Carmichael Comments: Wake/Miami Roundup

CARMICHAEL COMMENTS — Inside Carolina Women's Basketball: Edition 14
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

A college basketball game is 40 minutes long, with each portion of the game, in theory, bearing equal weight on the contest's outcome. It's not like points are doubled at one juncture of the game or another.

In the case of both of Carolina's games last week, though, the result was heavily shaped by the start of the game. On Thursday, it was the highest of highs from the start for the Tar Heels in an eventual rout of Wake Forest. By Sunday, the lowest of lows, when Miami brought hurricane-like energy indicative of their nickname and buried Carolina in the game's opening 10 minutes.

Call it a tale of two starts.

Thursday night in Carmichael, Carolina took the floor in desperate need of a momentum-swinging win against a depleted Wake Forest team that still features some individual threats. With starting quickly a major focus leading up to the game, the Tar Heels answered the bell by scoring the game's first six points and forcing Wake Forest to call a timeout less than two minutes into the game. Things only snowballed from there, as Carolina's energy and effort created 15 turnovers in the first half, which led directly to 22 points. Meanwhile, the Heels shot 54% en route to a 56-18 halftime lead.

"I loved the first half and I wish halftime had never happened," Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell said after the game Thursday. "The first half we were clicking. Defense, offense, rebounding, everything."

Hatchell recognizes that though the shooting numbers were strong in that half, the defense was the true catalyst.

"We were getting turnovers," she said. "They had 15 at halftime, but only ended up with 19. We were able to score off of some turnovers and get put backs and things like that. We were just clicking. Everything we did in the first half was working."

Wake Forest was able to make a run in the second half, but Carolina's cushion kept things comfortable in an 84-61 win. If the Deacs had built a 15-point halftime lead and Carolina dominated the second half to win by 23, the storylines of the game would be a lot different. Example No. 1 of the importance of the start.

Looking for a second win in a row, Carolina headed south to Miami on Sunday, and received a taste of its own medicine. After Stephanie Watts hit a three to make the score 6-5 Miami with 7:39 to go in the first quarter, the Hurricanes answered with a 21-0 run. Next thing you knew, Carolina was down 27-5. Miami would take a 20-point lead into the halftime locker room, having held Carolina to just 27% shooting overall and 21% from three-point land. The Hurricanes also won the rebounding battle by 12 in the opening half.

"They just dominated the boards," Carolina assistant coach Sylvia Crawley said after the game. "Once we took a deep breath and settled in, it was better. We got off to such a slow start, it can be hard to come back."

The game hovered around a 20-point margin for much of the second and third quarters, but Carolina made a run in the fourth to cut the final margin to just eight points at 76-68. The Tar Heels forced 13 turnovers after halftime and committed just four themselves, while playing even on the boards at 20-20. Once Miami built that 22-point lead late in the first quarter, Carolina won the remainder of the game, 63-49. But like Wake Forest on Thursday, the comeback went for naught because of the start of the game. Example No. 2 on how a game can be decided in the first few minutes.

Carolina's senior captain Paris Kea perhaps best summed up the situation.

"I feel like one of our biggest weaknesses is consistency," the Greensboro native explained. "We either have a good first half, terrible second half like tonight, or we have a terrible first half and we're down in the hole and we have to have a phenomenal second half, and we just can't do that."

So even if the best 40 minutes are still out there for Carolina, a strong start is vitally important as a building block.

Here are a few more nuggets from the week that was…

Ready For An Opportunity
With Janelle Bailey unavailable for the first half of Sunday's game at Miami, Jaelynn Murray was given the opportunity to start, and she scored two points in 11 minutes. Naomi Van Nes also saw playing time, the first conference action for the junior from England.

"I think we have to be ready when those moments happen," Crawley said. "Coach Hatchell said at the beginning of the game 'look, you've got an opportunity to prove yourself.'"

Whether or not the duo will see more consistent playing time going forward remains up in the air, but the lesson remains for all of Carolina's bench players.

"It's a long season, and even players who don't play as much have to stay ready," Crawley said.

Koenen Strong in Conference Play; Headed for Convention
Taylor Koenen matched her career high with 21 points on Thursday, draining all four of her three-point attempts. Additionally, the Minnesotan reached the 500 career rebounds mark in the triumph over the Demon Deacons. Even in the midst of her success on the court in conference action, Koenen will briefly (without missing a game) step away from the team this week to serve as one of three ACC student athletes on the Autonomy Committee at the NCAA Convention in Orlando.

"We worry about athletes' welfare, and we propose new legislation that betters athletes' lives," Koenen said. "I'm also one that gets to vote on the legislation. You can make student-athletes' lives better for those that come after us."

Up Next
Carolina heads to Blacksburg, Va., on Thursday to tangle with the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hokies ran the table in non-conference play in year three under Kenny Brooks, but are off to a disappointing 0-5 ACC start. Much like Carolina, Tech's ACC schedule has been tough and filled with some close calls — the Hokies took undefeated NC State and a tough Syracuse team to overtime. Both teams feel they are better than their record indicates, so Thursday's game should be an exciting one with a lot on the line. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

Carolina then heads back home to welcome in the defending national champions, No. 1 Notre Dame. The Tar Heels and Irish will tangle on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Carmichael Arena. We need you there, Carolina fans! Both games can be heard on the Tar Heel Sports Network via 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and the TuneIn website and app (just search "Tar Heel Sports Network").

In the meantime, we'll talk all things Carolina Women's Basketball at the Carolina Club on Tuesday night for Sylvia Hatchell Live. The show will take place at 6 p.m. and can be heard live on GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and TuneIn. You can catch the show tape delayed on WCHL and its website at 8 p.m.

Talk to you then! Go Heels!

-Matt