NC State wins second straight ACC tournament title on Raina Perez’s game-winning shot
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.”
N.C. State (20-2) trailed by three heading into the fourth and by as many as eight. Elissa Cunane hit two free throws to retake the lead, 55-54, for the first time in 10 minutes and the late drama felt way too familiar. The Wolfpack had to battle back from down 10 in the semifinal round and was on the ropes once again. Dana Evans put Louisville back in front with a floater, and the Cardinals (23-3) got the ball back after a Wolfpack miss, but the State defense forced a turnover.
Cunane was fouled with 46.8 left and calmly tied the score at 56 with her first free throw. She missed the second, giving the ball back to Louisville with 30 seconds remaining, but the Cardinals could not convert.
All eyes were on Cunane, who finished with a game-high 20 points, in the final seconds. The 6-5 center set a screen for Perez and rolled to the basket. The entire defense followed Cunane, leaving Perez all alone from the top of the key. She calmly hit the biggest basket of her lone season in Raleigh. Perez, who hit her first two shots of the game, finished with nine points.
“They doubled on (Elissa),” Perez said. “I was wide open; I had to take it.”Evans, the ACC Player of the Year, missed a deep 3 as the horn sounded and the Pack celebrated its second straight title. The N.C. State defense held Evans to 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting, most of her damage coming in the fourth quarter, when the Pack had to battle back from a large deficit for the second straight game.
After scoring 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds, Cunane was named the tournament MVP. She was the only N.C. State player to score in double figures. She did have help, however, as all seven players who saw action for the Wolfpack scored at least four points.
Kianna Smith added 14 for Louisville, who looked in control, up five with 4:58 remaining. Jada Boyd (eight points) scored a layup, skiing in for the offensive rebound and the putback. That started things for the Pack and fans in attendance there to support N.C. State could feel the momentum shift once again.
The lead changed 15 times in the game and three times in the final 23 seconds. N.C. State outscored Louisville 18-13 in the fourth quarter, shooting 42 percent from the floor in the final 10 minutes.
Kai Crutchfield was also named the All-Tournament first team, finishing with just six points. But her 3-pointer to start the fourth pulled the Wolfpack within five and it looked nothing like the team that almost fell apart in the final minutes of the third, when they missed five in a row after taking a five-point lead.
That started a familiar Wolfpack rally, one that their coach wishes the team would stop doing for his own benefit.
“I wish they would quit doing it,” Moore joked. “You have to remember I’m not a spring chicken. It’s probably not good for my heart.”
The fourth-quarter comebacks the past two days, plus a fourth-quarter comeback after trailing Boston College by 16 earlier this season, have become a staple of this team, which has constantly proved it is resilient.
“We know the score, but we try not to pay much attention to it,” Perez said. “We just try to focus on ourselves and do what we can.”
Perez, the former Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, turned out to be a blessing since arriving in Raleigh over the summer.
“For her to come in and first of all be accepted — you’ve got to give our players credit, too, for having open arms and being excited, but a lot of that has to do with Raina, not only as a player, again, she works, she comes in and prepares like a pro, but she also is just an unbelievable person off the court, great personality, fun to be around, and so that’s why it worked,” Moore said. “It doesn’t always work that way, but Raina made it work on the court and off, and our team is whole lot better because of it.”
Greensboro is home
The Wolfpack now has consecutive tournament titles for the first time in school history and takes home its seventh tournament title.
Cunane, from nearby Summerfield, averaged 23.3 points this tournament. The Wolfpack came into Greensboro with a huge target, being the defending champion, but never wavered all season. Cunane, who missed two games this year due to COVID-19, talked about how hard it is to repeat as champions.
“Coming off last year’s win, we knew it took literally everything in us, so after last season ended we knew we still had more fight in us,” Cunane said. “Coming back to Greensboro, stepping on this court, I told the team before the game, ‘This is our court now. We have to defend this court.’ So coming back and being able to win it, it’s huge. Throughout this season we’ve had so much adversity, just like everyone else in the league, everyone else in the country playing basketball and living right now. It’s just been so tough with COVID. For our team to stick together to pull it out, and honestly shout out to the ACC for our season being here and for there being a tournament. We had fans in the stadium. I’m just really grateful for this moment, and winning makes it even better.”
Now the Wolfpack will await its fate. The NCAA tournament starts March 21. Will N.C. State, with two road wins over No. 1 teams, earn a No. 1 seed? Moore feels like the team has broken through challenges people felt he would face when he took over, but knows the seeds aren’t important once they get into March play.
“It’s nothing we can control,” Moore said. “I’m not worried about it. And like I said, I don’t mind flying under the radar. At N.C. State it seems like we kind of do that, so I’m fine with it.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2021 at 12:21 PM.
