Jim Dedmon/USAToday sports
Roles Reversed For Women's Hoop Showdown With Louisville
Thursday's women's basketball showdown between NC State and Louisville at Reynolds Coliseum was always going to be for first place in the ACC and the inside track on the league's regular season title, along with a possible No. 1 NCAA tournament seed.
It's just that the roles have suddenly been reversed over the past week.
The Wolfpack and Cardinals are still the top two teams in the conference, with at least a two-game cushion on everyone else. But with Louisville having lost twice last week, to Florida State and Sunday at Syracuse, coach Wes Moore's has gone from the hunter to the hunted.
State (22-1, 11-1 ACC) has moved up four spots in the new national rankings that were released Monday to a season-high No. 4 while Louisville (21-3, 10-2) has dropped from No. 5 to No. 9.
It's the Wolfpack's highest national ranking since 1999-2000, when it was ranked as high as No. 3. This year's team has spent 10 weeks ranked among the nation's top 10 and has put together its best 23-game record in school history, surpassing its 21-2 mark in both 1977-78 and 2018-19.
"We have an opportunity," Moore said Tuesday. "I told them today that they’ve put us in a good position, but we’re trying to get into a great position. It is neat. I would love nothing more for these players and staff obviously, but also for our fans. They’ve been great. The season ticket sales have grown. I think we took about 700 or 800 people over to Duke the other day.
"I would love to do something special for them. That’s what we’ve talked about all year. Let’s do something special. That’s what we’re trying to do. But there’s a lot of work still."
While the Cardinals enter the sold out game on a downer after losing back-to-back games for the first time in almost exactly three years, the Wolfpack is the hottest team in the conference with eight straight wins.
Louisville's recent problems are the result of a shooting slump that has seen it make just 34.4 percent of its attempts from the floor against Florida State and 35.2 percent against Syracuse while being held to 51 points, its lowest total of the season.
The Cardinals began the week averaging nearly 46 percent shooting.
Despite the recent struggles, senior guard Aislinn Konig said that she and her teammates aren't taking Louisville lightly.
"They’re very talented," Konig said. "They can score all over the floor. They’re really well coached. Kind of like coach Moore, coach Walz has an answer for everything. It’s really going to come down to us taking care of the ball and rebounding well. That’s going to be the deciding factor in the game, I think."
The key to the Wolfpack's success has been its balance.
It currently leads the ACC in scoring margin (plus-19.1 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.337), 3-point shooting percentage (.369), 3-pointers made (206, 22 more than anyone else in the league), rebounding (43.7 per game) and rebound margin (plus-14), while ranking second in scoring at 74.0 points per game.
Sophomore center Elissa Cunane headlines a lineup in which all five starters average 8.7 points or better.
Cunane can take a major step toward earning ACC Player of the Year honors with a strong game on Thursday. Not only does she lead the Wolfpack in scoring at 17.0 points per game, but she's also in the ACC's top five in rebounding (1st at 10.5 per game), field goal percentage (third at .577) and fifth in free throw percentage (fifth at .799).
If there's one area of concern for Moore's team, it's turnovers. State is averaging 14 per game and has committed more this season than it has forced while Louisville is among the best at forcing them.
"It’s always been a really good game against Louisville," Konig said. "They are a fantastic team, and they’re really well coached with a lot of talent. It’s going to be a really great test of what we have and a very exciting game, especially with the atmosphere we will have here in Reynolds."
