The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/672211
54 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY BRIAN RAPP I n the 42-year history of the NC State women's basketball program, the Wolfpack has won 20 or more games in a season 24 times. The common denominator in all of those 24 seasons? A postseason berth, either in the old AIAW national tournament or, since 1982, the NCAA Tournament. In those same 42 years, the Pack has recorded double-digit wins in the ACC 14 times. NC State last swept both of its "blue" rivals, defeating both Duke and North Car- olina in all home and away games, in 1990- 91. Five years later, NC State beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium (80-74 on Feb. 2, 1996) — the last road victory for the Pack over the Blue Devils. By the time this year's NCAA selection show aired on ESPN on March 14, the 2015-16 Pack had accomplished all of the following: won 20 games, including 10 in the ACC; beaten Duke in Durham for the first time since 1996; swept the series with North Carolina for the first time since 2000 and finished tied for fifth in the conference. But when the final team's name was an- nounced during NCSU's NCAA Selection Show watch party at Sammy's Tap and Grill in Raleigh that Monday night, the packed house of coaches, players, admin- istrators and fans realized that, for the first time, a 20-win season — packed with all the accomplishments that came with it — was not deemed good enough to earn an NCAA Tournament appearance. "We're very, very disappointed, obvi- ously," head coach Wes Moore said that night. "We felt we had a good enough ré- sumé, especially finishing tied for fifth in the ACC with a Miami that's a No. 5 seed. There were a few upsets in the mid-major tournaments, but we left it in the hands of the committee. It's disappointing that they didn't take at least six teams from the ACC." A month later, the Pack's third-year coach admitted it's still hard to explain the historic snub. "You can compare RPIs, top-50 wins and scores all day long — Purdue [a No. 11 seed with an identical 20-11 record to NC State's] got in with a 66 RPI [compared to the Pack's 49 RPI], and Kansas State [a No. 9 seed] was 18-12," Moore noted. "I was also told there was no one representing the ACC on the selection committee this year, and that's what everyone's pointing to as a big factor. I don't think the conference got a lot of respect." Nine teams were chosen from the SEC, six from the Big 12 and five each from the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12. Only two Big 12 teams (Baylor and Texas) and just one from the Big Ten (Ohio State) reached the round of 16. Three of the five ACC teams chosen reached the Sweet 16, with Syracuse, after upsetting top-seeded South Carolina and beating seven-seeds Tennessee and Wash- ington, reaching the title game before los- ing to three-time defending national champ Connecticut. "It was a nightmare," said Pack center Carlee Schuhmacher, one of NC State's three graduating seniors and the only one to have never gone to an NCAA Tourna- ment. "As a kid, watching the tournament on TV, it's what makes you want to play basketball. You can't wait to get to college and have that experience … that's why I came here. It was awful — I was a wreck that night and a little depressed for the next few weeks. I couldn't even watch [the tournament] until the end, and when I did, all I kept thinking was, 'I should be there.'" Junior guard Miah Spencer, one of the THRILLS AND HEARTBREAK Despite 20 Wins And Sweeps Of UNC And Duke, The Pack Women Were Denied An NCAA Berth Head coach Wes Moore is proud of his team's 10-5 finish in ACC play and sweep of Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN