Despite struggling with injuries to both its centers this season and seeing coach Kay Yow sidelined by cancer for the third time in her career, the women’s basketball team is off to a 7-2 start.

And after five games in 11 days capped by a 65-54 home win against Winthrop on Monday, the team is in the midst of a welcomed five-day rest before it hosts East Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.

“We finally get a semi-rest. We don’t have to play every other day. We’ve still got work to do, especially on the defensive end,” senior guard Ashley Key said on Wednesday. “So that’s what we’re focusing on now is just going back to basics, trying to piece everything back together.”

The team has also been bouncing back from early-season injuries. Senior center Gillian Goring returned to the court for the South Carolina game on Nov. 29, and according to junior forward Khadijah Whittington, freshman center Chanita Jordan should be able to play in Sunday’s contest.

Whittington had a scare of her own when she injured her back in Monday’s game, and while she said Wednesday that she’s fine, her status for Sunday is still undecided.

“It’s kind of up in the air. We really don’t know yet. But I’m fine,” Whittington said. “It’s just a contusion, so I should be back Sunday. But we don’t know yet.”

Whittington said Goring and Jordan being able to play is a plus for the team.

“We’re getting that team unity and everything going on now since everybody’s back,” Whittington said.

At the same time the two centers are returning, the team is still trying to integrate its six freshmen into the system. And for now, Whittington said things are going well in that regard.

“We’re still getting used to each other,” Whittington said. “But I think we’re getting better at knowing what each other can do on the court.”

The team has played its last five games with associate head coach Stephanie Glance as interim coach while Yow undergoes treatment for breast cancer. But Key said not much has changed as to how things are being done.

“We’re still playing as [if] coach Yow is still our coach. Coach Glance is coaching us, but she’s still under the direction of coach Yow,” Key said. “We just wanted to play hard just as [if] coach Yow would have been here and would have expected us to. So that never was something we had to talk about.”

Senior guard Marquetta Dickens said her team is off to a good start because of the good qualities Yow has built into the team members.

“We have a great group of females, a great team, great individuals, great team,” Dickens said. “So I’m not surprised at all.”

Meanwhile, Whittington said the team still has room to improve. She added Yow’s absence on the sidelines serves as extra motivation for the team.

“It’s a good record, but it could have been better — I think just executing and things like that,” Whittington said. “And with coach Yow being gone, that just give[s] us more enthusiasm or encouragement to want to do good for her and the school and all the support that we get from the fan base, just everyone.”

With the Pirates visiting on Sunday, Dickens said State isn’t focused on its opponent as much as it’s focused on its own problems.

“We’ve just got to stick to our game plan, like we always do, not really worry too much about the other team, but more on our game plan,” Dickens said.

According to Whittington, the Pack must match ECU’s intensity.

“I really don’t know much about East Carolina, but I know they’re going to come to play. It’s in-state, so every school that we play that’s in-state is really a tough school,” Whittington said. “So we just have to come to play and be ready for them like I know they’ll be ready for us.”