Perez’s late basket gives NC State win
N.C. State 66, Notre Dame 63: Raina Perez decided to come back for one more season and hopefully lift N.C. State to new heights. The senior guard did just that, helping the Wolfpack advance to their first regional final in 24 years.
The senior guard stole the ball at midcourt and made a go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left to send the topseeded Wolfpack to a comeback win over No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday.
It's the Wolfpack's first trip to the Elite Eight since 1998 when they reached the Final Four.
N.C. State had lost in the Sweet 16 the previous three tournaments and looked as if it was going to make it four straight until the late rally led by Perez and Kai Crutchfield, who also came back for the extra COVID year granted by the NCAA.
“For this group it would have been hard for me to face the fact they they all came back and we still didn't get over the hump,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “That makes me feel really good and I'm so excited for our program to do this, kind of break through. It took a while four years of the Sweet 16 to get through that wall.”
It wasn't the first time that Perez came up huge for the Wolfpack on a big stage. She hit the game-winning jumper to lift them to the ACC tournament championship last season.
Trailing 59-51 early in the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack rallied, scoring 15 of the final 19 points capped by Perez's layup. The Irish had one last chance, but Maddy Westbeld missed a 3-pointer from the wing and Perez hit both free throws for the final margin.
“We practice this and knew I could do it,” Perez said of the free throws. I'm just so happy I knocked them down.”
The Wolfpack had gotten within 6362 when Elissa Cunane made the first
of two free throws with 36 seconds left. After a Notre Dame timeout, the Irish got the ball inbounds in the backcourt and Dara Mabrey was stripped near midcourt by Perez, who took it in for the layup and the lead.
N.C. State (32-3) advanced to the regional final Monday night.
Uconn 75, Indiana 58: Paige Bueckers and Christyn Williams each scored 15 points to lead a balanced Uconn offense in a win over Indiana to advance the Huskies into their 16th consecutive regional final.
Olivia Nelson-ododa had a doubledouble with 10 points and 14 rebounds for Connecticut (28-5), which outscored the Hoosiers 46-32 in the paint.
Azzi Fudd added 13 points for the Huskies, who face top-seeded North Carolina State on Monday night in an attempt to earn a 14th straight trip to the Final Four.
Ali Patberg, in her seventh year of college basketball thanks to transfer and COVID-19 rules, had 16 points for the third-seeded Hoosiers, who finish their season at 24-9. Grace Berger had 13 points and Mackenzie Holmes added 12 for Indiana.