The women’s basketball team began its season with one goal in mind — make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
This goal was personified through a motto that simply states, “Our time.”
The Wolfpack has not lived up to its own expectations so far this season, dropping its first five ACC contests.
Despite the disappointment, there have been several positives for State this season. These bright spots have served as the silver lining around the cloud, giving the team a measure of hope as they move forward.
One of these bright spots has been junior forward Kody Burke.
Burke has shined during her junior campaign. She leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.4 points per game and grabbing 7.8 rebounds per contest despite playing just 29.6 minutes a game.
She is also atop the conference leaderboards in many statistical categories, including scoring (7th), rebounding (9th), field goal percentage (12th) and blocked shots (3rd).
Despite all of the attention she receives on the court, it is clear that Burke is not satisfied with her play. Her meek spirit has her constantly looking for ways to improve her game and her presence on the court.
Any person that speaks to Burke about this season’s basketball team would quickly discover that she is humble. She doesn’t like to talk about the positive sides of her gameplay and is quick to criticize herself while never criticizing her teammates.
“I feel like I haven’t done my part in being consistent,” Burke said. “Part of that contributes to my team’s inconsistency.”
Burke is also able to easily recognize her weaknesses. Some of the things she notices that she needs to work on include being more vocal, staying focused and holding her head up high when things are not going her way.
In basketball, most winning programs have players that are able to step up as leaders. Burke identifies this area of her game as a weakness, as well, but has tried to improve it this as the season has progressed.
“I keep saying it, but I really need to take on that leadership role, especially now when we’re almost right in the middle of ACC (play) and our time is very limited,” Burke said. “So it is very important for me to do so.”
Listening to her speak, it is clear that Burke has a desire to step into that leadership role. The passion in her voice makes it obvious that she is striving to achieve that.
“I want to try and get lost in the team on the court,” she said.
Regardless of where she stands as a player and a leader, Burke knows that basketball is a team sport. And in a team sport, it takes more than one player to make a difference.
Although Burke attributed the team’s inconsistency to her own, she realizes that every player on the court must stay focused on the game. If they do that, she believes the team can still be a factor in the ACC.
“If we have the same mentality every game and play every opponent like we did against Duke, we have the potential to be an amazing team and be a major force in the ACC,” Burke said. “It’s just that inconsistency factor that’s slowing us down right now.”
Until the team begins to play on a higher level, Burke will continue to look for ways to improve her own game and develop into a leader that can put the team on her back.
“I definitely feel like I have what it takes (to take that leadership role),” Burke said. “It’s just a matter of doing it. I’m pretty sure there’s going to come a time, maybe just one play, where I just have to step outside myself to step up and be a leader.”
