The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/406183
88 ■ THE WOLFPACKER WOLFPACK BASKETBALL PREVIEW BY BRIAN RAPP N C State assistant women's basket- ball coach Gene Hill had an idea to start this season. "I told [associate head coach] Nikki [West] that I'd trade with her — she can coach the guards this year, and I'll coach the forwards and centers," he joked. The reason for the unusual, though not serious, request? Hill knows that his and West's roles are reversed this winter. Last year, with proven seniors under- neath, West's group was expected to lead the way in NC State's on-court success — expectations that were more than met when the Pack, in head coach Wes Moore's debut, rolled to its first 25-win season since 2007 and its first NCAA Tournament berth in four years, largely because of the inside duo of All-ACC post Markeisha Gatling and forward Kody Burke, both taken in last spring's WNBA Draft. But with their departure, plus that of backup post Lakeesa Daniel, Hill knows that the spotlight's glare of expectation now falls on the Pack's backcourt, with its trio of returning starters that give the 2014- 15 team the majority of returning playing experience. Hill also knows that, like his first season, he'll begin the year without his best long- range weapon of a year ago: shooting guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman, who took over the vacated two-guard spot after three pre- vious seasons as a point guard when Ma- rissa Kastanek graduated in 2013. "Myisha was a great three-point threat," Hill acknowledged. "But she did so many things — she was a better defender than a lot of people gave her credit for, and she led us in steals. So she is a big loss." Also departed is backup two guard Breezy Williams (3.5 points per game last season) after a strong final campaign in which she shot a career-best 44.4 percent from the floor. Five veterans, a transfer seeing her first action in an NC State uniform this winter and a freshman who sank the winning bas- ket for her high school in a national cham- SHOULDERING THE SCORING LOAD NC State's Perimeter Players Will Be Counted On For Points While The Inside Game Rebuilds Over the final six games last year, sophomore two-guard Miah Spencer averaged 14.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and she scored a career-best 18 points in the Pack's loss to Notre Dame in the regular-season finale. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN