Some things worked well for the Wake Forest women's basketball team this season. Other things didn't.
As he leads his team into today's first round of the ACC Tournament, Coach Mike Petersen will have the Deacons try to stick with what they do best -- play tough defense and execute with precision on offense.
"The thing you don't want to do after 29 games is you don't want to go in there and try to change," Petersen said. "We've done a lot of good things, so it's counterproductive to change. We are what we are, and we are pretty good, so for me to change in the next 48 hours would be pretty stupid."
The Deacons (17-12) finished 7-7 in ACC games -- the second-best league record in program history, behind a 9-5 ACC finish in 1986-87 -- and have the No. 5 seed. They'll play the tournament opener at the Greensboro Coliseum, taking on 12th-seeded Miami (17-12) at 11 a.m.
Petersen coached the Deacons to a breakthrough season with a young team -- four freshmen and two sophomores form the core. The Deacons had two wins over Top 25 teams and played a tough nonconference schedule. Two wins this weekend will position them for an NCAA Tournament berth for only the second time in program history.
Sophomore forward Secily Ray of Thomasville said she thinks making the NCAA field is possible.
"We want to prove we belong because right now we are not in the NCAA Tournament and we have to keep winning if we want to get there," said Ray, who averages 11.1 points and is the team's No. 2 scorer behind Brittany Waters (13.6 ppg). "We still have a lot to prove, but we are ready to make a statement."
Freshman Sandra Garcia (9.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) has fit nicely into the halfcourt offense, and although the Deacons don't score much (61.7 ppg), they are second in the ACC in defense (57.4 ppg allowed).
"We've made some strides this year but when you look back at being 7-7, we lose a buzzer beater at N.C. State, we lose in overtime to North Carolina, we lose a one-possession game to Maryland and then basically we lose a one-possession game to Clemson," Petersen said. "So we're four stops away from being 11-3."
Still, Petersen said he is encouraged at the progress.
"The glass is clearly half full, but it could have been all the way full," he said.
Wake Forest defeated Miami 67-64 at Joel Coliseum on Jan. 17 in their only head-to-head meeting. The biggest problem the Hurricanes (17-12) present is their ability to get up and down the court. Forward Shenise Johnson and guard Riquna Williams were All-ACC picks, with Johnson making the first team.
"They are really dangerous," Petersen said. "They have two of the top 10 players in this league. They want to go up and down. We want to run too, but we don't want the game in the 70s.
"We are second in the league in scoring defense because we are a good halfcourt defensive team."
Wake Forest is 9-32 all-time in ACC Tournament games and has made the semifinals twice but never the final.
One trait Petersen likes about the Deacons is how relaxed they are before games, which he said leads to better play.
"This group's been pretty good about just playing," he said. "Whether they don't know any better or what, it's just a very relaxed group. They don't mind coming to practice and enjoy being in the gym.
"It's really the loosest locker-room pregame that I've ever seen."
jdell@wsjournal.com
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