UNCW Lady Seahawks start 2023-24 hoop season with new head coach

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Wednesday’s Media Day for the UNCW women’s basketball team marked the start of a new era in the program, with Head Coach Nicole Woods taking over the reins. Woods took the job in April, coming to UNCW from Charlotte, and has filled out her staff that is charged with leading a young squad with just three returning seniors.

“We’re going to have fun playing the game we all love, and I just ask that people come out to support them,” the first-time head coach said. “They deserve it, it’s been a rough couple of years for them and they have put the work in and they deserve to play in front of a stand full of people to be able to cheer them on.”

UNCW finished 5-25 last year and has won a total of eight games in the past two seasons. The team will start with just eleven players on the roster, with returning seniors Lexi Jackson (7.1 points per game in 2022-23) and Evan Miller (7.0 ppg). Woods’ first signee was Mary Ferrito, a transfer from Wisconsin. The head coach says her team is working to bring the program back to contending for championships in the Coastal Athletic Association and to prove the doubters wrong.

“You’ll see us post things hashtag rise above,” Woods said about her players. “They chose that because they want to be above what everybody says we have been and will continue to be, and they want to show them, ‘Hey we’re hungry, we’re working hard. Come out and see, you’ll be able to see a difference in us!’.”

The Lady Seahawks host Mount Olive for an exhibition game on Oct. 30th, and then officially open the season on Nov. 7 against Barton College at home.

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