Our First Look at the 14-15 Women's Basketball Team

The season ticket holders were invited out to watch the team on Thursday night. Since I'm not yet ready to take my children to the Late Night With Roy event, this was our first look at this year's team.  They did an hour long warm-up with the Strength and Conditioning coach on the court, a 40 minute scrimmage against the male practice players and then a meet and greet.  They're a great looking group. (photo taken with my Galaxy)

 

Coach Hatchell and Coach Lee talked to us and answered questions. Experience, Chemistry, Leadership and Depth. You’ve likely read by now Coach Hatchell keying in on these things being present in this year’s group. Last year’s post season run I believe was important for that young team and now not so young, we’ll see improvement. They talked about setting up a more rigorous OOC schedule. They obviously have a lot of confidence in this group.

They talked about how they are adjusting to the officiating, how the guards will be somewhat interchangeable, particularly that Jessica will be spending time at the 2 due to her scoring ability. They talked about how the players have worked to improve in the off-season. They updated us on the team's health, which is good save one player.

I'm looking forward to seeing Latifah Coleman at the starting point guard spot and she appears to have embraced that role. She was very vocal. Another person’s voice I heard a lot was Stephanie Mavunga. She was letting those guards know when and where as far as getting that ball inside to her. And she is running the floor well. Hilary Summers has obviously been working hard on the court and in the weight room in the off season.

Megan (Buckland) was moving around really well. A real blessing to see her out there. Even though she practically had a suit of armor on those knees, it didn’t seem to bother her. You have to admire the perseverance of this young woman to still play after multiple knee surgeries.  

 

Pre-season All-ACC sophomore Alisha’s Gray is back.  The 3 point bomber is dangerous as she has much more to her game but such a great long ball, you can't be sure how to guard her.  I know there'll be a lot of  good stuff from her this season. Someone else whose got a great long ball is Brittany Rountree. She seems to be getting the shot off a bit faster the other night. Really hoping that carries over into the season.  Brittany is a senior this year and what I'll really miss about her is the elite level of defense she plays.

 

N’dea (Bryant) and Danielle (Butts) always look like they are going to jump right out of the gym. Both played good defense and hit some jump shots. I've been tempted to rename Danielle the Energizer Bunny on occasion or just call her Danielle "Make it Happen" Butts.  Something positive generally happens within seconds of her entering a game.  I think we'll see more of what N'dea is capable of this year.  I can tell she's really talented.  I'm looking forward to seeing her and hopefully more from Hilary Fuller as well.  Versatile post player and Two-time All-ACC performer Xylina McDaniel is back as well.  She and Mavunga are such a dangerous combination.  Last year the emergence of McDaniel's jump shot made her even more dangerous.

 

Jamie (Cherry) appears to be fitting in really well. Looks really confident for the lone freshman on the team. She looked good on some shots and a couple of passes inside.

Things they will be placing emphasis on in the coming days (they actually had a practice at 6am the following day) will I’m sure be boxing out, defensive rotations, working to get each other open in the half-court sets and keeping hands up on defense, just improving on a great product.

They spent as much time as they could with us after the scrimmage. They were of course tired and hungry and some had tutoring sessions to get to. But they walked around, answered questions, signed autographs, took photos and expressed how appreciative they were for us being there and told us to get ready for a great year.

We also got to walk down the hallway towards the locker room. Some of the walls have gotten an upgrade with a huge mural telling the team's history.  That was an experience in itself.  Looking at the photos I remembered being present watching those players.  North Carolina Women's Basketball has a rich history and a bright future.