The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1364233
32 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY JUSTIN H. WILLIAMS he NC State women's basket- ball team continued its emer- gence as one of the game's top collegiate programs with a historic 2020-21 season. The Wolfpack finished with a 23-3 overall record, good for a program-best .885 win- ning percentage in head coach Wes Moore's eighth season in Raleigh. The Pack also made history with a number of program firsts. After winning the team's first ACC Tournament championship in 29 years in 2020, the Wolfpack repeated as cham- pions in 2021 to claim the first back-to-back conference tournament titles in school history. NC State also became the third team in the past 20 years to defeat two No. 1-ranked opponents in a single season and the first to claim both victories on the road. The Pack first defeated No. 1 South Carolina 54-46 in Columbia, S.C., in early December, the Pack's first win over a foe atop the national polls since 2007. Nearly two months later, the Wolfpack cruised to a 74-60 victory over No. 1 Louis- ville in the KFC Yum! Center. "I had somebody tell me a few years ago when I first got here, 'There's a pecking or- der in women's basketball, and you'll never change that,'" Moore said. "Well, they were right. I didn't, but we've got some players that are trying to change that." NC State went on to earn the team's first- ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where it ultimately fell in heartbreaking fashion with a short-handed roster in its third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, which tied a program record. Despite a disappointing ending, the Wolf- pack is able to hang its hat on an impressive list of historic accomplishments that will help further its quest to rewrite the pecking order in women's college basketball. Back-To-Back Champs For the second straight season, NC State cut down the nets in Greensboro Coliseum at the ACC Tournament. Although it was a repeat accomplishment, the 2021 conference title felt much different than 2020, the program's first since 1991. For one, the Wolfpack went from the hunter to the hunted. After winning the league tournament and finishing No. 8 in the final Associated Press poll in 2020, the Pack wasn't sneaking up on anybody. CLIMBING THE LADDER NC State Women's Basketball Continued To Make History In 2020-21 And Strengthened Its Case As One Of The Sport's National Powerhouses T