Elissa Cunane free throw record NC State Spectacular Magazine Lawrence Davis III
Sports

Cunane Breaks School Record, NC State Routs Pitt

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

PITTSBURGH, PA — NC State forward Elissa Cunane hit her 429th free throw to break the school record as the Wolfpack dominated Pittsburgh 89-54 on Friday evening.

The Pack handed the Panthers their first home loss of the season and also snapped a three-game winning streak for Pitt. NC State, meanwhile, extended its winning streak to nine games and won its seventh-straight meeting against Pitt.

NC State hit its most threes of the 2021-22 season, with nine different players contributing to a 15-of-33 (.455) team mark on the night. Raina Perez hit a team-leading three triples, with Jakia Brown-Turner (2), Kayla Jones (2), Diamond Johnson (2), Jessica Timmons (2), Kai Crutchfield (1), Elissa Cunane (1), Aziaha James (1) and Camille Hobby (1) also adding to the tally. The Wolfpack knocked down 10 of its three-point attempts in the first half alone, with that mark coming just one shy of a full-game season-high, and NC State’s six triples in the first quarter marked the most for the team in any single period this year.

Perez and Camille Hobby tied for the team lead in scoring with 15 points each, with Hobby’s number marking a season high for the junior center. Johnson added 10 points as the only other double-digit scorer in what was yet another balanced attack. Cunane (9), Brown-Turner (8) and Jones (8) each finished just a bucket shy of double figures.

Cunane, a senior from Summerfield, N.C., passed former NC State guard Miah Spencer (428 free throws – 2014-17) to break the school record of most made free throws in a career. Cunane led the team on the boards with her fourth 10+ rebound outing of the season. She finished with 12 rebounds to go with her nine points.

The Wolfpack’s first bucket of the game was a three by Brown-Turner, but NC State really started to heat up in the final stages of the first quarter. Johnson and Perez each hit a triple in the final 40 seconds of the opening period, with Perez’s beating the buzzer.

Those buckets started a streak of four made threes in a row for the Wolfpack that propelled the team to a 14-0 run that established a 20-point lead. NC State led by 19 (42-23) at the half and extended its lead to as big as 44 points (79-35) before ending with the 35-point margin.

The Wolfpack was able to take advantage of Pitt’s zone defense early. In addition to its success from distance, NC State also assisted on 21 of its 31 made buckets.

NC State (9-1, 1-0 ACC) will look to keep their momentum going as they host St. Mary’s College in Reynold’s Coliseum on Sunday at 2 pm.