NC State senior guard Aislinn Konig (front) and sophomore center Elissa Cunane (back) hug after defeating Florida State 71-66 in the 2020 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, Mar. 8, 2020. 2020 ACC Women's Tournament. NC State 2020 ACC Women's Tournament Champions
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Pack on Top! NC State Wins First ACC Women’s Tournament in 29 Years

Landon Bost

GREENSBORO – Stuck no more. The N.C. State Wolfpack Women’s brings the Women’s ACC Tournament trophy back down I-40 for the first time since 1991 after defeating the Florida State Seminoles at the Greensboro Coliseum.

“It feels unreal right now,” said Wolfpack sophomore center Elissa Cunane, a Guilford County native. ” I remember as a kid when the champions would be crowned, I would see the balloons and the confetti growing up, and I said ‘Mom! I want a balloon!’ And she said, “No, you can’t get one.”

“So I went down today and grabbed as many as I could! I have one in my locker. But it’s amazing to be on this stage and surrounded by all my best friends. It means a lot to us.”

Senior guard and tournament MVP Aislinn Konig and Cunane led the Wolfpack with 18 points each.

The Seminoles led 30-29 at halftime, and freshman forward Jakia Brown-Turner kept NC State in the game by scoring 12-of-her-14 points in the first half when Cunane and Koning had six and five points. Brown-Turner finished the game with 10 rebounds for a double-double.

“What a day she had today,” said Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore. “Definitely didn’t play like a freshman. She didn’t play like a freshman this whole tournament. It’s awesome to see somebody step up like that in this environment in their first year.”

Fellow freshman Wolfpack teammate Jada Boyd finished in double-figures with 10 points as well and Florida State senior forward Kiah Gillespie finished as the game’s leading scorer with 25 points.

There were 12 lead changes and nine ties in the game. The Wolfpack led by three, 69-66, with 21 seconds left. Florida State had possession of the ball on their side of the court coming out of a timeout.

Seminoles guard Nausia Woolfolk missed a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Cunane grabbed the rebound.

She made both free-throws on the other end of the court to ice the game.

What’s Next

Both teams head to the NCAA Tournament which starts Friday, Mar. 20. The selection show is Monday, Mar. 16, and NC State was projected as a 3-seed before today’s win. 

Barring anything out of the norm, NC State will host the first and second rounds of the Tournament at Reynolds Coliseum.

“There is no words to describe the type of feeling that the whole team has right now,” Konig said. “This was a family that came together, and really bought in, and played together throughout this whole tournament and through the ups-and-downs through the season. Being able to celebrate that with them, and the coaching staff and the amazing fans who filled up this arena for us is super special. To be part of this legacy of NC State that has had so many contributors from before us and will guarantee to have after us.”

(Feature image courtesy of Landon Bost)