Carmichael Comments: Thanksgiving Roundup

CARMICHAEL COMMENTS: INSIDE CAROLINA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Edition 5

By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

Thanksgiving is all about sharing food, family, and fun. But as enjoyable as the fourth Thursday in November is for Tar Heels and all Americans alike, there's a less-than-enjoyable preparation process that leads to the big celebration. It could be buying and cooking the food, or it could be the traffic jam you sit through on the way to Grandma's house. For the Tar Heel women's basketball team, a celebratory Thursday was the result of a challenging and trying Wednesday.

The seed that bloomed into an 83-49 Thanksgiving beatdown of UCLA (radio highlights here) in the opening game of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands was sown on Wednesday at practice.

To put it simply, it was a spirited practice. Coach Sylvia Hatchell was determined to avoid the kind of swoon that has befallen Tar Heel teams of recent years, and after the Heels' 86-74 setback at Colorado on Sunday, the veteran leader of the Carolina program perhaps sensed that her team needed a pick-me-up.

"Our practice yesterday was a little bit different," Carolina assistant Sylvia Crawley said. "Coach Hatchell just jumped on them. At first I was thinking 'wow, why is she doing so much screaming?'"

But the aggression had a purpose.

"She came to the conclusion that we weren't mentally tough enough," Crawley said. "So her strategy was 'I'm going to get all over them and they've got to overcome me riding them all day in practice.'"

Coach Hatchell's plan worked. Instead of withering away, Carolina turned in its most complete performance against a non-conference Power Five team since 2013, when the Tar Heels beat Illinois 87-51.

"I thought (the) mentality carried into the game," Crawley said. "So kudos to Coach Hatchell. When you've been coaching for 33 years, you've got every strategy up your sleeve. We followed her lead and I thought that was the difference in us winning the game today."

Just how much of a 180 was Thursday's game compared to Sunday's?

SHOOTING

The Heels shot just 37.5% from the field (27-72) on Sunday, going 5-26 (19.2%) from long range. Carolina upped those numbers to 46.6% (27-58) from the field, and still hit only five threes, but on 19 attempts. All five Carolina starters reached double figure scoring, with each starter connecting on at least three shots, and Janelle Bailey converting seven of nine shot attempts.

Carolina shot higher than 46.6% in just 11 of its 31 games last season, and just four of those 11 games came against Power Five foes. If the Heels can stay that effective offensively, especially against tough competition like UCLA, the team's full potential could be on display.

DEFENSE

Remember when Carolina went zone against VCU and held the Rams to just four points in the third quarter on Nov. 14? Well, just like an extended family reunion, Carolina and the zone re-acquainted themselves on Thanksgiving.

"They have a really good shooter in (Kennedy Burke)," Crawley said. "We were screaming her name to make sure they knew where she was." While Burke scored 21 points, the rest of the Bruins combined for just 28.

"Once we started being aware of where she was on the floor, we were able to slow them down," Crawley said.

UCLA shot just 26.2% (16-for-61) from the field on Thursday, and a mere 15.8% (3-for-19) from three. That's a remarkable improvement for Carolina, who let Colorado go 11-for-22 (50%) from three on Sunday.

Not Done in the Virgin Islands…

As fun as the trip has been so far (and make sure you check out Twitter and Instagram — @uncwbb — for behind-the-scenes coverage), this is just one win for Carolina. Up next on Friday afternoon is a rematch with South Florida. Carolina fans may remember the 2016 Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas, where the Bulls throttled the Tar Heels, 83-55. Four players expected to play for Carolina on Friday — Paris Kea, Taylor Koenen, Destinee Walker, and Stephanie Watts — played in that game, so you can imagine revenge will be on their minds. The Bulls fell Thursday to Kentucky, 85-63, their second game playing without star guard Kitija Laksa, an All-American candidate who tore her ACL last Thursday against Bethune-Cookman.

Tip is set for 3 p.m. ET, and you can catch our call on GoHeels.com or the GoHeels app. With a win, Carolina will play for a Paradise Jam title Saturday against Kentucky. Win or lose, that game is set for 1 p.m. ET, also on GoHeels.com or the GoHeels app.

Stay tuned next week for a full recap of the Paradise Jam, on and off the court!