Nick Faulkner
Junior forward Chelsea Nelson makes her way into the paint during the game against UNC. The Wolfpack dominated the Heels on route to a 80-60 victory in Reynolds Coliseum on Feb. 23.
The NC State women’s basketball team will feature a new look this season with the graduation of several players from last season and the addition of new members, yet has the same drive to reach the NCAA tournament in March.
“My goal is the same every year and that’s to keep getting better every day and build towards March,” said head coach Wes Moore, who is entering his fifth season as the Wolfpack’s head coach. “The good teams continue to improve and get better, and hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to get into the NCAA tournament and be playing at the top of our game as we head into that.”
The Pack finished last season with a 23-9 overall record, a fifth-place finish in the ACC with a 12-4 conference record and a national ranking at No.17. NC State found itself losing tough, close games in tournaments last March. The Pack lost in the ACC Tournament 59-58 to Louisville and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament 84-80 to Texas.
This year’s women’s team lost five of its 14 players from a season ago including four seniors, three of whom were guards. Four of the top five scorers from last season are not returning.
Looking to fill those holes, the Wolfpack brought in several transfers and a four-star freshman. Looking to make an immediate impact from that group is redshirt junior guard Kiara Leslie, sister of former NC State men’s basketball star C.J. Leslie, who transferred after graduating from Maryland and freshman forward Kayla Jones, who was given a 90 scout grade from ESPNW.
The returning players are highlighted by senior forward Chelsea Nelson, who was third in scoring last season with 11.2 points per game and led the team in rebounds with six per game and blocks with 22 in her last campaign. The only other player on the roster that has started a game for the Wolfpack is junior forward D.D. Rogers, who started two of the 31 games she played in last year.
“We’ve got to grow up in a hurry, and we’ve got to toughen up in a hurry,” Moore said. “Those seniors, they competed on a daily basis and brought a lot of energy. That maturity level, it’s hard to teach that.”
Of the 29 games in the Wolfpack’s 2017-18 regular season schedule, six will be matchups with teams that finished last season ranked. The matchup at last season’s second-ranked Notre Dame on Feb. 25 will conclude the regular season, which is also highlighted by games at Duke on Jan. 7 and home ACC games against Louisville on New Year’s Eve, Florida State on Feb. 1 and UNC-Chapel Hill on Feb. 11.
“It’s a tough nonconference schedule, and [we are] also preparing for the juggernaut we’re going to face in the ACC night in and night out,” Moore remarked.
With a young team, quality coaching and goals to play its best basketball in March, the 2017-18 Wolfpack women’s basketball team will be interesting to watch as it grows into its expectations.