University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Fun, Fanfare For Hatchell's 500th
February 8, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
Her team had just beaten Duke resoundingly in Cameron Indoor Stadium, 93-76, marking Sylvia Hatchell's 499th victory at Carolina, her 771st victory overall and her first victory over Duke since February 25, 2006. Oh, and it was Carolina's second win over a ranked opponent in the last three games.
It called for a celebration. So when the Carolina bus stopped on Franklin Street to throw a few rolls of toilet paper around for a private celebration of their own. After firing toilet paper into a few campus trees and garnering a littering warning, the squad returned to Carmichael Auditorium.
Thursday, the Tar Heels were back at their home arena. Hatchell's Tar Heels beat Clemson 79-47, earning the head coach's 500th victory. Light blue hats with "500" written on the front were passed out to her staff and her team. Then, a fan handed a roll of toilet paper to Heather Claytor, who passed it off to Hatchell. She laughed and threw it into the student section. Toilet paper was seen on trees outside of Carmichael Auditorium.
The team can laugh about it now, partially because Hatchell broke the tension Monday night by coming back onto the bus and putting her hands behind her back as if she had been arrested. But it's also because this team seems to be completely balanced between a focused, confident group and one that knows how to have a lot of fun.
Hatchell's teams have always had fun. Perhaps analysts would say that her teams are too loose and careless with the basketball. Hatchell has always scoffed at such notions that basketball should be slow. She has always wanted to be a part of what makes women's basketball exciting for a broader audience. Her teams at Francis Marion won 272 games in 11 years and often led the country in scoring. She has valued pushing tempo, scoring points and playing fast, even if that means the occasional turnover.
But she also knows the value of hard work and perseverance. Her team has been running extra shooting drills over the last few weeks, showing the benefit of that work by shooting by hitting 52.9% of its shots from the field and 48.0% of its three-pointers in the last two games. Cetera DeGraffenreid, a product of what Hatchell's patience with the occasional turnover when allowed to develop, asked her coach not to share with the media how the team had improved their shooting. "It's a secret," she said with a smile.
DeGraffenreid has clearly been working as hard as everyone else on her shooting. She shot 43.2% from the floor and 18.2% from the three-point line, averaging 4.6 free-throw attempts per game in her first 21 games as a Tar Heel. In her last two games, she has shot 57.9% from the field, 80% from the three-point line (4-of-5) and has averaged 7.0 free-throw attempts per game. She had only her second zero-turnover game of the season and tied her career high with seven assists.
But when asked if she was "in the zone", she raised a thin eyebrow at the notion. "I don't know," she said. "I just came out there and played. It was another game. After Duke, that was exciting and I just wanted to get back on the court again. I just came out here and my teammates, they helped as well, catching the ball and everything. So I just hit the open teammate and made sure not to throw it away."
Even if she glosses over it, she clearly understands that everything starts with her on both ends of the court. As she has learned to harness her speed - when to drive, when to dish, when to put up some kind of impossible scoop lay-up - she is more under control and consequently, so is this team. When Larkins pulls down a rebound and shoots an overhead pass to DeGraffenreid, no one in the country can catch her on the fast break. As she gains her confidence, so does this team.
"That's thanks to `T' (DeGraffenreid) because that's where everything starts - with the point guard. She has the ball and she's becoming more confident in herself and that's just trickling down to everybody else," Larkins said.
Hatchell also knows that the most important part of basketball is having fun. No matter how seriously the fans and spectators of the sport have started to take it, basketball is still a game.
And no one has been having more fun lately than Hatchell and her Tar Heels.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
