The women’s basketball team for the Wolfpack is scheduled to battle Friday night against the Seminoles of Florida State at Reynolds Coliseum in a regular season ACC mid-season match-up.
The Pack had just come off a loss to conference and legendary rival, the UNC Tar Heels, and looks to avenge the loss on Friday.
The Wolfpack is currently ranked 7th in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and their opponent is ranked 8th. Both teams have an even conference record standing at 3-4 on the regular season thus far. Overall, State’s record holds two more wins and three fewer losses than the Seminoles .
The Seminoles had just come off a loss against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Sunday with a final score of 79-55. Having both teams come off a loss means the stakes are much greater for both of these teams as the winner will clinch the 7th spot in the ACC standings.
After the Pack’s loss to UNC on Sunday, Coach Kellie Harper’s father passed away later that night. Harper was unable to attend practice all week, and according to junior guard Marissa Kastanek , the basketball team missed her absence but continued to work hard on the court to improve each player’s individual game.
“The Monday after we played Carolina, we focused on individual stuff and just how we can get better,” Kastanek said. “We worked on breaking down plays, just know exactly what we are looking for and where the screens should come from.
“We really focused on how to get open and individual box-outs. Now we just need to focus on the team, how to work together. We have a few tricks up our sleeves this week that I think we are going to come out and do really well at.”
Having a coach-like mindset with the absence of a coach is an essential part to a team’s success, both on and off the court.
“Coach Harper has done a great job instilling in us that intensity is important, no matter what,” Kastanek said. “Whether you are playing a game of knock-out, practicing with or without Coach [Harper], we must have intensity. We honestly thought Coach [Harper] was recruiting, so our spirits never got down. Today, we are going to practice really hard and keep the intensity up, because if we don’t, Florida State has one up on us.”
For the Seminoles , on the other hand, two strong forwards could result in a challenge for the Wolfpack .
“We expect them to have a great post game,” Kastanek said. “They have a seasoned post player and a young post player. The three guards work together very well. Florida State is a very solid team.”
In order to stop the post dominance from the Seminoles , senior forward Bonae Holston will have to get the job done down low in the paint in order for a successful night for State.
“We just had to work on us as a team, doing the things that we were having issues with,” Holston said. “When we play games so close together, we get more worried about the opponent than the stuff we actually need to work on. It was nice to have time this week to improve on our game. As for me, I just need to make myself available more often. It has been different without Coach [Harper] here though. She is the leader of practice.”
Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m . tonight at Reynolds Coliseum.
