N.C. State’s women’s basketball held an open scrimmage Wednesday night at Reynolds Coliseum, officially kicking off the 2013-14 season.
The Wolfpack, entering its first season under new head coach Wes Moore, began the event with players showcasing their skills in position drills as well as smaller, half-court scrimmages that led up to the full-court scrimmage.
“We cannot afford to miss out on any opportunity to work and get better,” Moore said. “This was the first time they had been out in front of people, and we didn’t always handle it really well. We’re going have a lot to talk about from this.”
The team was split into two squads: a red team and a black team.
The red team claimed victory in the first 16-minute half, 38-20. The black team put up a stronger defensive showing in the 12-minute second half but was unable to secure the win falling, 14-10, to the red squad.
The red team’s players consisted of three of the four returning starters: redshirt junior guard Len’Nique Brown, senior forward Kody Burke and senior center Markeisha Gatling. Burke led the team last season with 13.3 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. Brown led the team with 3.8 assists per game while tacking on 7.2 points per game.
Senior guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman also suited up for the red team after starting 22 of the Pack’s 34 games last season and averaged 8.8 points per game.
Freshman guard Miah Spencer rounded out the red team’s roster. The Decatur, Ga. native averaged 18.7 points per game in her senior season en route to helping lead Columbia High School to a second consecutive 3-A title.
“[Spencer] looks like she’ll be a great player for us,” Moore said. “She doesn’t seem to get caught up in the moment and has a good head on her shoulders.”
The black squad was compiled of freshman guard Ashley Williams, freshman forward Jennifer Mathurin, sophomore guards Dominique Wilson and Kaley Moser, and senior forward Julianna Prim.
“We have a lot of new bodies, but we also have six upperclassmen,” Brown said. “It’s a fresh start, but we have been working hard. It’s exciting to see what we have.”
Williams averaged 21.2 points per game as a senior at Green Hope High School in Cary, leading her team to a 16-0 conference record. Mathurin, a Montreal, Quebec native, averaged 15.5 points per game for Champlain College St. Lambert High School and helped lead the Quebec Provincial team to a bronze-medal finish in the Canadian National Championships in 2010.
Wilson transferred from Arkansas after averaging 6.6 points per game for the Razorbacks.
Junior guard Krystal Barrett, the Pack’s other returning starter, played on both the red and black teams along with redshirt senior forward Lakeesa Daniel, sophomore guard Ashley Eli and senior guard Breezy Williams.
“We have five seniors essentially,” Moore said. “We have strong veterans, but we have to change their culture a little bit. They have to believe, and they have to feel like they can compete at this level, so it is a work in progress.”
State will host a scrimmage match against Winston-Salem State on Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. The Pack will open its regular season in Reynolds Coliseum on Nov. 8 against St. Bonaventure at 6 p.m.
“We want to just get out there and work hard,” Brown said. “We are taking everything day-by-day and game-by-game.”
