In the four decades that NC State has fielded a women’s basketball team, no group has ever finished a regular season without a loss. In fact, the only hoops team, men’s or women’s that ever accomplished the feat was Norm Sloan’s 1972-73 men’s squad led by three-time All-American David Thompson.
But with nine games left in the 2018-19 regular season, Wes Moore’s squad enters today’s visit to Wake Forest in territory no previous Wolfpack women’s team has ever achieved: the winner of 20 consecutive contests without a loss.
Going into the first of their annual two meetings with the Deacons, the Pack has already shattered the previously held records for best start to a season without a loss (14-0, in 1999-2000) and most consecutive wins (15, in 1984-85). Their 7-0 ACC record is the team’s best conference start since the 1988-89 season, and their No. 7 national ranking, in both the AP and USA Today/Coaches polls, is the program’s highest since February 2000. And the Pack is the lone team left, men’s or women’s, in Division I with no losses.
That NC State has accomplished all this when the women had to replace All-ACC forward Chelsea Nelson and shot-blocking post Akela Maize in the starting five would make this an already remarkable season.
But the Pack’s unprecedented win streak has also come despite the most serious rash of injuries to befall the program since Moore lost two players — Myisha Goodwin-Coleman and Lakeesa Daniel — in a 24-hour period during his first season in Raleigh, in 2013-14.
Two weeks before the opening game in November, redshirt junior point guard Kaila Ealey suffered a torn meniscus in practice. It was Ealey’s second serious knee injury of her career, following a season-ending injury her freshman season of 2015-16.
With Charlotte transfer Grace Hunter, a redshirt junior, replacing Ealey in the starting lineup, NC State rolled through the non-conference portion of its schedule a perfect 13-0 for the first time in 18 years — with Hunter’s 14.6 points-per-game average leading the team.
Heading into the Pack’s ACC opener at home against Duke on Jan. 3, Hunter was also the team’s leader in double-figure scoring games (11), double-doubles (4), double-figure rebounding games (6) and 20-point scoring games (2), as well as being the team’s most accurate free-throw shooter (44 of 55, 80 percent).
Then, in the final minutes of the Pack’s eventual 63-51 win over the Blue Devils, Hunter tore her ACL on a breakaway layup. One week later, in a 63-34 victory over Pitt, senior Armani Hawkins, who’d become the team’s first guard off the bench with the loss of Ealey and Hunter, suffered a similar injury on a loose ball scrum.
The loss of two starters and a key reserve leaves the Pack with just three healthy bench players: junior Katie Wadsworth, the lone reserve guard, and freshman forwards Jada Rice and Esra McGoldrick, who are averaging less then four minutes of playing time.
“It is tough when you lose basically two starters and your first sub off the bench,” Moore acknowledged. “And these kids are so close. When someone’s hurting, it’s hard on everybody.
“But all you can do is get back in there and keep working with the next players up. You have a mourning period, but then you have to say, ‘Here we go.’ You can’t replace Grace with just a single player — it takes a team effort with everyone stepping up their game a little. Expectations haven’t changed.”
That team effort has produced higher scoring averages for graduate guard Kiara Leslie (13.9 points per game before ACC play, 17.0 in conference games) and sophomore Kai Crutchfield (4.2 to 5.7), Hunter’s replacement in the starting five.
Leslie and junior Ace Konig have also had to play extended minutes, with both averaging over 36 per game. In the Pack’s 70-61 overtime win against Virginia Tech on Jan. 20, Konig played all 45 minutes.
NC State’s front line of senior forward DD Rogers (7.5 points and a team-leading 9.5 rebounds per game) and junior Erika Cassell (9.3 points, 5.8 rebounds) has also raised their averages in conference play. And freshman post Elissa Cunane has been a huge contributor as the team’s fifth-best scorer (9.3 points a game), twice earning ACC Rookie of the Week honors.
Moore also credits his team’s success, despite its shortened bench, to the men volunteers the team uses in practice. “I’ve probably done a poor job in the past of utilizing these guys,” Moore admitted, “but I’ve had to this year out of necessity, and it’s been an eye-opener for me.
