NC State women's basketball off to historical start

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While perspective on in-season accomplishments cannot be assessed until after that campaign is over, the record-setting 17-0 start that NC State women’s basketball has put together is more than just the best in program history.

It’s one of the top-five best starts for any Wolfpack sport.

Of NC State’s 14 varsity sports that have head-to-head competition, head coach Wes Moore’s squad ranks fourth all-time for the number of wins without a loss. And, not surprisingly, the three teams ahead of women’s basketball are among the most accomplished in athletics history.

They include one of two ACC men’s basketball teams to ever finish with an undefeated season, Norman Sloan’s 27-0 team that featured junior Tommy Burleson and sophomores David Thompson and Monte Towe. That team blew through the regular-season — including both the Big Four Championship, the North-South Doubleheader and a slate of 12 ACC games — without a loss.

It then won its two games in the ACC tournament to capture Sloan’s second championship at his alma mater. However, because of NCAA sanctions, NC State did not participate in March Madness. The next year, though, the Pack was almost as good again, going 30-1 and winning the school’s first national title in any sport.

The only loss in the remarkable two-year run that produced a 57-1 record was to seven-time defending national champion UCLA, which had also played the 1972-73 season without a loss.

The Bruins won a made-for-television matchup in St. Louis, Mo., in December, but the Wolfpack came back in March to beat John Wooden’s team in the NCAA semifinals in Greensboro. Two days later, NC State defeated Marquette to win the 1974 national championship.

The second-longest winning streak to start a season without a loss belongs to Pat Popolizio’s 2015-16 wrestling team, which opened with a school-record 21-0 stretch before falling in a dual meet to Virginia Tech.

Following the loss, the Wolfpack beat Missouri and then went to Iowa and brought home a victory over the second-ranked Hawkeyes. The Pack finished No. 2 in the final coaches poll, won the ACC team championship with four individual titles and aided by a runner-up finish by heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski and a third-place finish by 184-pounder Pete Renda, completed the season at 11th in the NCAA Championships.

In third place on the best undefeated starts to a season is the 1978 men’s tennis team that featured All-Americas John Sadri and Andy Andrews. Coached by J.W. Isenhour, the Wolfpack won its first 19 dual matches, going 149-12 in its singles and doubles matchups.

NC State lost its regular-season finale to Duke 6-3, and then won the school’s first-ever ACC men’s tennis title. Sadri, a senior, advanced to the NCAA title match, where he lost to Stanford freshman John McEnroe (7-6, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6) in what is still generally regarded as the best match in college tennis history.

Sadri turned professional after that match, but Isenhour’s team followed with its second consecutive conference championship in 1979.

How far Moore’s team can ascend on the chart below is yet to be determined. His team, the only undefeated squad remaining in the NCAA, posted a dominating 66-38 victory at Virginia even after losing two backcourt starters, Grace Hunter and Armani Hawkins, for the season with significant knee injuries.

The Pack has another few days to regroup from its injuries before its next game, which is slated for 12:30 p.m. Sunday against Virginia Tech at Reynolds Coliseum.

Moore, in his sixth season with the Wolfpack, is excited about the way his team has played despite the personnel losses.

“We’re defending, we’re rebounding, we’re buying into our scouting,” Moore said. “We are going out and executing.

“I just love seeing our team defending. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

With 12 more regular-season games on the schedule, the ACC Tournament in Greensboro and a certain NCAA berth all ahead, the possibility exists that he may indeed find a way to be prouder with a full season of accomplishments still to go.

Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.

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