University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Second Chances
March 4, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2011
By Lauren Brownlow
Redshirt sophomore Candace Wood has one, maybe two years left of collegiate basketball in her. But the fact that she's playing at all says a lot about her. Her head coach Sylvia Hatchell wasn't too sure that she'd ever play again after multiple knee injuries derailed her first two seasons - and most of her third - at Carolina.
Against Clemson, Wood logged nine minutes - her most since November 19th - and scored three points on 1-of-2 shooting from three. She had two straight lay-up tries blocked, showing why she hasn't played quite as much, but she is just happy to be playing. "I felt really good, actually. Every game, I'm always going to be ready. So it just felt good to be out there with my teammates," Wood said.
Clemson played a zone quite a bit against the Tar Heels, and just as it did at Clemson less than a month ago, it gave Carolina some problems. Carolina hasn't knocked down three's with any consistency this year. But Wood's sweet shot, reminiscent of her father Al's pretty jumper, seems to be going to waste on the bench. So Hatchell brought her in, and she knocked down a three. She can't play as much against man-to-man defense because of her knee, but she is deadly against zone.
It's late in the year for her to become a consistent rotation player for the Tar Heels, but she is showing the potential to make a miraculous comeback. "This summer, I'm going to work really hard on my knee, go get it looked at and keep rehabbing it," Wood said. "I know next year is going to be really big. It's supposed to be my (academic) senior year. I might take that extra year, but I'm really looking forward to next year because I know this summer, I'm going to work really hard and hope to come back even stronger."
This team knows it has new life as well. Jessica Breland talked all summer and fall about how she had taken basketball for granted and never would again. The cancer survivor won the Bob Bradley Spirit and Courage Award from the ACC media and was honored before the game. It was a reminder of how much she has overcome. But she hasn't had the season she has wanted to have so far, individually or as a team.
This was supposed to be a banner year. Three experienced seniors were back - all three All-ACC candidates - led by Breland, who became a leader, a senior point guard in Cetera DeGraffenreid and a senior scorer in Italee Lucas. Instead, only Italee Lucas made any of the three All-ACC units - second team - and both Breland and DeGraffenreid had up-and-down seasons. Carolina entered the ACC Tournament on a four-game losing streak and stuck playing as the six-seed on Thursday night.
But all that is in the past. Hatchell talked after the Duke game about her team starting a new season, and it felt that way against Clemson. DeGraffenreid, who has struggled with turnovers, had eight assists to just one turnover and six steals. Breland, who had knee surgery a little over a month ago, was 0-for-6 at Duke and had 11 against Clemson on 5-of-12 shooting in her first non-Senior Day start since February 13th.
"I thought (Breland) played well," Hatchell said. "She has two ACC Championships. She knows that she had ups and downs with a lot of the games that we had. But I think she is really just focused and wanting to have a good Tournament."
Both players said they were fueled by the new start. DeGraffenreid and Lucas came in as ACC Champions and would like to leave that way, which influenced their outlook for this game. Lucas has been trying to carry the offensive load, often to the detriment of her own percentages, but with her fellow seniors helping, she had a team-high 14 points on a very efficient 6-of-12 shooting performance. "We keep telling ourselves three more, one down. Just keep focused for the rest of the remaining three games of the season," Lucas said.
And so like Candace Wood now, like Breland coming into this season, this entire team has a second chance to move past the disappointing moments. They could start by reprising what was perhaps their second-best win of the year, beating FSU in Tallahassee.
Pretty soon, there will be no second chances. But for right now, the Tar Heels still have a chance to do something special.
Lauren Brownlow is the executive editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
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