The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/896287
84 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY BRIAN RAPP S ince the 2014-15 season, NC State women's basketball head coach Wes Moore and his staff have had a relatively strong foundation to build around each succeeding fall, beginning with guards Miah Spencer and Dominique Wilson plus forward Jenn Mathurin. A fourth piece of the puzzle, walk-on guard Ashley Williams, joined the trio and formed what would turn out to be the nucleus of NC State's starting five over the following two seasons. In their senior season of 2016- 17, the foursome would lead the Pack back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years, and produce two first-team All-ACC selections (Spencer and Wilson, the first starting guard duo to be named first- team all-conference in program history) and a prolific three-point shooter that finished in the top five in the conference (Williams, with a 41.0-percent accuracy from the arc). The group accounted for more than 48 percent of all points the Pack scored in the four years they played together. Now the Wolfpack faces the challenge of replacing all but one proven starter that helped it to two 20-win seasons in the past three years. "There's a lot of questions now that we didn't have this time a year ago, when we knew our roles and knew who we could count on," Moore said. "That's all part of what happens when you're dealing with student- athletes who graduate. "You have to reload, and that's where we are." Going into this season, Moore's fifth at the helm of the red and white, he and his staff are starting with the fewest number of returning starters (one) they've had in their tenure in Raleigh and, arguably, the least experienced supporting cast, especially in the backcourt where none of the three returning veterans played in all 32 games a year ago and only one averaged more than a quarter of playing time. "I do have confidence in the ability of these kids," Moore said of his eight returning play- ers and five newcomers, "but they don't quite have the maturity and toughness the kids last year had. I like our talent on the perimeter with those young kids [sophomores Aislinn 'Ace' Konig and Lucky Rudd and redshirt sophomore Kaila Ealy, as well as three four- year college transfers and a promising fresh- man], but there's a whole lot more to it than just talent. "You've got to have some toughness, some grit, and sometimes you just have to want it more than the other guy. That's what we have to find. At some point, it goes back to you have to rebound, be willing to set a screen, RELOADING Head Coach Wes Moore Has To Replace Four Special Starters Moore is faced with the task of replacing four starters who formed the core of last year's 23-win squad, which earned the Wolfpack's first bid to the NCAA Tournament in four years. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2017-18