Carmichael Comments: UNCW Roundup

CARMICHAEL COMMENTS: Inside Carolina Women's Basketball — Edition 7

By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

Wednesday marked the end of classes on campus in Chapel Hill (a day known as "LDOC" by the student body), and with the conclusion of the semester, every student's favorite week begins: Finals Week.

Because of finals week, Carolina Women's Basketball won't play between Sunday's tilt against UNCG and a Dec. 18 game with Rice in Myrtle Beach. But until then, the games continue, and the first test of the week for the Tar Heels took place Wednesday afternoon against in-state foe UNCW. Instead of in a Blue Book (remember those?), this exam unfolded in the shadows of blue seats inside of Carmichael Arena.

Good news — Carolina passed the test. Without the benefit of a curve. The opposite, in fact. With Paris Kea and Destinee Walker watching in street clothes, a slightly depleted Carolina rotation steamrolled the Seahawks, 82-55.

"We weren't sure what team we were going to get tonight because they're studying for finals," Carolina assistant coach Sylvia Crawley explained after Wednesday's game. "You're just cramming a bunch of information into your head so our practices were just okay."

The obvious headline from Wednesday was Stephanie Watts' monster performance. The redshirt junior from Wesley Chapel, who continues the process of recovering from the knee injury that kept her out of the entire 2017-18 season, had a day to remember by scoring 35 points on 12 made field goals, nine of which came from three. There was certainly a thought by many (me included) that when Watts headed to halftime with 26 points and six made threes that she would challenge her career high of 39 points, the Carolina record of 42 points, and her career and ACC record of 10 made threes. While Watts fell short of those marks, she still sparked a much-needed bounce back for Carolina after a three-game losing skid.

Here's three other factors in the victory that you may not have noticed:

A Group Project
Keeping with the theme of Finals Week, it has become apparent over recent games that the extremely talented Tar Heels have had some trouble gelling to work as one cohesive unit. You could even say that it's a classic case of the group project problem: one person takes too much control, but another has "good" ideas too, and all that really needs to happen is everyone working together. Fresh off of her 17^th career double-double, sophomore Janelle Bailey didn't mince words on the concept after Sunday's upset loss to Maine.

"If you don't have chemistry, then you won't go far," Bailey was quoted as saying in the Daily Tar Heel. "If you don't have heart, then you won't go far, and we have to take pride in everything we do."

Coach Crawley and the Tar Heels felt that a corner was turned on Wednesday.

"In house, chemistry-wise, we have some dominant personalities," Crawley said Wednesday, a sentiment that has been shared throughout the season. "I'm telling you — this is worldwide in women's basketball — to get players to communicate is very difficult. We had to say 'Listen. If somebody says something to you, just say 'I understand.'' That's been our biggest struggle. It's not talent, it's not size. This week, we had a breakthrough and you saw that on the court today."

Koenen's Contributions
Taylor Koenen has developed a reputation as a versatile player for the Tar Heels, but the Minnesota junior might have reached a new level of adaptability on Wednesday against the Seahawks. Statistically, Koenen notched her first double-double of the season by scoring 11 points and hauling in 12 rebounds (matching Bailey for a team high). Koenen also handed out three assists and blocked two shots — her first multi-block game of the season, and her fourth game of the year in which she assisted on three or more made baskets.

The three assists are a byproduct of the 6'2 player's temporary position: point guard. Throughout the season, Carolina has utilized Shayla Bennett as the team's primary ball handler, but when she needs a break, Paris Kea brings the rock up the floor. That's all well and good until Kea can't play and Bennett still needs a break. Enter Koenen, who made the unconventional switch from running the no. 4 spot on the floor to the no. 1. Positionless basketball, right?

"Taylor's one of those really versatile players," Crawley said after Wednesday's game. "She works really hard at her shooting, her fundamental skills. We do a grading sheet after each game — the staff watches film four times to collect the data. Taylor normally grades out very high. She doesn't win it, but she's always second or third because she gives us so much production."

That factor, according to Crawley, is how Koenen has earned and kept her starting job.

"Even if you have an off shooting night, if you have a player like a Taylor Koenen who can do so many things, you can't afford to take her out," Crawley said. "She does so many things well. She remembers the play, she's a good team defensive player. I was really happy with her performance."

Unselfish Watts
Out of all of Stephanie Watts' highlight-reel plays on Wednesday, none stood out to me quite like a sequence that occurred early in the fourth quarter. Watts was sitting on nine made threes, one shy of that career high she set in 2016 against Charleston Southern. Streaking into the frontcourt in transition, Watts had a fairly open look at a three from the top of the arc. She could have easily shot it and taken a chance at matching her ACC record. However, Leah Church, the beneficiary of the vacant starting spot available thanks to Kea's injury, had an even more open look. Unselfishly, Watts swung the ball left to Church, who uncorked the three. Sure enough, Watts fell shy of the personal achievement, but showed a flash of that team chemistry that Carolina has been searching for.

Up Next
Carolina will play one last game before the exam break on Sunday afternoon against UNCG. The Tar Heels and Spartans will tip it at 2 p.m. from Carmichael. Carolina leads the all-time series 10-0 over the foes from the Triad, though the teams have not played since the 2011-12 season. We'll have the full compliment of ways to listen on the Tar Heel Sports Network — 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL in the Triangle, GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and the TuneIn app (search "Tar Heel Sports Network"). Talk to you then!

Go Heels!