3/16/2021 basketball Edit

NC State head coach Wes Moore talks No. 1 seed, NCAA Tournament

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

After winning back-to-back ACC Tournament titles for the first time in program history, the NC State women’s basketball team made its mark in the record books once again Monday.

The Wolfpack (20-2, 12-2 ACC) earned a No. 1 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, which is the highest seed the women’s basketball team has ever received.

The Pack will begin play against No. 16-seeded North Carolina A&T on Sunday, March 21 at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

“The number one seed is a great honor,” NC State head coach Wes Moore said. “Y'all know me, I'd rather have just stayed the number two and laid low, but it is what it is. You still got to go out either way and work, hope you play well, hope you shoot well, all those things.”

NC State Wolfpack women's basketball coach Wes Moore — NC State women's basketball head coach Wes Moore led the Wolfpack to back-to-back ACC Tournament titles for the first time in program history. (Ethan Hyman, The News and Observer)

The first rounds of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played in select venues in San Antonio, Austin and San Marcos, Texas, and the remaining games will be played in San Antonio.

NC State left for San Antonio Tuesday and will remain there through its course in the tournament, which ends with the championship game Sunday, April 4.

“It's going to be a little different,” Moore said. “When we get to San Antonio, we're going to be pretty much on lockdown for maybe two days. We've got to be able to handle it and hopefully stay negative [on COVID testing].

"The first team I've ever coached that I want them to be negative. So hopefully we can stay negative for a little bit longer and get ready to play.”

While the Wolfpack could be in the NCAA Tournament “bubble” for up to 19 days beginning Tuesday, Moore believes going through the 2020-21 season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has prepared his team for the isolation it will face.

Since all tournament dates are set, a positive COVID test could end a team’s March run in the same fashion that too many turnovers in a single game could in a normal year.

Another No. 1 seed, UConn, has already had a COVID scare of its own before it arrived to the bubble. Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 Monday and will not be able to join his team in San Antonio until at least Wednesday, March 24, after a 10-day isolation period.

“This whole year has been about adjusting and staying flexible,” Moore said. “I don't think it's any different. I worried about it even when we were in Greensboro. We had an early morning COVID test, the first morning we were there, then we had our shoot around early, so by noon or before noon we were done. Normally we'd go over that evening and watch a game, and this year we weren't allowed to do that.

“You're stuck in the hotel pretty much all day. We are taking our academic advisor with us, and we'll try to keep them as busy as we can. We'll see as we go.

“This team's done a pretty good job all year of handling things. If you're going to be quarantined, isolated, whatever, you might as well do it with a great group of young ladies that are your teammates. I couldn't think of a better group to be locked up with for a week, two, three, whatever.”

Moore, a native Texan and unabashed Dallas Cowboys fan, knows firsthand how difficult it will be to remain inside the bubble in such a familiar place as his home state.

“That's the tough part,” Moore said. “I've already got a lot of friends and family that want to come down from Dallas, Houston, wherever they may be after a game to at least grab a bite to eat. It's tough, but this year just being able to play is such a blessing.

"I am going to miss being able to go down to the Riverwalk and get me a nice enchilada, taco dinner, maybe some brisket. We'll save that for another time.”

The Wolfpack has had the last eight days to prepare and train for the tournament after cutting down the nets in Greensboro Coliseum. Sunday will mark two weeks since the team has last played.

For some coaches, the elongated gap may be viewed as a detriment, but that’s not the way Moore sees it.

“I love it, personally,” Moore said. “You've been through a grind, the conference tournament and all that. You get a week to catch your breath. We gave our players three days off right after the tournament. Then we came back, practiced twice, took a day off, practiced twice, we'll take tomorrow off as we travel.

“What I like about it is you get four practices that you can just focus on you. You're not preparing for the opponent because you don't even know who your next opponent is going to be. I love it.

“I guess it depends on the person. You're going to have to knock off the rust a little bit but hopefully we've done that in practice some as well.”

The relaxation hasn’t lasted for long, and the Pack will quickly get to work on preparing for North Carolina A&T now that its first opponent is known.

NC State last faced the Aggies in the 2019-20 regular-season opener in an 80-44 win in Reynolds Coliseum.

“We're going to have to be ready to play, I know there'll be fired up about playing another in-state school," Moore noted. "I spent a lot of years at Chattanooga playing Tennessee, I know how that is.

"You're talking about a team that won a [conference] championship. They know how to win, so we better be ready to play.”