University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Rivalry Supersedes Side Stories
January 12, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2009
By Lauren Brownlow
The odds that Sylvia Hatchell would win her 500th, 600th, 700th and 800th games against NC State are almost infinitesimal. But the Wolfpack knows quite a bit about fighting the odds. With or without Coach Kay Yow on the sideline, they have fought the Tar Heels hard every game. They have fought the Yow, who has continued to battle breast cancer, would want them to fight.
It didn't matter that NC State was 8-7 and Carolina was 15-0. It never does. It didn't matter that Coach Yow has taken a leave of absence to fight her disease. It didn't matter that Hatchell was going for her 800th win. All that mattered was Carolina versus NC State, two teams fighting it out for a win.
NC State fought back from a 34-28 halftime deficit to take a 44-38 lead with 11:11 to go, thwarting the mighty Tar Heel offense by forcing them into bad shots. Her Tar Heels were playing so badly that Hatchell wasn't just questioning whether her 800th win would come that day. "Today, I was really questioning, `Do you know anything about basketball?' Because we were really struggling against their 1-3-1 zone-trap out there," Hatchell said.
Chay Shegog did her best to take over the game in the post, powering baskets up and in against the Wolfpack zone and playing solid defense. But Carolina still found itself down 55-50 with 4:34 to go. "When we get in tough situations like we were in today, (Associate head) Coach (Andrew) Calder said, `Coach, you need to go to your bag of tricks. You need to go in that bag of tricks you've got and get something because we need something."
She gave her assistants a gift and a literal `bag of treats' during her 800th win ceremony afterwards, but she wouldn't have gotten to give out those drawstring Carolina backpacks without dipping into that metaphorical bag of tricks. Cetera DeGraffenreid was the trick she pulled out, and the sophomore point guard treated the Wolfpack to two "and-one" lay-ups on back-to-back trips and a lay-up to give Carolina a two-point lead late.
In overtime, Carolina put on a masterful performance, averaging more than double the points per minute (3.2) than it did in regulation (1.48). After missing all ten three-point attempts in the second half and making just one in the first half, Carolina made the only one it took in overtime and it was off of some much-needed penetration into the teeth of the Wolfpack zone. "I thought we played really well in overtime, both offensively and defensively," Hatchell said. "If we could have played like that the whole time, I would have been real happy. Just the fact that we ended the game in the last five minutes playing like that, I think people saw what kind of team that we really do have."
Hatchell said that NC State and Carolina always play hard against each other but attributed that to she and Yow "over-preparing" for each other and knowing each other's tendencies so well. The two women are very connected; Yow was already established at NC State when she gave Hatchell a recommendation for the North Carolina head job. Yow grew up a Carolina fan; her father worked Carolina football games for a long time. But as ACC fixtures and icons, both have continued to challenge each other over the years and have gotten the best out of each other.
This Carolina team is one that has kept Hatchell fresh as well. It's a challenging bunch full of freshmen and sophomores playing big roles and seniors such as Rashanda McCants and Iman McFarland getting their chances to shine. "I'm having a lot of fun," Hatchell said. "I love the spirit of this team and the youthfulness of this team, how challenging they are. I get excited before every game. As long as I'm having fun and getting excited, and I love watching these kids get better and improve, and the fans, the excitement of the game - I'm enjoying coaching now probably as much as I ever have."
If Carolina is lucky, it will get another 200 wins out of Hatchell. Considering she started so early and has been so successful in recent years - 146-10 since the 2004-05 season, to be exact - it certainly seems like a possibility.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
