University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: No Fear
February 1, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2009
By Lauren Brownlow
Sylvia Hatchell has been doing all she can to get this team to improve, including brutal practices at six in the morning. So a sloppy start was not something she was willing to tolerate.
Italee Lucas hit a three-pointer in the first seven seconds, but the Carolina starters followed that up by allowing Central to get an offensive rebound and then turning the ball over twice. So with 19:05 left, Hatchell pulled out her five starters.
"In the first 30 seconds, they made like three mistakes. It was mistakes where they knew what to do and they just didn't do it," Hatchell said. "I wasn't putting up with that, so I pulled them out, put the other ones in there and they took off. So much of it is just a mentality and a mindset that you have."
It's a mindset and a mentality that has been there at times and left almost just as quickly. Either way, the Carolina bench showed that it has that kind of mentality and mindset.
Heather Claytor, She'la White, Trinity Bursey, Christina Dewitt and Chay Shegog have all showed that mindset at times this season, as have Martina Wood, Laura Barry, Nicole Powell and Laura Broomfield. But it was the first five that came into the game, sparking an 11-0 run in a little over three minutes.
DeWitt is still adjusting to being back to the team but Carolina will need her for post depth. She worked hard on both ends of the court, notching a team-high four blocks. Shegog fought her way back after a bad first half (1-of-4 shooting), shooting 2-of-3 in the second.
But it's the two guards - one freshman, one senior - that have provided a spark to this team in different ways this season. Hatchell clearly loves She'la White, her speedy freshman point guard with no fear. White can shoot it from anywhere (and will), defend like crazy and play with constant energy. White even got the starting nod against Maryland.
Senior Heather Claytor can drain three-pointers with the best of them (2-of-4 in this game) but she is one of Carolina's hardest-working players on the court. With the Tar Heels up 40-7 and 8:32 left in the first half, Claytor went sprawling out on the Smith Center court to try to get a loose ball. The jumpball went to Central, but the crowd - and her entire team - stood and applauded.
"That's a mentality that you have to have," Hatchell said. "You don't look at the score. You've got to give it up for the team and diving on the floor, that will be big. I can guarantee you that will be shown and be very big in our film work tomorrow. The first thing I did was look down and make sure everybody on that bench was standing up cheering for her. That's what you've got to do if you're going to win big games."
The rest of the Carolina bench, all of which played at least ten minutes, has worked hard to make their teammates better. Barry and Powell combined for five assists and made some terrific passes. Wood showed her offensive progress by scoring eight points in 15 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting. Broomfield had seven boards (four offensive) in 15 minutes and got her hands on at least ten missed shots. Bursey added eight points, three assists and a block in 16 minutes.
"I think our bench is amazing," Rashanda McCants said. "The players that you saw tonight don't really get that much playing time but as you saw, when they came in, they were productive. There's a lot of things that happen in practice where they help us get better. They're even working harder now to kind of challenge us. You have other players like Laura Barry coming in and dishing out assists. It's the small things that make a big difference."
Carolina's starters, including McCants, have learned from that. McCants has struggled some in ACC play but managed 14 points in 15 minutes, five of which came in her first minute back after she was taken out by Hatchell.
It's clear she wants to carry this team, but her effort has sometimes backfired as she finds herself out of position on a rebound and commits a silly foul, getting herself in foul trouble early and getting down on herself.
"The main thing I really work on and try to focus on in games now is rebounding. So if I'm rebounding, I'm feeling good. If I'm not, then I'm probably going to be low," McCants said. "I want to be better at rebounding so I'm kind of hard on myself. Whenever I am rebounding, it's easy points and it's easy transition baskets for the guards. It helps the flow of the game."
But if McCants and the rest of the Tar Heels could play the game like Italee Lucas, they would likely never lose. Hatchell said McCants needs to relax and just play; Lucas wrote the book on that. In a little less than three minutes, she hit four three-pointers in a row. She has hit 9-of-14 in the last two games after making 7-of-32 in the previous six. "Before these last two games, I had a little rough spot. I just continued to shoot on my own time and it's paying off," Lucas said.
She's probably the most improved Tar Heel. Her scoring average is up nearly ten points (4.9 to 13.1) and after hitting 21-of-77 three's in 36 games last year, she has hit 40-of-103 in 22 games this year already.
Her hard work has contributed to her turnaround, but she has that no-fear mentality Hatchell craves in her team. "That's the way our teams have always been," Hatchell said. "I think we've gotten away from that some in the last month or so, just not being aggressive and attacking. If you harp too much on turnovers, then you stop being aggressive. So I'd rather put up with a few more turnovers and be more aggressive."