“They show up every day, even at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, and run the opponents’ offense. They can run a lot of sets in 30 minutes that we’ll see from whoever we’re playing the next game.
“They all make sacrifices to do what they’re doing for us, and we’re really fortunate to have them.”
The Best Defensive Effort Of Moore's Tenure Is Key To The Pack's Streak
NC State’s 20-0 record has come through a combination of factors: the consistent scoring of its perimeter players, improved efforts by new starter DD Rogers and Erika Cassell (including a 20-rebound effort by Rogers in the Pack’s 76-65 win at Georgetown on Dec. 8) and the quick development of freshman post Elissa Cunane, a 13-points-per-game scorer through the team’s non-conference schedule.
The heart of NC State’s win streak, though, has been its effort at the defensive end of the floor. Through the team’s 68-60 win at Georgia Tech on Jan. 27, the Pack was leading the conference in scoring defense (55.5 points allowed per game), field goal percentage defense (32.8 percent shooting by opponents), rebounding margin (+13.0) and defensive rebounds per game (32.1) — the highest numbers of Moore’s six years in Raleigh.
“They’ve just bought in to the idea of team defense,” he replied. “They get in the gaps, help each other – and also allow opponents to miss shots instead of bailing them out by fouling [NC State is ranked second nationally in fewest fouls per game, 12.3].
“They’ve really done a good job rotating over and making people settle for jump shots instead of giving up layups. We call it ‘building a wall.’
“And I’ve always felt rebounding is the most important part of the game because even on a night when you’re not shooting the ball well [as in the Pack’s wins over Virginia Tech and Clemson, a 54-51 victory on Jan. 24], if you can limit the other team to one shot a possession and maybe get some second and third looks yourself, that makes a difference.”
Brutal February Awaits
One other component to NC State’s 20-win streak has been a relatively weak schedule thus far, one reason for the team’s No. 7 national ranking despite being unbeaten.
The Pack has beaten just one ranked team, Michigan State (22nd). Duke, normally among the ACC upper echelon, is 1-6 going into this weekend (9-10 overall). And the quirk of this year’s schedule has NC State facing three of the other four ranked team in the conference over the next two weeks.
Beginning Sunday, the Pack has to host a North Carolina team that just upset No. 1-ranked Notre Dame. Between then and Feb. 18, Moore’s team visits Florida State (No. 24), and Syracuse (18), returns home Feb. 18 to host the Irish (No. 5 after the loss to UNC) in the annual Play4Kay cancer benefit game.
The regular season wraps up with visits to third-ranked Louisville on Feb. 28 and a home finale against a Miami team NC State hasn’t beaten since 2015.
Despite the juggernaut ahead and the loss of three teammates, the Pack’s players remain confident.
“I think the win streak shows that we’re fighters,” Leslie said. “We’re here for each other. When any teammate goes down, everybody has to step up.”
Added Rogers. “We know that with that number [No. 7 ranking] next to our name, everyone’s going to be coming for us. In the ACC, any team can win on a given night. We just try to show up and give it our best every game.”
“It’s hard not to take a night off when you’ve had this kind of success,” Moore noted. “But this group has shown up every game so far and done everything we’ve asked of them. They haven’t once lost focus, and I can’t be prouder of them.”
Other Notes
Notes • Going into the Jan. 24 game against Clemson, junior guard Ace Konig had scored a three-point basket in 51 consecutive games, the longest streak in the nation. But the Tigers' swarming defenses, and the effort of playing the point against the press, contributed to a 2-for-11 off shooting night for Konig, including 0-for-7 from long range.
The pack’s top three-point scorer rebounded at Georgia Tech with two threes, including one in a critical third-quarter run, in the team’s 68-60 win in Atlanta.
• NC State’s defense is ranked among the top 10 in the nation in five categories: fewest fouls (2nd), defensive rebounds per game (3rd), rebound margin (4th), field goal percentage defense (4th) and rebounds per game (8th).
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