The Wolfpacker

MAY 2014 ■ 59 "They were all people I wanted," Moore said, "so that made the journey even better." Together, he and his assistant coaches made two major changes before the first tip-off, changes that would prove to be the keys to NC State's best record since its Fi- nal Four season of 1997-98. First, Moore moved Goodwin-Coleman from point, where she'd played most of her career, to the No. 2 guard spot vacated by the team's lone senior a year ago, Marissa Kastanek. "I told her she was our two-guard, that she'd probably never play point again," Moore recalled. "I could have done it pri- vately, maybe, but I pulled her aside after one of the pickup games." Likewise, the coach also made it a point of telling senior center Markeisha Gatling — in front of her teammates — that she would be the focus of the Pack's offense this season, instead of the setup role she played most of last year. "Whoever is the best option on a team has to be the first option," Moore said. "Keisha ended up leading the country in field goal percentage [.663, a single-season record for the program]. The kids understood that, and they also understood she'd get them the ball if defenses collapsed on her, and they'd have their opportunities to score. "Sometimes the direct approach works. They hadn't had success the way they'd done things before, and we told them if they wanted that to change, they had to buy in to what we wanted the to do. We could have had attitude or discipline problems, but they were great — they made it almost too easy." With Gatling scoring a career-best 17.4 points per game (including 31 consecutive double-figure scoring games, 14 with 20 or more points) en route to honorable mention Associated Press All-America and first- team All-ACC recognition; Burke scoring a career-best 14.7 points per contest, with a career-high 39 made three-point shots in her new role as a basket-facing forward, earning second-team all-conference rec- ognition; and Goodwin-Coleman making a career-high 72 threes (third most in the ACC this season), NC State posted a 13-1 non-conference record heading into its ACC opener Jan. 5 against then-No. 20 Syracuse. By then, the Pack had already topped one ranked team (then-No. 12 LSU). "That game, I think, was the one that made us first believe we could hang with anyone," Burke said. But it was the 67-61 win over the Or- ange, in a game in which the Pack trailed by 10 points late in the second half, that set the tone for the final 11-5 ACC mark, the program's best since 1991, and the Pack's fourth-place finish in the conference, its best showing in seven years. "That may have been the most critical game of the season," Moore said. "Last year, they were 0-7 to start the ACC. If we don't come back in that game, maybe they start thinking: 'Okay, here we go again.' It was an emotional win at home, and we were pretty good at home [going 14-2, the only losses to UNC and Notre Dame] from then on." The Pack would beat four ranked teams during the season, with by far the biggest victory coming Jan. 30 at home in a 72-63 triumph over then-No. 8 Maryland — the second of six games during the year the Pack won despite trailing by nine or more points. "That was also a big difference this year," Burke noted. "Last year, if we'd gotten behind against that kind of opponent, we would have given up. This year, we had the attitude that we were going to win no matter what, and we kept fighting." While the Pack's three senior starters provided the nucleus for success, the two veteran reserves — backup post Lakeesa Daniel and guard Breezy Williams — also enjoyed their finest seasons. Daniel, averag- ing 10 minutes a game in relief of Gatling, shot 51 percent en route to a career-best 107 points before suffering a career-ending ACL tear Feb. 21 — 24 hours after Goodwin- Coleman had her career end the same way in a loss at Duke. "If I could do anything over, it would be not having those two get hurt," Moore said. "I felt really bad for KeeKee [Daniel] because she'd gotten to where she was really playing well." So was Goodwin-Coleman, whose long- rage threat had kept opposing defenses hon- est against the Pack's one-two inside punch of Gatling and Burke. Her loss was one factor in the Pack's 3-3 finish to the year, as was Gatling's one-game absence after spraining her knee in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Syracuse (after scoring a career-high 28 points). "It was frustrating for about a week, then I was fine," Goodwin-Coleman said. "I was able to reach both of the goals I'd set for myself: score 1,000 points [becoming the Pack's 30th player to join the 1,000-point club] and making the NCAA Tournament." With 61 percent of NC State's scoring, and 51 percent of its rebounding lost with the departure of the team's six seniors, Moore is well aware of the task facing him in attempting to have a successful encore to his debut in Raleigh. "We have a good base on the perimeter with [junior] Len'Nique Brown, [junior] Krystal Barrett and [freshman] Miah Spen- cer all back," he said, "and with [Arkansas transfer and redshirt sophomore] Dominique Wilson [who averaged 6.8 points per game for the Razorbacks]. "And [freshman] Ashley Williams did a solid job [averaging 2.6 points in 10.6 min- utes a game] and should be more comfort- able with a year behind her." Inside is where the Pack faces its major rebuilding, with freshman Jen Mathurin (2.3 Head coach Wes Moore guided NC State to its most victories (25) since its Final Four season of 1997‑98, its best ACC mark (11‑5) since 1991 and its highest final ranking (No. 21) since 2007. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN 58-60.Women's BKB Wrapup.indd 59 4/29/14 3:22 PM

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