With 2 seconds left in the game, the 6’5” Junior All-American Center Elissa Cunane would throw up a three-point attempt to tie the game; a good look from just outside the arc, and off of a great pass from inside the key. Her team had been shooting 50% from the beyond the perimeter up until that point, an incredible 9-18. And every Wolfpack starter had contributed at least one successful 3-pointer. This one, however, would not fall. Indiana would advance to their first ever NCAA Tournament Elite 8 with the 73-70 win over the #1 seed, NC State.
This shot could have easily gone in, and the potential overtime could have been anyone’s game during this evenly matched battle. The shot was in the hands of who you would want to have it, the focal point of your offense. But only one team would advance, leaving NC State on a plane back home to contemplate their loss.
Fast forward 8 months, and Assembly Hall will be the location this evening for what is being billed a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 match-up between the currently #2 ranked Wolfpack and #6 ranked Hoosiers. Now a Senior, Cunane has a lot to prove, and is expected to be ready to make an impact on the game’s outcome.
“This is an NC State team that’s going to come [to Assembly Hall] with a lot of motivation. We knocked them out of their opportunity to perhaps get to a Final Four. So, I think there’s a lot of built-up motivation there, from their staff to their players,” said Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren during a pregame press conference.
The motivation will be explosive on both ends, as Indiana has goals of their own for this season, believing they are very capable of reaching this year’s National Championship game. But the season will be a long one, and conference play has not even begun. Even though IU stacked their pre-conference schedule with top ranked competition, the Big 10 features 5 top 20 teams, any one of which could conceivably win this year’s conference title.
Coach Moren is treating tonight’s game as preparation for the contests yet to come. “It’s going to be 2 ranked teams battling it out in an early contest. For us, the early tests . . . are going to serve us well as we go into Big 10 play,” she said. She is also aware, however, of the need to step up their play from their recent road games at the Pink Flamingo Championship, where they spilt their two games, losing a close one against now 4th ranked Stanford, and narrowly defeating Miami. Indiana struggled on offense in both of those games, shooting just a combined 37%, and getting beaten on offensive rebounding 63-18.
“We’re going to have play and be much better than we were down in the Bahamas, no doubt,” said Coach Moren. She described the rebounding challenge they will have tonight as both skill and heart related, stating, “we are just going to have to be more relentless than [NC State].” She added, “[Rebounding] is a huge deal . . . and it will be one of the major keys for us to figure out how we can be successful against a really good NC State team.”
The action will begin at 7pm this evening at Assembly Hall as #6 Indiana (5-1) hosts #2 NC State(6-1). Look for the Wolfpack to utilize their size advantage early to establish an inside game. Hoosier Forwards Mackenzie Holmes and Aleksa Gulbe will need to be aggressive off of the boards and convert a large percentage of their touches in order to hold off the high-powered NC State offense, which includes a deep bench contributing a lot of productive minutes and stats. The trio of Hoosiers Guards will also need to play solid defense, contesting the successful perimeter game of the Wolfpack.
Expect the Hoosiers to be well prepared and rise to the challenge tonight in what should be an exciting match-up!
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