Elissa Cunane driving against Florida State Seminole defender
Sports

With Leslie Being Less Than 100 Percent: Cunane Shines

Landon Bost

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The North Carolina State Lady Wolfpack found scoring from other players with team leader Kiara Leslie battling stomach pain in ACC Tournament quarterfinal matchup against the Florida State Seminoles.

In the Wolfpack’s 69-62 victory over the Seminoles, they leaned on freshman Summerfield native center Elissa Cunane, senior forward DD Rogers and junior guard Aislinn Konig.

Each scored in double-figures. Cunane had a team-high 22 points; Rogers led the team with 10 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double; and Konig had a team-high five assists.

At halftime, N.C. State’s All-ACC First Team senior guard Leslie had four points and two rebounds. She came into today leading the team in points with 17.4 per game, and second in rebounding with 6.3 per game.

“She’s a really great player,” said Konig, “and a lot of times, she leads us in scoring and does a lot of great things. We moved the ball well, and were finding open shots and definitely feeding off the fact that Elissa was scoring in the paint a lot. And then DD was able to get some good points too.”

Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore subbed Leslie out with 6:20 left in the second quarter; she sat on the bench the rest of the quarter.

“Ki was struggling with some stomach pain too,” said Moore. “That’s why she came out for a little bit there in the first half. I know she struggled with that most of the night. But I think she’ll be okay for tomorrow.”

Leslie finished the game 4-13 from the floor, 0-3 3FG, for 10 points along with seven rebounds. Her scoring effort was her worst since Jan. 3, when she scored five points against the Duke Blue Devils.

Leslie’s 4-13 shooting may not mean anything else other than a “bad shooting night” to most people, but the last time she shot 4-13 was against their next opponent: The Louisville Cardinals. The Wolfpack lost that matchup 92-62.

Louisville is coming off a hard-fought, 75-67 victory against the Clemson. A game where their back-to-back ACC Player of the Year senior guard Asia Durr scored 24 points, but shot 11-30 from the floor.

Leslie dribbled out the clock to end a rough performance. Once the horn sounded, she threw up the “Wolf Sign” on both hands to the Wolfpack faithful behind the bench almost to say, “on to the next.”

Tipoff tomorrow between Louisville and N.C. State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.