University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Dana Gentry
Bailey's Performance Won't Soon Be Forgotten
January 10, 2020 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina's game against NC State Thursday night marked just the second time this season junior center Janelle Bailey hasn't scored in double digits and her total of seven rebounds against the Wolfpack ranks below her average. And yet: "It was probably the best game I've seen Janelle play," Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said on Friday, a day after the Tar Heels beat ninth-ranked NC State 66-60 at Carmichael Arena, handing the Wolfpack its first loss of the season.
Banghart continues to preach the merits of defense and Thursday its value was on full display. To win, the Tar Heels held the Wolfpack to a season low in scoring. Perhaps more important, they limited NC State's leading scorer to a season low: center Elissa Cunane came in averaging 17.5 points per game for the season – and an eye-popping 27.0 over the past two outings – and ended up with just eight on 3-11 shooting.
Banghart gave the credit to Bailey.
"Janelle's performance was something you won't quickly forget," Banghart said. "She defended a really elite player and she played 40 minutes, defended her on her own, 1-v-1. And then offensively she did so many things to keep Cunane out of the paint. She set screens that were relevant, she hit big shots that were relevant."
In the postgame press conference, Bailey was asked about her play against Cunane. She began her answer with a compliment: "She's a great post player," Bailey said of Cunane.
"So are you," her coach, sitting just to her left, interrupted.
Bailey said thank you, then went back to thoughtfully answering the question.
"It's not like she was just some other post player," Bailey said. "She's a huge part of the team and we had to find ways to take that away. When we started talking about NC State it was just a matter of trusting the staff. The plan from the beginning was for me to step up and play her. During the game it was just staying the course. She has multiple moves and she doesn't stop – she's just going to keep going."
Bailey didn't stop, either. For the first time this season, she never came out of the game.
(She played all 40 minutes three times last year, and more than 40 minutes – but not the entire game – in two overtime contests her freshman year.)
"I told her after the game I've never been prouder of her, with how she was as a teammate, how she was as a leader, how she played on both sides of the ball, her focus," Banghart said. "She inspired the best in others and she dedicated herself to the gameplan. When your anchor in the post is doing that, you're going to be a pretty good team."
And those are the sorts of things that don't show up in Thursday night's box score.
First Look at a Storied Rivalry
Thursday's game was Banghart's first in-person experience with the Triangle basketball rivalries. She'd heard since coming to Chapel Hill last spring how important beating NC State and Duke is to Carolina fans, but actually being part of one of those matchups was another thing.
"I've now seen the rivalry and what it means," she said, duly impressed.
In addition to her first Tobacco Road rivalry win, the victory was her first over a top-10 team, and people from all parts of her life were excited for her. As a result, when her team wrapped up practice late Friday afternoon, her phone was in roughly Hour 20 of blow-up mode. "I probably have about 300 unread text messages right now," she said. "If you haven't heard back from me, please don't take it personally. I'm working my way through them all and I appreciate all the support!"
Banghart continues to preach the merits of defense and Thursday its value was on full display. To win, the Tar Heels held the Wolfpack to a season low in scoring. Perhaps more important, they limited NC State's leading scorer to a season low: center Elissa Cunane came in averaging 17.5 points per game for the season – and an eye-popping 27.0 over the past two outings – and ended up with just eight on 3-11 shooting.
Banghart gave the credit to Bailey.
"Janelle's performance was something you won't quickly forget," Banghart said. "She defended a really elite player and she played 40 minutes, defended her on her own, 1-v-1. And then offensively she did so many things to keep Cunane out of the paint. She set screens that were relevant, she hit big shots that were relevant."
In the postgame press conference, Bailey was asked about her play against Cunane. She began her answer with a compliment: "She's a great post player," Bailey said of Cunane.
"So are you," her coach, sitting just to her left, interrupted.
Bailey said thank you, then went back to thoughtfully answering the question.
"It's not like she was just some other post player," Bailey said. "She's a huge part of the team and we had to find ways to take that away. When we started talking about NC State it was just a matter of trusting the staff. The plan from the beginning was for me to step up and play her. During the game it was just staying the course. She has multiple moves and she doesn't stop – she's just going to keep going."
Bailey didn't stop, either. For the first time this season, she never came out of the game.
(She played all 40 minutes three times last year, and more than 40 minutes – but not the entire game – in two overtime contests her freshman year.)
"I told her after the game I've never been prouder of her, with how she was as a teammate, how she was as a leader, how she played on both sides of the ball, her focus," Banghart said. "She inspired the best in others and she dedicated herself to the gameplan. When your anchor in the post is doing that, you're going to be a pretty good team."
And those are the sorts of things that don't show up in Thursday night's box score.
First Look at a Storied Rivalry
Thursday's game was Banghart's first in-person experience with the Triangle basketball rivalries. She'd heard since coming to Chapel Hill last spring how important beating NC State and Duke is to Carolina fans, but actually being part of one of those matchups was another thing.
"I've now seen the rivalry and what it means," she said, duly impressed.
In addition to her first Tobacco Road rivalry win, the victory was her first over a top-10 team, and people from all parts of her life were excited for her. As a result, when her team wrapped up practice late Friday afternoon, her phone was in roughly Hour 20 of blow-up mode. "I probably have about 300 unread text messages right now," she said. "If you haven't heard back from me, please don't take it personally. I'm working my way through them all and I appreciate all the support!"
Players Mentioned
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