LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Wins ACC Tournament, Cunane Wins Back-to-Back MVP Awards

NC State head coach Wes Moore, center Elissa Cunane, and guard Raina Perez met with the media following the Wolfpack’s 60-47 win over Miami to secure its third straight ACC Tournament Championship.

After scoring 15 and 20 points against Florida State and Virginia Tech, respectively, Cunane once again led State’s offense with 17 points against the Hurricanes. The Summerfield, N.C. native earned her second straight ACC Championship Tournament MVP award for her efforts inside Greensboro Coliseum. Perez added 12 points, two rebounds, and one assist against Miami after scoring the game-winning shot against Louisville in the 2021 title game.

NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the Pack’s press conference.

Opening Statement

WM: First of all, tip your hat to Miami. Katie Meier does an unbelievable job. Her team is always so hard to play against because they defend so well, and they're always well prepared. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and just proud of the way we were able to handle it. These young ladies have been unbelievable. I always said when I got to this level, I wanted to win with high-character individuals, and it's just been such a great journey. I mean, in the last few years, what a legacy these folks are leaving. Three straight tournament titles, regular season championship. That's not easy to do, especially in this league that is so talented, so many great coaches. Just, again, unbelievable accomplishment, and I may get dumb in a hurry, like I said out there now, with them leaving. I've been able to ride them for four years, five years in some cases. Couldn't be happier for them, though. That's why they came back, the fifth-year kids, was to try to rewrite the final chapter. This isn't the final chapter, but it's a pretty nice chapter to go out. Greensboro has been unbelievable. I'm trying to see if we can be maybe a No. 2 seed and get sent to Greensboro. We'll see if we can talk to the committee about that. Again, just couldn't be prouder of what they've done.

You said over the last couple years how you like to lay in the weeds and sneak up on people. You knew that wasn't going to happen this year with a preseason top 5 ranking and everybody coming back. Was this championship more challenging or more rewarding because of those reasons?

WM: Yeah, I think that in a lot of ways it's more challenging trying to make sure we didn't read the press clippings and maybe let up and relax. But we went through a lull maybe middle of January, early February where I just felt like they were kind of over me. Let's just get to March, would this guy just shut up for a minute. But then all of a sudden, a couple weeks ago, a few weeks ago, practice started being fun again. I saw a lot of energy, and they were more focused. It's just been an amazing ride, and again, I think it was a challenge for me and maybe for them, too. But that's what makes it even sweeter when you're able to come out and accomplish both those things this year, regular and postseason tournament. How did y'all feel about it? Did you feel pressure? You weren't paying attention over there.

RP: Yeah, I definitely thought it was kind of more challenging this year. Teams know that everyone is coming back, and they know what we have. But I think we just had to dig deep in ourselves and just execute everything, and everything would just fall through.

Can you walk us through how you got hurt? Did you land awkwardly? How much pain were you in? It's just a sprain, I guess?

EC: Yeah, I just took a bad fall, but I'm good and I'll be back out there. Get a little treatment the next couple days and be back out there.

Raina, what went through your mind and the rest of your crew's mind when you saw her down and going to the locker room? And also for both players, how much did you try to wear Miami down?

RP: I mean, when Elissa went down, obviously you get scared. If anyone on the team goes down, you kind of get scared. But she got back up and started walking off a little bit, so we all figured she was fine. We were hoping she was fine at least. We were right, she is. Yeah, that was basically it.

At what point did you feel like you were done with Coach Moore?

WM: I think it was three years ago.

EC: Wait, when did I commit?

On the team’s closeness and if they ever get sick of each other…

EC: I mean, honestly, it's a long season. We start in June, July, and we go until April. It's just tough sometimes with school loaded on top of us and then game after game and practice after practice. We get tired of each other times. I'll be honest, I get sick of seeing some people's faces. Not yours, though. But you come in -- and I love everyone on the team with all my heart. You've just got to keep pushing through, and it gets tough, you can just lean on your teammates' shoulders, lean on your coaches and get through it.

RP: I mean, as players, I feel like every time you're mad in a game it's because of the coach, but we all stick together and we love him. We just always make jokes and he makes jokes back.

WM: Years ago -- I'm going to throw in this story. Years ago I had a player that we were on a long bus ride when you're like D-II or whatever. And I'd always go back in the back and see if any of them were awake and try to bug them a little. One of them was awake, I sat down with her, and she started saying how she felt bad the only time she called her grandmother was when she was upset. So I tried to be the nice guy, I said, “My office is always open. You can come in and talk to me." "Coach, you're usually the one I'm upset with.” I went back up to the front and stayed to myself. So I get it.

