We’re barely a full week into the women’s college basketball season, and No. 10 NC State has already been through the wringer more than any other team in the country.
Most coaches opt for an easy start to their schedule, playing lowly Group of Five teams or Division II schools. Not head coach Wes Moore. Instead of scheduling easy games, Moore opted to test his team early, scheduling three ranked matchups in his first four games. It faced then-No. 8 Tennessee and then-No. 18 USC at neutral sites, and has an upcoming home game against No. 17 TCU on Sunday. You could even argue four of the first five matchups if you count the Pack’s exhibition match against then-No. 10 Maryland.
“When you first schedule games like this, you think ‘What was I thinking?,’” Moore said after NC State’s victory over Tennessee. “But when you are able to survive it and get a dub, it feels pretty good.”
A ranked victory over the No. 8 team in the country is a massive pro of Moore’s ambitious scheduling. But the gauntlet was always high risk, high reward, and the Wolfpack learned of the risk in its 69-68 loss to USC last Sunday. Now, a loss to a ranked team is much better than a loss to an unranked Group of Five school, but at the end of the day, a loss is a loss. For a team of the Wolfpack’s caliber, two games into the season is much too early to see a tally in the loss column.
“You know that in the ACC, you’re gonna face brutal competition night in, night out so it’s a good opportunity to get used to that,” Moore said. “You also get any weaknesses exposed.”
And it’s not just the ACC, it’s the state of North Carolina in general. Three of the four Tobacco Road schools are ranked in the top 15, including No. 11 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 15 Duke, both teams that NC State has struggled against in recent years.
It’s a bold strategy from Moore, who lost his top three players in the offseason, forcing him to hit the transfer portal for replacements. On paper, he killed the offseason, filling all the necessary positions with some of the top players in the portal. But on the court, the team is still lost. Yes, they had the offseason to prepare, but this is a brand-new squad of players that hasn’t yet developed the chemistry and team identity.
“We’ve got new players that we’re counting on,” Moore said. “They’ve got to buy in as well and we’ve got to all be on the same page.”
The starting lineup consists of three returning players and two transfers, but the squad is missing a key piece; it has no veteran leadership. This is the first time in program history that the Pack doesn’t have a single senior on the roster. It doesn’t have the rock that the young players can rely on to guide them through the complicated world of college basketball.
NC State must find a player that’s willing to take up the mantle and be the leader, both on the court and in the locker room. For years, its identity was Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers. Now, it must find a new identity. A prime example of such comes from USC, the Pack’s one loss this season. USC is usually led by star guard Juju Watkins, but after Watkins tore her ACL, the Trojans now rely on star freshman Jazzy Davidson.
“You don’t know exactly what you have until you’re put in these situations, which is why you schedule them,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think it’s a chance for us to redefine our identity a little bit.”
Whether that identity is built around junior guard Zoe Brooks — who’s been on the team for her entire collegiate career — or junior forward Khamil Pierre — one of the most talented post players in the country — NC State needs that go-to player that it can rely on and look up to as both a scorer and a leader.
Of the Wolfpack’s first three games — including its exhibition match — all three have come down to the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. If it was close game scenarios that Moore was looking for, he found it. He wants his team to be ready for whatever trials it faces in its long ACC schedule and hopeful postseason run, and there’s no time like the present to start training.
“Hopefully all that experience helps,” Moore said. “Hopefully this experience helps as we head down the road. It’s a long journey and we got a lot of stuff to fix and clean up.”
