First came the euphemisms — words like “growing pains” and “work in progress.”

It wasn’t until the 17th of what would be 20 turnovers in Old Dominion’s debut — a Nov. 1 exhibition against Division III Christopher Newport — that new coach Nikki McCray got right to the point.

“This is God-awful,” she muttered.

Although frustrated, McCray couldn’t have been surprised. The new coach inherited a team that graduated four seniors, including an All-American and Conference USA’s leading rebounder. Four others transferred. Three of the four signed recruits went elsewhere. Just two scholarship players came aboard.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s 11 players out, two in.

Leading returning scorer Ashley Jackson averaged just 5.8 points.and she sat out the CNU exhibition with an injury. Virtually everyone fit to play that night had been a role player — at best – or in the case of sophomore Taylor Edwards, a walk-on.

It was as though Old Dominion had taken McCray to a garage full of spare parts and said, “Build us a race car.”

Minutes from humiliating defeat, though, these newly assembled Lady Monarchs dug in and escaped with a seven-point victory.

As a harbinger of ODU’s prospects against full-fledged Division I foes, this result seemingly couldn’t have been more ominous. But postgame, McCray offered this: “They don’t quit.”

Good thing, too. Because in McCray, Old Dominion had hired a coach that wouldn’t let them if they tried.

No one’s taking bows for the 8-23 record the Lady Monarchs posted in 2017-18, least of all McCray, who came to Norfolk to battle for championships, not be the 12th seed in a 12-team league tournament.

That said, all the elements/excuses were in place for ODU to go winless. Instead, with McCray setting the bar high and her players busting their tails to reach it, the 2017-18 Lady Monarchs gradually transformed themselves from hapless to hopeful to “Holy smokes, these guys are actually beating people!”

The ending wasn’t pretty – Wednesday’s defeat to Rice in the first round of the C-USA tournament capped a season-ending four-game losing streak. But after struggling to figure things out in November and December, the Lady Monarchs rebounded from a 2-16 start and ripped off a stretch of six victories in nine games.

The run included five straight wins over Conference USA foes at the Constant Center, the program’s longest home winning streak against conference foes since Wendy Larry guided ODU to six straight Colonial Athletic Association victories at The Ted in 2010-11.

“Early in the season we’d see flashes when we see it work,” said junior forward Carley Brew. “Even when it wasn’t really showing in games, we’d see spurts of it in practice. It was like, ‘OK, we need to build off that, improve that. And then it finally started happening.’ “

Of course, the 23 losses are the most in program history. Still, it’s been a year in which McCray has re-imagined the program in her own wildly successful image.

McCray insists players routinely attend class dressed as young business professionals, address professors with respect and look folks in the eyes when talking to them.

“Basically, she wants us to understand what success looks like, feels like and sounds like,” point guard MaKayla Timmons said. “That’s all she preaches.”

Few can speak on success with the credibility of McCray, a college All-American, two-time Olympic gold medalist, professional hoops MVP, assistant on 2017 NCAA champion South Carolina and, most importantly, a breast cancer survivor.

Five years ago, upon revealing her cancer diagnosis, a reporter asked McCray what gave her the confidence to beat it.

“Everything I’ve ever done, I’ve always won,” she replied.

Her expectations became evident on court during an October open practice when Jackson bailed out a poorly-run set play by burying a top-of-the-key jumper. The dozens of fans on hand cheered. McCray shook her head.

“I don’t care if the shot went in!” the coach charged. “We need to do it the right way!”

Early in the season, McCray rarely passed on opportunities to reinforce her “play the right way” theme. Players checking out of games – particularly floor general Timmons – routinely received an up-to-20-second de-briefing from the coach on their way to their seat.

Most head coaches are nowhere to be found during pre-game layup drills; McCray often planted herself at the top of the key, arms folded, critiquing technique. Before one game, the whole staff had the team going through drills in groups. We weren’t sure if they were getting ready to play N.C. State or deep in the midst of a full-scale practice.

When Old Dominion was on defense, you’d often see McCray – an all-world defender in her Tennessee days – her arms extended, shuffling along with her players while shouting commands. The Lady Monarchs occasionally got beat baseline; no one ever got past them sideline.

Officials must have loved working ODU games because McCray paid them virtually no mind. Even after questionable calls, McCray’s attention – and occasionally ire – rarely diverted from her own players.

“Kelly!!! Why????”

Of course, none of this would matter if the players weren’t committed to mastering the Book of McCray. But Lady Monarchs insist they bought into their new coach quickly, which really isn’t that surprising given the makeup of Old Dominion’s roster. Maybe stars concern themselves with what they think of a new coach. When you’ve spent much of your career on the bench, your primary concern is what the new coach thinks of you.

“I mean, I was a walk-on,” Edwards said. “So yeah, I was nervous. We knew there was gong to be a change. We just didn’t know which direction it was going to go.”

Fortunately for the players, McCray was less interested in what they had done (or hadn’t done) before than in what they were willing to do now.

For weeks, fans saw only glimpses of success from McCray’s tightly choreographed sets. But it wasn’t as though the Lady Monarchs didn’t have weapons. Victoria Morris – who made the C-USA All-Freshman team – and Kelly Loftus could be dead-eye 3-point shooters. Timmons developed a firm grasp of McCray’s offense. Post Odegua Oigbokie could do some business inside. And Edwards emerged as a dynamic driver, the one Lady Monarch who, against the right opponent, could consistently play above the Xs and Os of a given set.

By January, there were long stretches when the Lady Monarchs had the ball pinging around the court, inside and out, until the ball found the open shooter. It was as though ODU possessions had their own rhythm –  Good shot, better shot, bang!

The Lady Monarchs embraced the system so thoroughly it was almost comical. Defenders sagged so far off Edwards it was tough to tell who was actually assigned to her. But she never took the bait and let it fly from the perimeter. We’re not even sure what an Edwards jump shot looks like.

Meanwhile, Brew is so focused on the tasks of being  a defender/screen-setter/rebound-muncher she stands as the rare Division I starter with more games played (30) than points scored (22).

“Coach told me my best chance was to be the best role player I could be,” said Brew, who appeared in just six games last season. “I took that chance, and now I’m playing.”

The downside in such strict role definition means defenses have less ODU stuff to defend. The Lady Monarchs played at the fourth-slowest pace of the 349 Division I teams — not by design, but because they often had few levers to pull once their primary actions were snuffed out. After one game, we praised McCray for shortening the game by having her players milk the shot clock.

“We weren’t trying to milk the shot clock,” McCray replied.

Ultimately, the lack of options, at both ends of the floor, caught up to Old Dominion. It wasn’t that the players didn’t have talent; Old Dominion just didn’t have enough of it — or for that matter, enough size, enough bodies, enough shooting, enough rebounding…. Hustle, want-to and “playing the right way” can only take a team so far, especially because opponents give scholarships, too.

This shouldn’t be an issue next season. Five players have already signed, two more have committed, and, if McCray has her way, two others will come aboard, too. Based on what we saw this season, the combination of McCray’s exacting standards/coaching chops and something close to a full complement of D-I-caliber ballers set this team up for a brighter future.

So is there reason for optimism after a 23-loss season? You bet. Because McCray no longer needs to talk about changing the culture. At Old Dominion, the culture has changed.