RELEASE: Wolfpack Women Ranked No. 5 Nationally

RALEIGH – After repeating as ACC Tournament champion and finishing last season with a 22-3 overall record, NC State women's basketball will begin its 2021-22 season ranked fifth in the first Associated Press (AP) poll of the season.

It marks the highest preseason AP ranking for the program since 1979-80 when it also started that campaign ranked fifth. NC State has now earned a preseason top-five ranking just three times in program history, as it was also tabbed No. 4 in the 1978-79 season.

NC State has been ranked in the AP Top 10 every week since Dec. 9, 2019 and in the AP Top 25 every week since Feb. 5, 2018. The Pack ascended as high as No. 2 in the nation in 2020-21, tying as the best national ranking for the program. The team is coming off a program record-tying No. 3 finish in the AP Poll last season, marking its third-straight top-10 final ranking and its first time putting together such a streak.

For the second year in a row, the Wolfpack enters the season as the reigning ACC Tournament Champion. The team's win in 2021 marked the first back-to-back conference tournament titles in team history. NC State also earned its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and reached its third-straight NCAA Sweet 16.

The Pack returns its top eight scorers from last year's team, including four players who averaged double figures, and nearly 94 percent of its total scoring production. All five starters from 2020-21 (Jakia Brown-Turner, Kai Crutchfield, Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones, Raina Perez) are back with the team, as is ACC Sixth Player of the Year Jada Boyd.

NC State also welcomes a freshman class that was ranked as high as 12th nationally and added transfer sophomores Diamond Johnson (Second Team All-Big Ten) and Madison Hayes (SEC All-Freshman Team), who were both top-30 players coming out of high school.

The Wolfpack opens its 2021-22 season at home on Nov. 9 with a highly-anticipated top-five matchup with top-ranked South Carolina. NC State is also set to take on No. 4 Maryland and No. 8 Indiana during non-conference play. Single-game tickets for all of NC State's non-conference games are on sale now.