There was a prevailing attitude that gripped the atmosphere of The University of North Carolina Wilmington Women’s Basketball Media Day. The attitude focused on taking advantage of the team’s strengths and minimizing the effects of its weaknesses.

“We’re going to focus on what we can do, not what we can’t do,” said Adell Harris, head coach of the women’s basketball team. “We’re only interested in what can be done.”

Harris returns this year for her fourth season at the helm of a dramatically improving program that saw a nine-game turnaround a year ago. During her opening statement, she set a variety of goals for the upcoming year.

“We want to be one of the few teams [in program history] to finish with a winning record,” said Harris. “We want to build a championship program and we’ve taken dramatic steps to reach that goal.”

The goal of finishing with a winning record is well within reach for this team. A 14-16 record a year ago nearly put them there. With a majority of the team’s roster having at least three years experience, Harris said it was time to master what they had been doing in previous seasons.

“Some of these kids have seen what the opponent is going to do quite a few times now, so they should be able to master what their assignments are,” said Harris. “Offensively and defensively for us, we should master what we do. We’ve been doing some of the same things for two years now… we have to play really, really hard but really, really smart and try to have fun along the way.”

Junior center Ryan Flowers, will provide a solid foundation for the team. Flowers however, will not contribute as a player on the court, but as a coach due to a lower back injury that will sideline her for the whole year.

Harris has dubbed her as “Coach Flowers.” She is described as a high IQ player who will contribute as another voice on the sidelines. She has already taken some of her teammates to the side during practices to help them with their footwork and assist when she is needed.

“My mindset is to be able to contribute as much as I can off the court because I’m no longer on the court,” said Flowers. “We know things won’t be great the entire year, but as long as they know that I have their backs and that I’m on their side I think everything will be alright. This year we have the same goals we’ve always had, and that’s to win the CAA and compete in postseason play.”

Senior guard Shatia Cole, the lone senior on the team, will act as the team’s biggest leader on the court. As a junior she led the team with a .413 field goal percentage and had three performances that netted her at least 20 points. She will act as a facilitator moving forward, doing a little of everything.

“I just do whatever Coach Harris needs me to do,” said Cole. “Whether that’s scoring, passing the ball, playing more aggressive, or being a great defender. It’s whatever she needs.”

In a few different one-word summaries of the team, descriptions included “awesome,” “tough,” and “gladiators”. Coach Harris described the teams as “family”.

“We matter to each other beyond the court,” said Harris. “We believe in it. That’s who we are.”