NC State Wolfpack, ACC Tournament, Ryan Wilson, Spectacular Magazine
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Wolfpack Win ACC Tourney Opener Over VT

Ryan Wilson

GREENSBORO, NC – The NC State Wolfpack opened up their 2021 ACC Tournament with a 68-55 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies. The teams split their meetings during the season, with each team winning at home. The Wolfpack came into this tournament as the defending ACC Tournament champions.

During the regular season, the Wolfpack led the ACC in field-goal percentage defense (35.7%), three-point field-goal percentage (37.4%), rebound margin (+8.1), and assists per game (16.3). The Wolfpack has four players averaging double figures in points this season.

Early on in the first quarter, it was the Elizabeth Kitley vs Elissa Cunane show, as both players scored six points through the first five minutes, as the Pack led 11-10. Virginia Tech was able to take a short lead late in the first quarter as the Wolfpack didn’t score for four minutes.

At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 16. Kitley led the Hokies with eight points and Cunane led the Wolfpack with six points through the first ten minutes.

After the second quarter started with each team matching basket for basket for the first four minutes, NC State went on a 7-0 run to take a 29-21 lead with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter. Jada Boyd scored eight of the first 13 for the Wolfpack to start the quarter. Neither team could find much offense to end the half as the Wolfpack led 33-23 at the half.

Elizabeth Kitley led the Hokies at the half, with ten points and six rebounds. Elissa Cunane and Jada Boyd led the Wolfpack with nine points each. The Wolfpack held the Hokies to just 1-15 from the field in the second quarter. Coach Wes Moore said at the half, “sometimes it’s just HTM defense, which means hope they miss.” NC State scored 18 of their 33 first-half points in the paint.

The Hokies came out strong to start the second half and quickly cut the lead to six halfway through the third quarter. Cunane and Kitley continued their strong play from the first half, as the former high school teammates went back and forth scoring for their teams.  

“We’ve had our fair share of matchups, and we’ve also played on the same team together. Always a fun time playing together,” Elissa Cunane said following the game when asked what it’s like playing against Kitley. 

The rest of the third quarter was basket for basket as the Pack led by eight (47-39) at the end of the quarter. Elissa Cunane scored eight of her 17 points in the quarter. Elizabeth Kitley nearly had a double-double through three-quarters, as she had 16 points and eight rebounds at the end of the third. 

As the Hokies cut the lead to six to start the fourth quarter, the Pack responded with a 7-2 run capped off by a Raina Perez three-pointer to force a Virginia Tech timeout, which extended NC State’s lead to  54-43 with 7:36 remaining in the game. Both teams went back and forth for the next five minutes as the Pack held a 62-52 lead with 2:15 remaining. 

The Wolfpack were able to pull away late knocking down free-throws and holding Virginia Tech to just three points in the final two minutes.

Virginia Tech was led by Elizabeth Kitley with 20 points and nine rebounds and Georgia Amoore with 12 points. NC State was led by Elissa Cunane with 25 points and nine rebounds and Jada Boyd with 13 points and ten rebounds. Raina Perez dished out six assists to run the offense all game. The pack scored 42 of their 68 points in the paint. 

“They’ve got some kids who can really shoot the ball. They’re an NCAA Tournament team,” NC State coach Wes Moore said about this Virginia Tech team. 

NC State, (18-2, 12-2 ACC) will now move on to the ACC semi-finals, where they will take on the winner of the Georgia Tech vs Clemson game on Saturday. The game time is 2:30 pm and will be shown on the ACC Network.