Jenny DeGraaf delivered on her preseason promise of becoming a leader for her team.

The transfer from Penn. State spent most of Friday’s 64-56 win over Norfolk State barking out signals and rallying her teammates when things got tough. She collected 15 points and 15 rebounds in what was her first collegiate game in nearly two years.

“That’s always been part of my personality — I’ve always considered myself to be a leader,” DeGraaf said. “I wanted to continue to do that here and I felt like my team needed that… I was glad to be able to come out with a lot of energy and participate in that role.”

The Seahawks got their win with a sound performance on both sides of the ball — for the first 10 minutes, anyway.

UNC Wilmington took 28-12 lead into the second quarter behind a strong showing from DeGraaf before running into trouble against Norfolk State’s zone defense. The Spartans adjusted, and while they weren’t able to match UNCW’s scoring ability, they were able to keep within striking distance of what proved to eventually be an insurmountable lead.

The Seahawks shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first quarter on 8-14 shooting. They shot 16-49 the rest of the way to bring their percentage down to 38.3 percent for the game.

Coach Adell Harris said she didn’t know if her team ever made the proper adjustments to fully overcome the trouble provided by Norfolk State.

“What we always want to do is try and get offense from our defense,” she said. “If we do that, [Norfolk’s] zone doesn’t matter. We also want to get offensive rebounds and push the ball before the zone ever gets set.” 

UNCW was able to do just that in small spurts throughout the night — the Seahawks forced six steals and recorded 14 offensive rebounds.

Friday’s win was the fourth for the Seahawks in as many attempts against the Spartans. Their 1-0 start marks the second straight year in which UNCW has won its opening game.

There were many new faces wearing teal. One of Harris’s biggest talking points prior to Friday was the expansive roster turnover into one that barely resembles that of last year.

“That’s going to be exciting in the month of November, to figure out what combinations of people fit best,” she said.

UNCW will take to the road next week and visit East Carolina on Wednesday. The Seahawks won’t return to Trask Coliseum until Nov. 26 when they host Providence in the UNCW Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic.