NC State comes up short against UConn, 91-87, in double overtime thriller

It’s tough to find the words after a game like that one. And it was an instant classic, no doubt, but also a heartbreaker.

At the end of regulation, NC State had the ball and a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but Kai Crutchfield’s hurried three-point attempt missed everything, and it was on to overtime. The Pack appeared to be toast at the end of the first overtime, but Raina Perez found Jakia Brown-Turner in the corner, who hit an incredibly tough three with 0.3 seconds left to tie the game and force another extra period.

In that second overtime, the Pack just could not get the stops that it needed to win the game. Paige Bueckers was a huge difference-maker throughout crunch time, which was eventually enough for the Huskies to fend off NC State. UConn scored 30 points in the 10 minutes of extra time—credit to them, they executed and made shots.

This is a really difficult way to bid farewell to this Wolfpack team, but they gave a hell of an effort to give themselves a chance to win in regulation after a tough first half. I expected nothing less. I’m sad that I won’t get to watch them play at least one more time, but they had a hell of a year and nothing about tonight changes that.