Today I thought Diamond [Johnson] probably played her best game of this tournament, 11 points, three steals, three assists. Do you think it kind of took her some time to get used to this atmosphere? This is the first time she's played here.

WM: Yeah, I think the whole thing has been tough. She was obviously -- Big Ten whatever. I mean, she won a lot of accolades last year and now you come to a team that had a lot of success a year ago, last couple of years, and all of a sudden they've got everybody back. It's kind of hard to find your niche. So I think that's been hard on Diamond at times, and I'm hard on Diamond at times. She's gone from being like the scorer to trying to blend in and make everybody better. Make everyone around you better is what you're trying to do as a point guard. Again, I know it's been a challenge for her, but obviously she's had some big games for us, won some games for us, and based on potential, she's going to be a great player. She's already a great player, but I think she's going to have more of an impact as we go. The thing that's made it easy is she's an unbelievable person. Everyone on the team loves her. If you ever hear her laugh, she sounds like a dolphin. You just can't help but love somebody like that. Flipper.

Elissa, Coach Moore mentions your legacy. You've got three ACC Tournament titles, two MVPs here in Greensboro. How much does leaving that here at NC State mean to you after all these years?

EC: It's huge. It's the reason why I came to NC State, why I wanted to play for Coach Moore because I saw a potential in this program, and to be able to take it to new heights and do it with everyone like the seniors that stayed, everyone that's come in, it's a program win. It goes beyond the team, like athletic trainers, nutritionists, all that. To be able to come in and NC State as a whole, as a program, we all won this championship, and for three years it's been pretty amazing. I think it speaks highly of who we have in charge at coach and then just who we have as part of the program in general.

Elissa, did you have to talk Coach Moore into letting you back in the game and how important was it to come back into the game? A lot of us thought with a big lead you wouldn't come back.

EC: No, I told him, I said, hey, I'm good, I'm ready if you need me. I said, I'm going to stay warmed up on the bike so I'm ready if you need me. I trusted my team to be able to handle the game, but we saw the Louisville game where Miami was able to come back in the fourth quarter. And I think Coach Moore wanted to keep pressure on and didn't want any drop-off. I was pretty happy to be out there for the last couple minutes.

Raina and Coach, when Elissa went down, it kind of felt like you and D.J. really took control. What changed on the floor that you were able to get to the elbow and hit those jumpers and D.J. was able to get open from deep?

RP: I think just knowing that they weren't doubling down in the post as much because Elissa wasn't there, so it kind of just opened up the whole entire floor. I think with Elissa out, we kind of just looked for our shots more, as well, so that was it.

WM: I thought about not putting her back in, but part of the reason I put her back in is I wanted those 8,000 people or so wearing red to know she was okay. I know that sounds crazy, but wanted to get her back out there and let her get up and down the court a couple of times and know she's going to be ready to go here in a couple of weeks.

Wes, you've talked about depth with this group. They've all sacrificed. I was curious your thoughts about what Camille Hobby gave you when Elissa was out.

WM: Yeah, Camille has had some big games over here in Greensboro. Obviously Elissa has been a program changer for NC State, but Camille Hobby is someone that -- nowadays a lot of kids would have left. Just being real honest, the transfer portal and all that. And Camille has been loyal and hardworking, so that's why when we get a chance to get her in, I have a lot of confidence in her and know she's going to bring some good things to the floor. I know she's disappointed that she doesn't play more, but I don't think I'd want it any other way. She keeps coming back. And obviously with Elissa going to the draft and moving on, superstar and all that stuff, Camille is going to play a big part in trying to continue the success.

You guys, a lot of people talk about all your offensive weapons. I think the highest percentage anyone shot against you in this tournament was 38 percent. Do you get enough credit defensively? I know you've been on them about defense, but do you think you're a better defensive team than people give you credit for?

WM: Yeah, I don't worry about that. I'm just wanting to see it on the court. I think when we're locked in and we have urgency out there, we can be pretty good. I was disappointed. I thought we gave up too many lay-ups. We've got to do a better job, and one thing we've prided ourselves on the last few years, what we call allowing people to miss, don't belt them out, don't foul them, and we're doing that a little bit more than we'd like. So there's still things that we can get better and clean up, and if this team wants to get where we want to get -- let me say this, in the first half at least -- I haven't even stared at the stats much -- but the first half we went to the offensive boards, Elissa had three, [Kayla Jones] had three, that's what we've been talking about how this program can take another step. There's still things we can get better at for sure, and hopefully they understand that and want to go back to work here in a few days.

