Carmichael Comments: Syracuse Roundup

CARMICHAEL COMMENTS — Inside Carolina Women's Basketball: Edition 13
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

Sometimes in sports you just need to tip your figurative hat to the opposition. By no means am I justifying Sunday's loss by the Carolina Women's Basketball team on the road at Syracuse, but the performance put forth by Orange point guard Tiana Mangakahia was one for the ages. In helping Syracuse to a 90-77 win, the junior from Australia posted her first career triple-double by pouring in 34 points while hauling in 10 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists.

In the first half, Mangakahia and the Orange were lethal from behind the arc, knocking down 12 of their 21 three-point shots. The Aussie was a perfect 4-for-4 from distance in the opening 20 minutes, by the way. Then, something weird happened. Carolina, by improving focus and intensity, held Syracuse without a three for the remainder of the game. That's right — an 0-fer from distance in the second half. Mangakahia still found the bucket, though, dropping in 16 points on drives, pull-ups and foul shots after the break.

Overall, it was one of the most impressive individual performances I've seen in a long time, and Carolina assistant Sylvia Crawley agreed by confirming the notion that whatever the Tar Heels tried in stopping Mangakahia, it was met with an adjustment.

"She's just a crafty player," Crawley said. "We guarded her a couple different ways on ball screens and we may have gotten her one time, but the second time we did it, she'd picked up on it and made an adjustment."

For any neutral observer, Mangakahia's day was the biggest takeaway from the contest in the Carrier Dome. But here's a few other nuggets from a Tar Heel perspective…

Self-Critique

In a similar manner to the Louisville game back on Jan. 3, the Heels found themselves in a deep hole against a ranked ACC foe late in the first half. When the team headed into the halftime locker room, the Carolina coaching staff sought to make the players accountable for their "controllables."

"We talked about energy, effort, and execution," Crawley said. "We gave an assignment to our players at halftime to rate themselves from 1-5, and they gave themselves a 2.5 in each category."

While we don't know what the rating for the second half might be, it would likely be higher than a 2.5. After all, Carolina "won" the second half by six points, trimming a 19-point halftime deficit to 13 to set the final score. It's that second half effort that leaves the staff with a "what could have been" mentality.

"Had we strung two halves together this would have been a different score," Crawley said. "I don't know if we would have won but it would have been closer."

Effort and Energy

So, if effort and energy are the biggest areas of potential improvement, how do they get better? As the self-critique exercise alluded to, the accountability falls on the shoulders of the players.

"That comes from within," Crawley explained. "Execution, we'll work on that, but (effort and energy) come from within. When you're a player, you've got to do whatever it takes to get yourself up and get your teammates up."

Perhaps winning and confidence could flip that mentality? It's certainly a chicken-or-egg situation, because you generally need energy to win and create confidence, and vice versa.

Jones Provides a Spark

Jocelyn Jones made the start in a pair of games back in December when Paris Kea was dealing with a nagging foot injury, but had returned to her sixth-player role since the start of ACC play. On Sunday, though, Jones was the catalyst of a third-quarter run that trimmed what was a 23-point Carolina deficit down to just seven at one juncture. Jones started the second half for Carolina in place of Shayla Bennett, and while Jones scored just two points, she pulled in six rebounds and handed out two assists. All of those stats came after halftime.

"I thought Jocelyn really sparked us," Crawley said. "(She) gave us some good play, she was crashing the boards hard."

At one point, Jones fought so hard for a loose ball that she went tumbling into the courtside seats along the far sideline. That's the kind of energy and effort that pays off in the long run, and the kind of play the Tar Heels are looking for.

Up Next

Carolina will play its second ACC home game on Thursday night as the Tar Heels welcome longtime foe Wake Forest to Carmichael Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff. This game will be a pivotal one for the Tar Heels, who enter 0-3 in league play, just like Wake Forest. A Carolina win, and the Heels have much-needed confidence and a chance to prove that the schedule might have been the biggest factor in an 0-3 start. A setback, and it will be an uphill climb. Be sure to join us on the Tar Heel Sports Network via 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL in the Triangle, or worldwide via GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, or TuneIn (just search "Tar Heel Sports Network").

Following the Wake Forest game, it's another road trip — this one to Miami for a 2:30 p.m. Sunday tip against the Hurricanes. That game, like the Wake Forest game, can be heard on all of our THSN outlets.

In the meantime, make plans to join us Wednesday night at 8 p.m. inside the Carolina Club's O'Herron Grill on campus for the second edition of Sylvia Hatchell Live! We'll talk all things Carolina Women's Basketball with the Hall of Fame Head Coach of the Tar Heels. If you can't make it out to the Carolina Club, hear the show on all of our THSN outlets (WCHL, GoHeels.com and app, and TuneIn).

That's all for now! Go Heels!

-Matt