ACC Championship Bound; NC State Defeats GT
GREENSBORO, NC – The NC State Wolfpack advanced to the ACC Championship with a 66-61 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday afternoon. The Pack came into this semifinal game coming off a 68-55 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies in the ACC Quarterfinals.
The first five minutes of the game were fast-paced, up-and-down the court basketball as Elissa Cunane picked up where she left off from the game before, scoring seven of the first 13 points for the Pack, giving NC State a 13-10 lead at the first media timeout.
The teams matched basket for basket during the second half of the first quarter as the Wolfpack held a 18-14 through the first ten minutes. At the end of the first quarter, Cunane led the Pack with seven points and Lotta-Maj Lahtinen led the Yellow Jackets with six points.
Georgia Tech took their first lead since the score was 8-7 early in the first quarter, as they went on a 6-0 run over two minutes in the second quarter to take the 30-26 lead with 2:21 remaining in the first half. The Wolfpack only connected on one of their final seven shots of the half, as they trailed Georgia Tech 33-28 at the half.
At the half, NC State was led by Elissa Cunane with nine points and three rebounds. Lotta-Maj Lahtinen led the Yellow Jackets with 13 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field. The biggest stat the stood out in the first half was Georgia Tech scoring 22 points in the paint compared to the Pack scoring 28 total points.
Georgia Tech extended the lead to nine (39-30), just a minute into the second half, before the Pack went on a run to widdle the lead down to four a minute and a half later. After the Pack cut the lead to three with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter, Georgia Tech extended it back to six at the media timeout, with a Kierra Fletcher three-pointer.
The Yellow Jackets looked to pull away as they extended the lead to eight with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter but the Pack closed the quarter strong and trailed 48-43 with ten minutes to play in the game. NC State was led by Cunane with 15 points and six rebounds and Kayla Jones wirh ten points and six rebounds. Maj Lahtine led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and Lorela Cubaj had nearly a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Georgia Tech scored the first five points in the fourth quarter to double the lead to ten one minute into the final quarter. NC State responded with an 10-4 run of their own to shorten the lead to four with 5:37 to play, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout.
Following the break, Kai Crutchfield connected on a pure three-pointer to cut the lead to one with five minutes to play. Cubaj went strong to the basket for a layup to bring the Gerogia Tech lead to three at the media timeout.
The Wolfpack took their first lead since the 26-24 in the second quarter as Cunane and Crutchfield took over. The ACC-First team duo combined to score eight straight points, giving NC State a 64-59 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
The Wolfpack closed out the remaining seconds, as they knocked down late game free-throws to finish off the Yellow Jackets. The Pack outscored Georgia Tech 23-13 in the fourth quarter.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Lorela Cubaj and Lotta-Maj Lahtinen with 17 points each. Elissa Cunane led the Wolfpack with 23 points and nine rebounds. Kayla Jones contributed with 12 points and eight rebounds. After being held to just two points through the first three quarter, Kai Cruthfield finished with ten points and five rebounds. The Wolfpack starters scored 58 of their 66 points.
” I challenged my team at the half. I didn’t wanna go home,” NC State coach Wes Moore said when asked what he said to his team at the half.
The Wolfpack, (19-2, 13-2 ACC) now moves on to the ACC Championship game Sunday afternoon to take on the Louisville Cardinals. The game is set to tip off at noon on ESPN2. The Pack defeated the Cardinals 74-60 on February 1st, in the only matchup between these two teams this season.