As the women’s basketball team prepares for the grind of the ACC season, coaches and players alike recognize there is still work to be done. One of the problems that has plagued the team so far has been the slow starts to the first half, several of which have sunk the Pack early.

In its latest loss to ACC opponent Boston College, State found itself trailing by 15 points until it broke out on a 19-6 run before halftime. But it proved to be too little, as the Eagles surged to defeat the Pack 83-66.

“We did not start the game shooting the ball well. We did not have the same energy that we had in previous games,” head coach Kellie Harper said.

According to guards Emili Tasler and Marissa Kastanek, the team’s collective lack of energy has contributed to its mishaps.

“Honestly, our energy just wasn’t there from the beginning of the game,” Tasler said. “We started off slow. I don’t know if towards the end of the game we’re like, ‘Oh, [we have to] pick it up,’ and so we start making surges. We know now that our energy has to be there from the beginning and we have to play the whole game, the whole forty minutes.”

Kastanek believes that the lack of energy was a result of the team becoming complacent with its play.

“We were watching film on the Boston College game and we were not even close to the same energy level we had in the Maryland game,” Kastanek said. “If we just come out wanting to win and wanting to play hard every game then I think we could have easily prevented the first half of the Boston College game.”

Kastanek also pointed to the leadership of senior guard Amber White, which inspired the team to play well and not throw in the towel as the game wore on.

“Our seniors, especially Amber, always tell us that when you’re ahead, don’t let up. When you’re down, don’t give up. That has pretty much been our thing during halftime,” Kastanek said.

As State goes into ACC play, including its next game at Florida State, players believe they will have the upper hand when it comes to the scouting report. This is Harper’s first year here and she has been working to implement her system.

“At this point, most teams have done a good job with the scouting report, and probably feel like they know what we’re [going to] do. We still don’t have everything in, so we can show something new later in the year that might surprise some ACC coaches,” Harper said.

Kastanek said the team has not learned every aspect of Harper’s system. She said that in a strange way, that could be adventageous.

“I think [with] new system, we’re kind of confusing people because they don’t really know everything we have. We don’t know everything we have,” Kastanek said. “We haven’t learned it all yet.”