The N.C. State women’s basketball team ended its regular season on Sunday with a 24-point loss at home to No. 2 Notre Dame on Senior Day. The Irish put on a clinic in disposing of the Wolfpack during a 17-0 second half run that eliminated most of the doubt. There is a place State would like its program to get to, and Notre Dame showed the Pack what it looked like in the regular season finale.
None of this implies State does or should feel disheartened about the growth that occurred during the 2013-14 campaign. The Pack entered the season picked to finish 10th in the conference in the new and bloated ACC and would be forced to open conference tournament play on Wednesday. The Pack defied expectations and earned the coveted double-bye with its 11-5 conference record and fourth place finish. State will watch for two days to determine which one of three schools it will face in its ACC Tournament opener in Greensboro.
Head coach Wes Moore earned ESPN’s ACC Coach of the Year award on Tuesday in what is certain to be the first of a pleasant trophy haul for the veteran coach in his first year in Raleigh. Senior center Markeisha Gatling earned first-team All-ACC and senior forward Kody Burke earned second team honors. The Wolfpack finished 24-6 overall, and there is a palpable sense of excitement about Wolfpack women’s basketball, buoyed by Moore’s coaching abilities and the accruement that seems certain to occur after the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum.
Moore almost certainly has a long-term vision for N.C. State, but the success that the Wolfpack has achieved this season is also directly related to his ability to limit his squad’s concentration on the immediate task. As his program gained momentum and exposure over the past few months, the former assistant coach under Wolfpack legend Kay Yow refused to let State become satisfied with its gains.
N.C. State faces postseason play shorthanded without seniors Myisha Goodwin-Coleman and Lakeesa Daniel after the duo suffered ACL injuries on consecutive days. Freshman guard Miah Spencer slid into the starting role, with senior guard Nashika “Breezy” Williams receiving added minutes. Freshman forward Jennifer Mathurin is being asked to pick up the slack for Daniel and the Canadian responded last week at Pittsburgh with her first career double-double. The contributions of Spencer and Mathurin are another source of hope for a better future for the Pack, who appear certain to earn its second NCAA berth in the past eight seasons after the ACC Tournament.
Should the higher seeds win in Greensboro, the Pack will play Syracuse in its first game. If State wins, it would face Notre Dame again. There would be a synergy to those two potential matchups, as they bookended the regular season. The win over the Orange in the ACC opener showed N.C. State it is able to be a top-tier team in the ACC. The loss to Notre Dame showed the Wolfpack what championship basketball looked like in earnest.
N.C. State will need Moore and his veteran experience as it embarks on the postseason journey. There is the potential for an overly feel-good ambiance around the team regardless of what happens. Though the staff, players and fans are right to be proud of this year’s team even if it should drop its next two games, the new frontiers the Wolfpack has reached this season are not a birthright. The maximum effort that saw State overcome a deficit of at least nine points in five league games this season will be called on in postseason play, and of all the lessons Moore’s bunch has learned, that is the best of all.
