With the regular season winding down in a few weeks and a 10-13 overall record and standing at second to last in the conference, it would seem that now is the time to shut the door on this season and try to look forward to next season for the women’s basketball team. But don’t quit on the Wolfpack yet. There are still plenty of reasons you should still stay tuned for the remainder of the season.
The remaining schedule definitely favors the Pack. Four of their remaining six games are perfect opportunities for State to come in and steal some wins from other teams who are also sitting at the bottom of the conference, including Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Wake Forest.
Virginia is coming off of a close loss against Florida State, so State must be ready for the Cavs to come out swinging. Virginia Tech has not been able to pick up a conference win at all season, so it would be a great opportunity to get a convincing win. State lost to the BC by ten earlier this season in Chestnut Hill, so revenge will be the fuel to its fire. Wake Forest didn’t provide much of a test for the Pack, as they came away with a 21-point win.
The only two games remaining that appear to give State a true challenge are against Georgia Tech and a rematch against North Carolina. They will be critical to the Pack in terms of gaining momentum going forward into the ACC Tournament. Its 74-63 win over UNC last season gave the Pack a push going into the postseason, helping spark the team to an ACC Tournament run and an NCAA Tournament berth. .
Their matchups against Virginia, UNC and Boston College will also be right at home in Reynolds Coliseum. The fans should continue to come out and support the Wolfpack at Reynolds and help push them to pick up these critical wins.
If you didn’t think the fans make a difference, the Pack came within one possession of taking out No.3 Duke this year in front of an almost capacity crowd. They also had an impact against Florida State last Sunday, as the Wolfpack played a close game until the final three minutes in front of the large Hoops for Hope crowd.
Another reason that the fans should remain optimistic about the program itself is that its second leading scorer, Marissa Kastanek, is only sophomore. Also, four freshman, Kody Burke, Breezy Williams, Myisha Goodwin-Coleman and Devin Griffin, have all made appearances in the starting lineup and have shown some flashes of brilliance.
Speaking of the conference tournament, last year at this time was when the Pack came alive. They pulled out upsets over Georgia Tech and Virginia to close out the regular season last year, which led to a run to the championship game where the Pack eventually lost to Duke.
From an optimistic approach, one could see this as the Pack getting off to a slow start and making a late season surge to gain momentum and make a deep run into the conference tournament. Also, you could take the approach of looking at coach Kellie Harper’s coaching track record.
At her previous coaching stint at Western Carolina, Harper led the Catamounts to an 18-14 overall record and to an NCAA Tournament berth. But, the following season she hit a sophomore slump with a 9-20 record and missed the postseason.
The fans should definitely be hoping that the result of this season won’t be the latter.
