University of North Carolina Athletics
Melvin: Finding The Fire
March 24, 2014 | Women's Basketball
By Michael Melvin
Midway through the second half of their first round NCAA game, the No. 4 seeded Tar Heels were staring down an 18-point deficit to 13th-seeded UT-Martin and a potential end to their season. That's when the momentum began to swing. Dialing up full court pressure, crashing the boards, and pushing the pace helped Carolina complete a 28-8 run in the closing 10:51 to escape an upset on their home court. The two-point, nerve-racking victory over the Skyhawks went down to the final ticks of the clock after a drive and kick that ended when a Karisma Tyson three-point effort hit the side of the backboard, securing Carolina a 60-58 win and a spot in the NCAA second round.
“Everyone collectively decided that we didn't want our season to end, especially not like that on our home court,” said National Freshman of the Year Diamond DeShields.
Carolina entered the game as the bigger and more athletic team, but it took them nearly 30 minutes to realize it. UT-Martin threw a different defensive look for the Tar Heels than they had prepared for, running a triangle-and-two look that gave DeShields and the Tar Heel offense all kinds of fits. The team shot a dismal 1-10 from the three-point line in the first half, including an a 0-4 performance by DeShields. Rather than running their signature full court press, the Skyhawks played patient with the ball and tried to make the higher-seeded team think more on offense. “There were a couple of shots that may have been tough, but we had some open players who didn't knock the shots down,” said Tar Heel coach Andrew Calder. “They got hesitant with their shots and we rushed some around the basket.”
With the team huddled up on the sideline at the 9 minute mark, Calder made an executive coaching decision that sparked a fire in the lackadaisical Tar Heels. Coming out of the timeout, Carolina began running its full court press to force turnovers, speed up the game, and do anything to boost their intensity. “We went into the full court press, and we didn't get a lot of turnovers off of it, but it did disrupt the game and didn't allow them as much time to break us down on the other end once they got across the court,” said Calder.
Following an offensive rebound just a few seconds after the timeout, Brittany Rountree was fouled with two free throws coming. Rountree hit the first, and as the second one rattled in, a loose arm and elbow from UT-Martin's Tiara Caldwell caught DeShields across the neck for what was called a flagrant foul. At that moment, the fire was lit in the higher seeded Tar Heels.“I wasn't ready to stop playing and when the flagrant got called, it lit a match under everyone,” said DeShields, “We decided we were going to win the game.”
Following the four consecutive made free throws, Carolina forced five turnovers and grabbed three offensive rebounds over the next 3:56 to cut the game to a three-point 47-50 UT Martin lead. But as good as the stats may appear, it was the hustle plays not on the stat sheet that really made the difference. Every loose ball and 50/50 play went Carolina's way, and the effort on rebounding made the ultimate difference.
“Second chance points are what we do, so rebounding really helped us” said Xylina McDaniel. “Coach told us how many rebounds we had on missed shots, and he told us that is what we had to do to change the game around.”
After being outrebounded 15-17 in the first half, McDaniel and her teammates put their focus in the second half on good positioning, and they finished with a +13 second half rebound margin, including +12 on the offensive end. “We had taken too many outside shots in our few last games,” said Calder, “We got on Stephanie and Xylina about posting up hard inside and wanting the basketball.”
Nearly half of the points in the 18-point comeback were a result of second-chance points from rebounds. One of the biggest plays of the game came off of a McDaniel offensive rebound while sitting on the floor. She gathered the loose rebound while seated on the ground, but instead of trying to kick the ball out, she put the shot back up from the floor and scored in ESPN Top 10 fashion. “To be honest, I wasn't thinking, and I went back and asked myself why I would even do that,” said McDaniel. “I was so wide open and so close to the basket that I took the shot. It was one of those things that just happened.”
The biggest take-away from the survival of Sunday was that it is going to take all 40 minutes of effort and smart basketball to make a run deeper into the tournament. Starting off slow has been an unwanted trend for the Tar Heels as of late, and Sunday's scare was almost too much to overcome. “We told them to fight and play for each other and we continued to battle,” said Calder, “Maybe I didn't manage this stretch in the last two weeks the way I should have, but we finally got going in the second half and we hope to carry that over to Tuesday night.”
The tenacity that Carolina showed in the final ten minutes of the ball game where they forced turnovers, rebounded well, and most importantly got to the free throw line is something they will desperately need to bring in their second round game against Michigan State to avoid another double-digit comeback. Tuesday's match-up against the Spartans will be another season-elimination situation, and the Carolina must play that way from the opening tip to avoid an early exit.
