Following Sunday’s 79-70 loss to North Carolina, the women’s basketball team sits at 12-5 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
But it’s not all negative for the Wolfpack — especially after its performance at Reynolds Coliseum against the Tar Heels.
N.C. State, with only one senior and one junior, came into the game off a 60-59 loss against Boston College and with an extremely inexperienced team — few who’d played valuable minutes against a ranked team.
Coach Kay Yow said if State plays the way it did Sunday, it could be a strong season.
“I just hope we can play with the kind of heart we played [Sunday] every game we play in the ACC,” she said. “Because if we do that, and we keep practicing and keep getting a little better, then we’ll have a chance to do some great things.”
While there isn’t anything she could do with the ACC schedule, she said she would prefer to play the Tar Heels later in the ACC season. However, she hopes to take the positive from the scheduling.
“I’d actually like a few more games under our belts before we jumped in,” Yow said. “But, with a young team, it was definitely an opportunity to show them ACC basketball, and this is what we can expect, and not just from North Carolina, but it’s going to be every team that we play.”
And the schedule doesn’t get much easier in the upcoming week. State has Georgia Tech and Duke coming up. Those two, along with North Carolina and Boston College, currently have a combined conference record of 9-3.
Following the Jan. 20 game at Duke, the schedule lightens up a good deal with Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, who have a combined ACC record of 0-8.
But Yow said the conference is one of the toughest in the country — and it has plenty of talent, no matter who the opponent.
“It’s a physical game. The ACC is an up-tempo conference. Everybody likes to push it. Everybody likes to be really physical down low. [The ACC has] a lot of penetrators,” Yow said. “So, [the UNC game] will give us an understanding there.”
The lowdownGeorgia Tech, Thursday, 7 p.m., Reynolds ColiseumStrengths: Georgia Tech forces turnovers — a lot of them. While averaging 19.1 turnovers per game themselves, the Yellow Jackets cause 24.5 per game. And the Jackets have a balanced scoring attack — with four players averaging double digits in ACC play.Weaknesses: The Jackets don’t have a player who’s averaging more than seven rebounds per game, and as a team, Georgia Tech is shooting less than 31 percent from behind the 3-point line.Prediction: State showed that it can compete with the top of the ACC on Sunday. Even though Georgia Tech is 2-1 in the conference, the Yellow Jackets don’t have anyone who can match up with Khadijah Whittington. Pack, 65-61
Duke, Sunday, 1 p.m., Cameron Indoor StadiumStrengths: Duke isn’t lacking talent. Abby Waner, Chante Black and Joy Cheek lead the Blue Devils, and all have big-game ability. Waner has struggled somewhat behind the arc compared to the past, but can score 10 in a row at any moment. Duke is also outrebounding its opponents by nine boards per game.Weaknesses: Any transition to a new coach is tough. And the Blue Devils are undergoing that change after former coach Gail Goestenkors left for Texas. While Duke can hit 3s, it’s averaging less 3s per game than its opponents. And State’s pressure man-to-man defense won’t help that.Prediction: Duke hasn’t been as good this season as it has been the past couple of years. But it’s still Duke. And it’s still Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke, 72-60
This point last yearOn Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007, State defeated Wake Forest 80-57 to move to 13-5 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The team was without Yow, and she didn’t return until Jan. 25 for a game against Virginia. After Jan. 14, the team would lose its next two games then go on to win 10 of its next 11.
-Nick Jeffreys
