The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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50-yard field goal by half a yard with 2:12 left to put the Heels up 30-21, the game seemed destined to go UNC's way. But destiny had other plans. NC State fourth-year redshirt sopho- more quarterback Devin Leary connected with super senior receiver Emeka Emezie on a 64-yard touchdown with 1:35 to go. Then, Pack fourth-year junior kicker Christopher Dunn recovered his own on- side kick. After that, Leary and Emezie connected again, this time on a 24-yard score with 1:09 left. Howell's last desperate pass of the night was intercepted on the final play to clinch an NC State victory that will forever be remembered in the rivalry. Female Game Of The Year Not often is this honor bestowed on a loss, but the showdown between NC State and Connecticut in the Elite Eight will be remembered as the game of the year in women's basketball. The top-seeded Wolfpack had the un- fortunate — and some would argue unfair — draw of having to play second-seeded Connecticut in Bridgeport, Conn., setting up a de facto road game for the No. 1 seed. NC State scored first, but UConn led the rest of the way in the first half, in- cluding by as many as 10 points, before going into the locker room with a 34-28 halftime advantage. The Pack outscored the Huskies 15-10 in the third quarter to cut that lead down to one. Then came an epic fourth quarter that featured eight lead changes and four ties. NC State missed a chance to win at the end of regulation, and the teams went into overtime tied 61-61. The back-and-forth nature of the game continued in the first overtime, capped by NC State junior guard Jakia Brown- Turner nailing a corner 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to tie the score at 77-77. The Pack was unable to get a defensive stop in the last minute of what proved to be a thrilling 91-87 double-overtime loss. Connecticut would defeat Stanford in the Final Four before losing to South Carolina in the title game. Male Coach Of The Year Entering his 10th season as the football coach at NC State, Dave Doeren has begun to establish a legacy. Enthusiasm has never been higher in the Doeren tenure than after the completion of a 9-3 campaign in 2021. That included a pair of home wins with lasting memories — the triumph over archrival North Carolina and the dou- ble-overtime thriller over national power Clemson, helping end, at least for a year, the Tigers' hold over the ACC. Recruiting Class Of The Year Recruiting is no longer about solely adding touted prep prospects to your squad. The NCAA transfer portal has be- come a vital avenue for roster additions. A great example is Wes Moore and NC State women's basketball. With the Wolfpack coming off a second straight ACC title and a No. 1 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, some may have expected Moore to load up in the 2022 class with McDonald's All-Americans. Technically, he did. Moore signed three former McDonald's All-Americans after the 2022 season was over — all of them transfers. Making up that trio are Florida State center River Baldwin, Maryland for- ward Mimi Collins and South Carolina guard Saniya Rivers. "We're real excited about them," Moore said. "They're kids we recruited out of high school. Mimi left Tennessee when they made a coaching change, and we re- cruited her then … but at least we were able to not strike out completely. "All three of them are going to help us. We lost four seniors that had a lot of ex- Female Coach Of The Year NC State women's basketball coach Wes Moore built one of the best teams in the country. The Pack won a third straight ACC title, went a collective 21-1 against conference teams when counting the postseason and nearly made it to the program's second Final Four against challenges presented by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Women's tennis coach Simon Earnshaw had the Wolfpack's first-ever national champi- ons in the doubles tandem of Jaeda Daniel and Nell Miller, and the team finished in the Elite Eight after reaching the Final Four a season ago. The honor, however, goes to the coach that brought NC State athletics its first national title since 1983 — women's cross country's Laurie Henes. Coach Laurie Henes guided the NC State women's cross country team to an NCAA championship last November. It was the school's first NCAA team title since 1983, when the Pack won the men's basketball crown. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS 52 ■ THE WOLFPACKER