BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Raina Perez stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a layup with 14.8 seconds left, then made a crucial rebound and hit two free throws with 1.5 left to lift No.1 seed North Carolina State to a 66-63 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 at Total Mortgage Arena on Saturday.
The Wolfpack will play UConn, a 75-58 winner over Indiana, in the Bridgeport Regional final on Monday night.
“That show, ‘Everybody loves Raymond?’ NC State coach Wes Moore said. “It’s now ‘Everybody loves Raina.’ It’s going to be a series for a long time. Just unbelievable.”
Notre Dame, after missing the tournament last season, led for nearly 32 minutes, almost all of the second, third and fourth quarters. The Fighting Irish led by as many as 10 as Olivia Miles, with a series of spectacular plays, had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. Her reverse layup produced a 63-59 lead with 1:48 left.
But NC State edged back in. It missed a chance to tie when Elissa Cunane (16 points, 10 rebounds) missed the second of two free throws with 36 seconds left. Notre Dame, though, had trouble handling the ball against the Wolfpack’s pressure.
Finally, with 18 seconds left Perez, a grad transfer from Cal State Fullerton, tipped the ball away from Dara Mabry and took it to the rim to give NC State its first lead since the first quarter. ND had time for one last shot but Maddy Westbeld missed a 3-pointer and the 5-foot-4 Perez came away with the rebound and drew a foul. She then sank both free throws to end it. Perez was only 2 for 9 from the floor but had four steals.
“[Mabry] turned her back,” Perez said. “The ball was still stuck at her hip so I went for it, got the steal.”
Both teams started out misfiring, but NC State asserted its advantage as the first quarter ended to edge ahead 16-12. In the second Notre Dame made 10 of 13 shots, finding the offensive touch it had in its 108-64 win over Oklahoma last Monday.
Mabry and Westbeld hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor for a 24-20 lead and Miles’ 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run to open up a 36-26 lead with 3:02 left in the half. Miles got 15 points and three assists as the Fighting Irish finished the half with a 38-30 lead, holding NC State to 38.2 percent from the floor. Cunane (4 for 9, nine points) was the Wolfpack’s top producer in the half.
The Wolfpack scored five points to start the fourth quarter and cut ND’s lead to 53-51 on Kai Crutchfield’s 3-point play, but Miles again came up with a big basket, a reverse layup to get momentum back on the Irish side.
Crutchfield scored 14 for NC State, Westbeld 13 for Notre Dame. NC State (32-3) is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1998, after losing in the Sweet 16 three tournaments in a row. Notre Dame is 24-9.
“We didn’t want to go home,” Perez said. “We didn’t want the same results as last year. So we stuck together and reminded each other, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get this one.’ Just reminded each other we didn’t want to go home and we needed to win this game.”