I know there's more you want to do, Wes, but do you ever at times get wistful and think back before the renovation of Reynolds, Broughton High School and things, and now all of a sudden you're a three-time champion and you're in a top tier of a conference that when you got here was very top heavy?

WM: Yeah, you're right. Sometimes I probably don't sit and reflect on that, but you know, Kai Crutchfield, KJ, they committed when they were young to this program, and there was times early on -- it's tough. Going from high school to this level is a big jump, and especially when some of them played maybe smaller schools in rural areas. So it's frustrating at times when you've been a star all your life and now all of a sudden you're maybe not playing a lot. But they hung in there. They stuck it out. Now look at the rewards. Again, nowadays with people popping around changing schools, again, KJ, Kai, a lot of them stuck it out when I'm pushing on them and they maybe weren't playing as much as they'd like. But look at how it pays off. Again, it is rewarding to see -- I don't know how many of you saw the fans today when we pulled in. We got here an hour and 45 minutes before the game, and I'll bet there was thousands of fans lined up to welcome the bus. It made me choke up. I'll be honest with you. It's unbelievable what our fans are doing right now with this program. Sold out I think seven of our last eight games, and that's all because of these folks. They put this program on the map and made it cool. It has been an unbelievable ride from where we started, our attendance and all that, and the success. It's hard for me to believe. I didn't know if we would ever win one of these, okay. I really didn't. Now these guys have won three of them in a row. Pretty awesome.

Raina, you said a couple times last year that you came to NC State to play in big games like this. What does it mean to you to win an ACC championship in both of your years here?

RP: It means a lot. Like you said, I did come here to play these big games and to win these big games and to win championships, and that's what we've been doing. So it just means so much because coming from mid-majors, you don't ever think you're going to get to the next level and then I get to the next level and then we win, so it's been great.

Coach Moore, with three championships, do you start throwing the word dynasty around. Is this a dynasty you've built here at NC State with three championships?

WM: No. One year at a time, baby. One year at a time. Like I said, we're getting ready to lose the players that have put this thing on the map. No, not talking about that. This league is too good and too big of a challenge. But how about, I mean, again, Elissa coming here from right here close to Greensboro and making such a big impact, something she'll always remember. And I'm looking forward to 10 years from now when they're coming in for the 10-year anniversary of the championship, maybe I'll still be able to walk out there, I'm looking forward to them being able to do that. What a legacy. Raina, it kills me that I only got to coach her for two years, work with her for two years. What a kid, man. On one hand, it could have just been one year, so that COVID rule helped get her back another year. Unbelievable players and people. You couldn't ask for a better life.

For the players, Miami not only played four straight days, but they had a couple of really tough games coming in here. How much did you try to push tempo to take advantage and wear them down, and how successful do you think you were at that?

EC: Yeah, I think honestly one of our goals whenever we go into games is always to push tempo in transition, get out and run. We have a deep bench, so play until you're tired and run as hard as you can and then we can sub. But we definitely did hit on the fact that this was Miami's fourth game, fifth game -- yeah, fourth game -- so we knew we wanted to get out there and just push it. Like I said, we were deep, so if we needed to sub we could have. They had tough games, so we are blessed to have the double bye and get in here and get some wins.

Coach, you mentioned high school; next week North Carolina has their high school championship games. I think four of them are going to be playing at Reynolds. What advice would you give the coaches and the players going into those games next week?

WM: You know, cherish it. We all just went through this COVID time, and we couldn't have fans there. Heck, we didn't get to play in the NCAA Tournament one year because of it. We take it for granted, and so cherish those moments. I'm the world's worst at not totally enjoying the -- some of the things, because again, I'm always thinking the next step. But Elissa, I got to see her in those games when she was in high school and won a state championship, and it's pretty special. It means a lot. I'm excited for them, looking forward to seeing some of those games, and just like I said, it's a great accomplishment. Enjoy the ride.

Elissa said she wasn't the MVP, the team was. What does it say about the leadership and selflessness of this team going into the tournament?

WM: Yeah, that's just typical of Elissa. She's a great caring person, cares about her teammates, and like I said, she's made sacrifices. There's times I've felt bad that maybe she didn't get some personal accolades because she didn't play 35, 36 minutes in a safe win where you could have just left her out there. But she never complained about that. I feel bad, she probably should have won more awards than she has. But again, it is a team thing, and everybody works hard and you want to see everybody get minutes when they can and be rewarded for all their hard work. She's been great about that. I love her. I love Raina. Like I said, it's just unbelievable how I've got -- I know sometimes they don't see that side because I'm driving, driving, driving. But when I'm talking to other people, I let them know how special they are.