Wolfpack stave off hungry Hokies for ACC regular season title

By Ryan Wilkes

Staff Writer

February 27, 2022

BLACKSBURG –– No. 3 NC State (26-3, 17-1 Atlantic Coast) clinched the regular season ACC title Sunday night in a narrow road victory over No. 23 Virginia Tech (21-8, 13-5 ACC), 68-66.

A wild crowd welcomed the Hokies and the Wolfpack to Cassell Coliseum, setting a season-high with over 3,700 in attendance.

“Very pleased and excited with the crowd,” head coach Kenny Brooks said. “When we gave them something to cheer about, they were really loud and it was a really fun atmosphere.”

Despite trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter, the Hokies found themselves down just two points and in possession of the basketball with just 12 seconds on the clock.

“We gave incredible effort down the stretch,” senior guard Aisha Sheppard said. “That’s what you have to do in February and March. You just have to fight.”

Sheppard probed around the perimeter as the clock dwindled below ten seconds and found a sliver of space for a three-pointer to win the game, but Tech’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals couldn’t find the bottom of the net this time.

“The result wasn’t there,” Sheppard said. “But coach drew something up for me to try and make a play… I wish I could have that one back.”

The Hokies found themselves down 10-1 early, and the Wolfpack kept Tech at arm’s length for most of the contest.

“It wasn’t about the last play,” said Brooks. “It was about probably 20 plays throughout the game….You can’t spot the number three ranked team in the country with a 10-1 lead and you have to dig yourself out….We had to do that the whole game and just could never get over the hump.”

It was a hard fought battle in the paint throughout, as Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley and NC State’s Elissa Cunane went at it. Cunane led all scorers with 22 points and Kitley powered the Hokies with 18, but foul trouble for both star players became a factor.

“Foul trouble got into play,” Kitley said. “She got in foul trouble in the first half, and I tried to take advantage of that….We both ended up with four [fouls,] so it’s not as fun when we can’t go as hard.”

The loss dealt Virginia Tech the five-seed and only a single bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament. Still, Tech’s 13 conference wins are the most in program history.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better scenario coming back this year,” Sheppard said. “This is the best team I’ve ever played on….This isn’t the result we wanted tonight, but that doesn’t take away from anything we’ve done this season….Now we get to regroup and start our new season in March.”

The Hokies now await the winner of Syracuse and Clemson for a matinee matchup Thursday at 11 a.m. The Wolfpack will face the winner of Boston College and Florida State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2 p.m.