Kellie Harper -- Dancing In Year One?

by Akula Wolf on Feb 22, 2010 2:08 AM EST

The Wolfpack Women (16-11, 6-6) came through big time this weekend, knocking off Boston College on Friday and North Carolina on Sunday. As of now, those go down as wins over RPI top-50 opponents. Prior to the weekend's games, State was hovering around #40 in the RPI, among the last four out according to this guy and the last eight out according to Jerry Palm. So it's a fair bet that we've vaulted into the NCAA tournament field. There's work to be done yet, but we're in surprisingly good shape.

What's left: road trip to Wake Forest (RPI 95), home game against Georgia Tech (RPI 28). Beating Wake completes the season sweep, puts us a full game ahead of them in the standings, and avoids a loss that would look bad on paper. Tech presents another opportunity for a top-50 win. No matter what happens, Kellie Harper deserves a lot of credit just for getting this team into the NCAA tournament discussion.

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i wrote some comments

about the women’s team in the post about the men’s game against Wake, and after i saw that the State women had beaten UNC. i wish to make a few more comments. i think that if State finishes 7 and 7 in conference and wins at least one ACC tournament game, they will get an NCAA bid. the reason is their RPI and SOS. in the recent past the team has finished similarly and received an NCAA bid.
moving Kastanek to point has led to a surge by the State women’s team as it freed Amber White to play her game. further, Harper has made Gatrel give the ball to Kastenek as opposed to keeping it herself for a complete possession. Gatrel is not a good shooter as i have noted in my posts, but the team really needs her becasue of her defensive abilities and her ability to break any press.

by sbas2 on Feb 22, 2010 7:40 AM EST reply actions

agreed

Two more wins should get them into the tournament.

Backing The Pack

by Akula Wolf on Feb 22, 2010 1:54 PM EST up reply actions

i want to write one more thing about

Gartrel (noticed that i spelled her name wrong in my last post. :-( ). i think her poor shooting is mental. she is an outstanding free throw shooter, and that makes me question why she isn’t a better shooter than she shows.

by sbas2 on Feb 22, 2010 7:42 AM EST reply actions

Harper is looking like a great hire*

Hopefully she can keep the program moving forward.

*My only complaint with the hiring process was how long it took when it was known for so long that a new coach was going to be needed after last season.

by PACKHOOLIGAN on Feb 22, 2010 10:10 AM EST reply actions