The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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74 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY BRIAN RAPP T hough NC State will have five guards returning next year — despite graduat- ing starters Miah Spencer, Dominique Wil- son and Ashley Williams — only redshirt freshman Kaila Ealy has any significant playing time thus far at 13.0 minutes per game in 24 appearances through Feb. 22. The Pack was able to add to that depth in December when Armani Hawkins, a 5-10 sophomore reserve at Arizona State, an- nounced she was transferring to Raleigh. ESPN HoopGurlz rated Hawkins as the No. 22 guard and the No. 100 overall prospect in the class of 2015, and she will be eligible to play following the 2017 fall semester. "Her athleticism and ability to score will serve her well in our system," head coach Wes Moore said. "With us losing three guards who've all played prominent roles this season, her experience at this level will be especially important next year." Hawkins, a native of Mesa, Ariz., ap- peared in 10 games for the Sun Devils last season and averaged 1.5 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent (6 of 14). ASU finished 26-7 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She played six games for ASU in November and led the team with 14 points in the Sun Devils' 76-40 season-opening win against Illinois State. "I just felt there were better opportuni- ties for me here," Hawkins said about her reasons for leaving Tempe. "Playing time was a bit of a factor, but mainly I just felt that if these were my last two years of play- ing basketball I wanted to have fun with it and enjoy it. "I love my team [at ASU] and that area, but this just seemed like the best decision for me." Hawkins played four years for Mesa's Mountain View High School, and averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest for her career. As a senior, she aver- aged 22.0 points, 4.8 boards and 1.9 blocks per game, and was named to The Arizona Republic's All-Arizona Team. Hawkins said connections formed during showcases and AAU play in Arizona helped her look at Raleigh as a possible alternative to ASU. She also knows Pack sophomore forward DD Rogers, who played on the same fifth-grade team with Hawkins while Rogers was living in Arizona. Talented Freshman Inured A contributing factor to the Pack's shoot- ing struggles in February could have been the loss of freshman standout guard Aislinn "Ace" Konig. As of Jan. 18, Konig was second on the team in three-point shooting (30 of 79, 38.0 percent) and third in overall accuracy (52 of 120, 43.3 percent) for players with a minimum of 100 attempts. But in a fi- nal practice before the Pack's 65-50 win at Wake Forest Jan. 19, Konig suffered a stress fracture in her foot. "It'll probably be two more weeks be- fore we have a better idea where she's at," Moore said following the Pitt game on Jan. 26. "She had surgery [Jan. 22], has got the cast off and is wearing a boot." NC State's annual Play4Kay fundraising game was not a happy ending on the court, with the Pack losing to visiting Wake Forest 89-77 Feb. 19, but more importantly it proved to be a significant success for its primary cause. NC State announced that its fans and UNC Rex combined raised and donated $33,805 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Bojangle's also revealed a contribution of $70,000 at the game, pushing the total fundraising total to more than $100,000. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Arizona State Transfer Arrives At NC State Miscellaneous Notes • On Feb. 7, NC State senior Ashley Williams was named to the 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America's Academic All-District Team for the second consecutive year. She was one of five NCAA Division I players to be selected from District Three — which includes North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — along with Emma Bockrath from High Point, Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell from Duke, and Morgan Jones from North Carolina Central. Williams was the 2016 ACC Kay Yow Scholar Athlete of the Year. She has a 3.95 GPA majoring in industrial engineering. The one-time walk-on has been a starter since her junior year and is averaging 7.7 points per game. Her 42.9-percent accuracy from three-point range, as of Feb. 22, ranked third in the ACC and put her among the top 50 nationally. • Senior guard Dominique Wilson was named the College Sports Madness ACC Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 12. She scored 42 total points for the week: 23 in the Pack's overtime win at Georgia Tech Feb. 9 and 19 against Virginia Tech at home Feb. 12. Wilson shot 13 of 30 (43.3 percent) from the field, 4 of 10 (40.0 percent) from three-point range and was 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line. In addition to averaging 21.0 points per game, she also handed out 5.5 assists, grabbed 4.0 rebounds and swiped 3.0 steals. The Pack senior guard was also named the CSM ACC Player of the Week Jan. 2.