coliseum against Iowa in the Sweet 16. This year, three straight days in Greensboro resulted in a trophy that’s eluded Wolfpack nation for decades. Even around campus the players are aware of the stigma associated with teams in Raleigh. Konig said she didn’t think it applied to them. They’ve had success, but Moore addressed it head on.
“It’s been a while since we’ve won one,” Moore said, an emphasis on the word “we’ve.” “For our fans, it means the world to me for us to win a championship for them. Year after year after year, being there for us. We have a lot of momentum going there.”
Konig finally found her rhythm in the third quarter. After scoring five points in the first half, she scored that many in two trips down the floor to put State up four, forcing a timeout by FSU at the 3:22 mark. Jada Boyd followed with a layup to give the Wolfpack its biggest lead of the game. But the Noles kept chipping away, closing the third quarter on a 6-2 run.
N.C. State had been no strangers to slow starts in this tournament. Sunday’s championship was no exception. The Wolfpack only scored 14 points in the first quarter and spent the second still stuck in neutral.
The Wolfpack only got one field goal in the final 4:45 of the second quarter, but it was a big one. Cunane, who had been held to just one field goal most of the first half, knocked down a 3 from the top of the key to make it a one-point FSU lead, 30-29, at the break.
The Noles didn’t do themselves any favors, going 0-7 from the field to close out the second quarter. N.C. State got a huge lift in the second from Boyd and Brown-Turner, who scored six of State’s first seven points in the game. The two freshmen combined for eight straight points during one burst to give the Pack its largest lead (three) in the first half. But Florida State answered with a deep 3 from Sammie Puisis to tie it. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Nicki Ekhomu put the Noles back in front, and FSU never trailed again in the first half.
FSU went up on a 10-0 run late in the fourth to take a four-point advantage with 3:45 remaining, but it would be the Noles’ final field goal of the game. Like it has done all tournament, State won the second half, outscoring FSU 42-36.
Sunday marked the first trip to the title game for the Wolfpack since the 2010 season, when it fell to Duke, 70-60. The win over the Seminoles now gives N.C. State five ACC tournament titles and the long drought is over.
“To bring it back to the fans,” forward Kayla Jones said in the locker room, “they deserve it. Coach Moore deserves it, it’s truly a blessing.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 2:01 PM.
