Final Score:Louisville 66, N.C. State 59
Tough night for Elissa Cunane, as she was 1-12 from the field, with her one made bucket being a three-point shot and she finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds…Elissa was 7-10 from the Free Throw line…
#4 Wolfpack Welcomes #9 Louisville to Raleigh for Top-10 Showdown
Tip-off set for 8 p.m. from Reynolds Coliseum
**********Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford High School) is averaging 17.0 points per game and a league-leading 10.5 rebounds a game for the N.C. State Wolfpack, and she has a league-leading 12 Double-Doubles on the season….Cunane shooting 57.7% from the field and she is hitting nearly 80% of her Free Throws, at 79.9% from the charity stripe….**********
from www.gopack.com:
RALEIGH – Coming off of a three-game road stretch, the fourth-ranked NC State women’s basketball team (22-1, 11-1 ACC) returns home to host a top-10 ACC matchup against No. 9 Louisville on Thursday evening. Tip-off between the Wolfpack and the Cardinals is scheduled for 8 p.m. from Kay Yow Court inside Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum. Tickets for the game are sold out.
The game will be televised nationally on the ACC Network, and radio broadcasters Patrick Kinas and Ashley Eli will have the call on WKNC 88.1 FM in Raleigh.
THURSDAY PROMOTIONS
• Black History Month Celebration
• Book Drive: In partnership with NC State’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, we will be collecting gently used children’s books to donate to NC State’s Multicultural Student Affairs mentoring program Read to L.E.A.D.
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…
• Be the 939th win in program history (938-468)
• Be head coach Wes Moore’s 721st career win (720-228)
• Be Moore’s 163rd win at NC State (162-59)
• Be Moore’s 75th ACC victory at NC State (74-34)
• Be the Pack’s first victory over the Cardinals since 2017
• Give NC State 12 conference wins for the third time in four seasons
NOTING THE WOLFPACK (22-1, 11-1 ACC)
• Riding an eight-game winning streak
• Currently in sole possession of first place in the conference with six games remaining in the regular season
• Held 19 opponents to under 40 percent shooting and is perfect in those games
• No. 4 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (31.4)
• No. 2 in personal fouls per game (12.1)
• No. 7 in field-goal percentage defense (.337)
• No. 9 in rebound margin (+10.0)
• No. 10 in three-pointers per game (9.0)
• No. 11 in scoring margin (+19.1)
• No. 14 in scoring defense (54.9)
• Team holds the conference lead in a total of eight statistical categories
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS (21-3, 10-2 ACC)
• In sole possession of second place in the conference (one game back from the Wolfpack) with six games remaining in the regular season
• Dropped its last two ACC games against No. 17 Florida State and at Syracuse after starting conference action with a 10-0 record
• No. 18 nationally in field-goal percentage (.453)
• No. 34 in assists per game (16.1)
• Leads conference in field-goal percentage, assists per game and free-throw percentage (.762)
• Dana Evans paces the league in three-point field-goal percentage (.417) and is second in the ACC in scoring with her 18.5 points per game
SERIES HISTORY (Louisville leads 7-3)
• Thursday’s game is the 11th overall meeting between NC State and Louisville.
• The Cardinals are currently on a five-game winning streak in the series. NC State’s last win came on the road in a 72-70 overtime victory on Feb. 2, 2017.
• NC State has faced Louisville a total of three times inside Reynolds Coliseum. The Pack has only come away with the win in one of those outings, the first-ever meeting between the squads on Dec. 27, 1985.
• The squads last faced each other on March 9, 2019 in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Louisville won 78-68 to advance to the title game.
FAMILIAR HEIGHTS
The Wolfpack once again reached a season-high national ranking in the AP Top 25 as it was tabbed No. 4 in the nation on Monday. It is the best national ranking for the program since the 1999-2000 campaign when it was ranked No. 3 on Jan. 10, 2000. NC State has now spend the last 10 weeks inside the AP Top 10.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016, NC State is 59-6 on Kay Yow Court. That record includes 36 consecutive victories over non-conference opponents and 23 out of 29 possible league wins. The Wolfpack is a perfect 12-0 at home this season and outscores its opponents by an average of 22.3 points when playing on Kay Yow Court.
The Wolfpack owns the nation’s fourth-longest active home winning streak. Overall, the Pack has won its last 16 home contests, a streak that started on Feb. 21, 2019 with a win against Wake Forest. That streak includes wins over five top-25 opponents.
22-1
NC State has put together its best 23-game mark in program history with just one blemish on its record at this point in the season. The Pack’s 22-1 clip surpassed 21-2 marks set in both 1977-78 and 2018-19.
RANKED WINS UNDER MOORE
Nc State’s matchup with Louisville marks its third ranked matchup of the season. Under the leadership of Coach Moore, the Pack has defeated a total of 19 nationally-ranked opponents, 13 of which have come in the last four seasons. The Wolfpack has hosted a total of 10 opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum (start of the 2016-17 season), and NC State has won seven of those 10 games.