Pack goes Back-to-Back:N.C. State Women’s Basketball 2021 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Champions, plus Elissa “Big Smile” Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) Tournament MVP, at the Greensboro Coliseum

Back-to-Back! Pack Claims 2021 ACC Championship
Perez’s jump shot with 2.1 seconds left gives program sixth ACC Title

Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) scored a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds. She scored nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter.

The Summerfield, N.C., native was named ACC Tournament MVP after scoring 70 points on 62 percent shooting and grabbing 27 rebounds in three tournament wins for the Pack.

We have been blowing it out for the past three seasons, talking about Elissa Cunane, and her “Big Smile”, plus we have had the headlines on Elissa being the “Hometown Hero”, and Cunane going into the lane, causing pain, making it a strain on the competition, and Cunane is going insane, again, again and again…..We have gone haywire in our praise of this kid, but guess what?????

She has lived up to every bit of the praise we have been dishing out…Never before, have I seen a kid/young lady/young basketball player live up to this type of hype, and not only has she lived up to the hype, she has EXCEEDED the hype, and surpassed all of the praise, we have been sending her way…..

Often times, the headlines seem cute, catchy and they can even be corny, but with Elissa Cunane, she has made it all come true…I say a lot of this because I am, and have always been a HUGE N.C. State fan, and there is nothing better than seeing Elissa “Big Smile” Cunane and her State mates, take that ACC Basketball Championship/Title, back to Raleigh…The kid and her sister Wolves got it done again, and with a two-point win over Louisville, they made it interesting along the way…

Great work turn in by Elissa Cunane and her N.C. State Women’s Basketball team, coached by Wes Moore….

Thanks for the memories and don’t stop now, there is still much more success, waiting out there for you in the next lane….Elissa Cunane, a Guilford County kid we can all be proud of, whether you are an N.C. State fan, or not….I will keep rooting for the Pack, and I will keep on following and tracking the career of the “Big Smile”, Elissa Cunane…Keep it going kid, and she always told GreensboroSports.com that the one word that would describe the success she has found in her basketball career would be the word, ExhilaratingThe word exhilaration is defined as a feeling of excitement, happiness, or elation…..

There you go, there’s our breakdown of the N.C. State success….
(We are probably like a lot of other N.C. State Wolfpack fans, in that we would do almost anything to get another Championship/Title, and this one sure feels good.)

And from www.gopack.com:
(CLICK HERE for the photo and video section at GoPack.com)

GREENSBORO, N.C. – NC State guard Raina Perez drained a jump shot with 2.1 seconds remaining to give the Pack a 58-56 win over Louisville Sunday afternoon and the 2021 ACC Championship.

The ACC title is the sixth in program history.

Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) tied the game at 56 with a free throw and the Pack got a defensive stop at the other end to set Perez up for her late game heroics.

The graduate transfer from Cal State Fullerton came off a Cunane screen and both Louisville defenders stayed with the Pack’s Unanimous First-Team All-Conference selection which left Perez open at the elbow and she buried the jumper to send NC State to its second consecutive ACC title.

The Pack looked to be in trouble early in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals scored the first five points of the final frame to take its largest lead of the game, 48-40, with 8:58 to play.

But NC State was not rattled as Kia Crutchfield immediately knocked down a corner three-pointer and Cunane hit two free throws to cut the deficit to three with 6:59 to go.

Louisville led 54-49 with 4:58 to go when the Pack would go on a 6-0 run to take a 55-54 lead on two Cunane free throws with 2:23 left.

Louisville’s Dana Evans, the two-time ACC Player of the Year, answered with a lay-up to put the Cardinals back in front, but that proved to be Louisville’s last points of the day as NC State held the Cards without a point for the final 1:59 of the game.

NC State led 26-25 at halftime. Neither team had a lead larger than five points in the opening 20 minutes and the second quarter had seven lead changes as neither team could get into a flow.

Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) scored a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds. She scored nine of her 20 points in the fourth quarter.

The Summerfield, N.C., native was named ACC Tournament MVP after scoring 70 points on 62 percent shooting and grabbing 27 rebounds in three tournament wins for the Pack.

Perez was next in scoring for the Pack with nine, while Jada Boyd added eight points and Jakia Brown-Turner finished with seven.

Kayla Jones led NC State with 10 rebounds.

Evans scored 15 points to lead Louisville in scoring, but the Pack’s defense held her to a 7-for-21 shooting performance.

The Pack will return to action in two weeks when it begins play in the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament. The 2021 tournament will be held in San Antonio, Texas. The tournament selection show will be at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, March 15, on ESPN.

2 thoughts on “Pack goes Back-to-Back:N.C. State Women’s Basketball 2021 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Champions, plus Elissa “Big Smile” Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) Tournament MVP, at the Greensboro Coliseum

  1. I have been watching her since she was a freshman at Northern. She had always had that infectious smile. She loves playing basketball and it is obvious. A lot of players could learn a lot from her. This is supposed to be fun! Enjoy every minute of it!
    Andy, the combination of Cunane, Kitley and King have really put our area on the map. Is this the most dominant group ever to come out of Guilford county? I remember the ladies from Grimsley had quite a crew, but you may be able to shed some light on this.

  2. The trio of Cunane, Kitley and King are tops, based on the success that they have had/experienced since they went on to college….

    Gonna to be hard to top what this group of three is doing on Top-Tier DI level….

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