The No. 9 NC State women’s basketball team (25-4, 12-4 ACC) concluded its regular season play against the Miami Hurricanes, winning 70-68 on Sunday. The Pack will now get to rest until Friday, holding the three seed in this week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
On the Wolfpack’s side of the bracket, the first game to take place occurs Wednesday between the 11th-seeded Duke Blue Devils (14-14, 6-10 ACC) and the 14th-seeded Pittsburgh Panthers (11-19, 2-14 ACC).
The victor of that game will move on to take on the Florida State Seminoles (22-7, 10-6 ACC) who are sitting at the sixth seed. The winner of that game will then move on to the ACC quarterfinals to take on the Pack.
The Wolfpack played all three of these teams during the regular season. The Pack defeated Duke 63-51, defeated Pittsburgh 63-34 and lost to the Seminoles 75-70 on the road.
If no upsets occur, the Wolfpack would take on the Seminoles who handed the Wolfpack one of four total losses in the regular season. This would not be the ideal matchup for the Wolfpack, but one the Pack needs to prepare for regardless.
The first matchup with the ‘Noles was an exciting and heated contest in which Wolfpack freshman center Elissa Cunane played a great game, recording 25 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward DD Rogers also had a great game, recording 11 points and 17 rebounds in the contest.
If the Pack faces off against the Seminoles again, it will need to do a better job on defense. The Pack recorded zero blocks in the game and only two steals while forcing only eight total turnovers.
The Pack also let Florida State guards Nausia Woolfolk and Nicki Ekhomu combine for 42 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals. The Pack also turned the ball over 16 times and starting guards graduate Kiara Leslie and junior guard Aislinn Konig combined for only 20 total points and gave up nine of the 16 Pack turnovers.
Despite losing the game, a rematch between the two ACC challengers would make for an entertaining game and provide a chance for Leslie and Konig to get revenge on Woolfolk and Ekhomu. A victory would give the Pack a good amount of confidence heading into its following game that could be against the two seed, the Louisville Cardinals.
The Pack should be rooting for Pittsburgh to upset its way to NC State, due to the fact that the Pack nearly doubled their point total in the previous game between the two teams. In the last game, the Pack did not allow any Pitt player to end the game with double-digit points in one of its best victories, in terms of point margin, of the season. Leslie had a particularly strong game against the Panthers. Stuffing the stat sheet with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks, three steals and only one turnover.
Duke would also be a favorable matchup for the Pack despite being an arguably tougher out than Pittsburgh. The Pack won the first outing smoothly, having four players score in double digits as well as forcing the Blue Devils to shoot a poor 29.1 percent from the floor.
However, both Duke and Pittsburgh face an uphill battle if they want to take on the Pack, as they would be heavy underdogs against the Seminoles. Pittsburgh is an especially unlikely matchup, as the team posted an abysmal 2-14 conference record. Duke on the other hand is also unlikely, as it posted a bad 6-10 conference record, but will likely beat out Pittsburgh.
Rogers will be a name to watch for Wolfpack fans as she concluded the regular season, and her last regular season game of her Wolfpack career, with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Cunane will be another name to watch, because when the first-year center gets going, the interior offense of the Pack is almost impossible to stop.
Regardless of the matchup, the Wolfpack is sure to play in an exciting game.
The quarterfinals of the ACC tournament begin on Friday. NC State’s game tips off at 8 p.m.
