Carmichael Comments: VT/ND Roundup

CARMICHAEL COMMENTS — Inside Carolina Women's Basketball: Edition 15
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

NOTRE DAME UPSET WIN RADIO HIGHLIGHTS

Don't blame Sylvia Hatchell if she has a big smile on her face this week.

After all, she & husband Sammy recently found out they will become grandparents. Their son, Van, and his wife are expecting a baby boy.

That experience alone is a major milestone, but Coach Hatchell, master motivator, used the pregnancy "reveal" to inspire her Tar Heels women's basketball team to one of the greatest upsets in the history of women's college basketball — a 78-73 home triumph over no. 1 Notre Dame, the defending national champions.

"We've talked a lot the last few days about how we wanted to have a 'wow' moment," Hatchell said. "I asked them, 'what's a wow moment?' and we talked about different ones."

In a vacuum, the discussion of the "wow" moment made sense for this year's team. Playing a schedule rated as the eighth-toughest in the nation, Carolina has certainly taken its lumps both in and out of the ACC. The Tar Heels have come agonizingly close against teams like Kentucky, Ohio State, Louisville, Syracuse, and Miami, only to be unable to get over the hump. That "wow" moment hadn't happened yet.

But the ACC's all-time winningest women's basketball coach knows that "wow" moments don't just happen on the court. Enter the discussion in the locker room on Sunday.

"In the locker room before the game I wanted to share a wow moment and I gave them a copy of the ultrasound of what'll be my grandson," Hatchell said. "They were all really excited in the locker room and the wow moment we shared there."

Turns out, that moment inspired the Tar Heels to play their best game of the season and snap a 198-game losing streak for unranked teams against no. 1 teams, knocking off the Irish in front of 4,704 fans in Carmichael Arena.

Notre Dame, playing without starting guard Jackie Young, never led by more than six points, and when the Irish did push the lead out, Carolina had an answer. The Tar Heels made Notre Dame uncomfortable all game long with a stingy 2-3 zone defense, and forced the Irish into 20 turnovers, well over their season average of 14.5 per game. Carolina converted the 20 takeaways into 21 points, which ended up being a gigantic factor in the win. Additionally, Carolina held Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame's leading scorer, to 13 points on 5-for-21 shooting. Famous for her Final Four buzzer beaters from last spring, Ogunbowale entered the game averaging just a shade under 22 points per game.

Despite their struggles, Notre Dame had a chance late in the game, going on a 12-0 run over a 4:30 stretch of the fourth quarter to turn a 10-point deficit into a two-point lead.

"I think we are an older team," guard Stephanie Watts said. "Paris (Kea) and I are veterans. We weren't too pressed and nervous. So when their run came, we were like, 'alright, this is a part of the game; we just have to make our run now.'"

The Tar Heels made their run, as Leah Church drained a clutch corner three to put Carolina ahead for good at 74-71, and a Paris Kea layup with 40 seconds left increased the lead to 76-71. A few free throws later, and Carolina had a 78-73 victory.

Immediately after the game, the impact of the victory still hadn't set in for Hatchell.

"I guess later today or tomorrow I'll be like, 'we beat Notre Dame and they were number one.,'" She said. "It's big because they have such a great program."

One thing is for sure: the win was a "wow" moment.

And just another reason for soon-to-be-Grandma Hatchell to smile.

Here's a few other observations from the week that was:

Kea's Gigantic Game

Redshirt senior guard Paris Kea enjoyed a breakout week for the Tar Heels. After scoring 26 points (all in the final three quarters) in the road win at Virginia Tech, Kea was the catalyst in Carolina's upset of the Irish. She scored 30 points in the game, and earned a double-double by dishing out 10 assists.

For a player that battled a leg injury earlier in the season, the week was extra-special for Kea.

"I feel like I'm just getting back to the old Paris Kea," she said postgame.
"For most of my power moves, I use my calves. I jump a lot so not really having that and having to work back into that has been pretty difficult. This game means a lot to me because I'm feeling like Paris again."

Kea was quick to defer credit in the win to her teammates and the Carmichael crowd, but her impact was not lost on Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw.

"I thought Carolina played a great game, especially Kea," McGraw said. "We had no answer for her."

Church Steps Up

Leah Church averages 3.3 points per game. Despite the scoring average that doesn't jump off the page, the sophomore Purlear, N.C. native is a key role player for the Tar Heels because of her ability to shoot the three. After all, 47 of her 52 shot attempts this season have come from long range.

It's only fitting that Church did what she does best when her team needed her. With 85 seconds left in Sunday's game and the score knotted at 71, Kea deferred on a shot and located a wide-open Church, who splashed home a triple to give Carolina the lead for good.

Virginia Tech Win

Carolina actually won two games this week, though Thursday's road triumph at Virginia Tech has been shuffled to the backburner the post-Notre Dame hubbub.

The Tar Heels trailed the Hokies by 10, 48-38, at the half, as VT had connected on nine three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. What was Coach Hatchell's solution? Go to the zone. Unconventional, right? Common basketball wisdom says that a potential weak spot of the zone is leaving the wings susceptible to three-point shots.

"At halftime we said, 'we've got to stop letting them get open threes,' so we went to the zone," Hatchell said. "And it worked."

Indeed it did. The Hokies hit just two of their 15 three-point attempts in the second half, and Carolina came back to win 81-68. Turns out, the problem was that Virginia Tech was getting its open looks of drive-and-kicks, so the Tar Heels needed to eliminate the drives to shut down the perimeter.

Up Next

Carolina will aim to avoid a letdown game on Thursday night when Georgia Tech comes calling to Carmichael Arena. Both the Tar Heels and the Yellow Jackets come in 3-4 in ACC play for the 7:00 p.m. tip on Thursday. 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 the TuneIn app (search "Tar Heel Sports Network").

In the meantime, we'll have Sylvia Hatchell Live on Wednesday night at the Carolina Club. The show will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the O'Herron's Grill inside the Club, and is open to the public. Please come out and join us to hear about the upset win over Notre Dame! If you can't join in person, listen live on GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and TuneIn. You can then catch the show tape delayed at 8:00 p.m. on WCHL and WCHL's website.

That's all for now! GO HEELS!

-Matt