Carmichael Comments: A Nice Holiday Gift

The mood inside Carmichael Arena was festive. Folks from fans to players were decked out in holiday sweaters to see the Tar Heels play their final non-conference game of the regular season against Alabama State. A large crowd – especially for a Tuesday afternoon – arrived still buzzing about Carolina's comeback win over Boston College on Sunday on the road, eager to watch the UNC women's basketball team play its first home game as a ranked team in over six calendar years.

A few hours later, Carolina walked away with an 83-47 win over the visiting Hornets, a win that was neither remarkable nor dramatic, but a businesslike triumph that left the Tar Heels with an 11-0 record for just the eighth time in program history.

"You guys have an undefeated basketball team after the first semester," Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart said to the Carmichael crowd after the game Tuesday. "The last two games are great examples of 'sometimes you just have to find a way,' and we found a way, and we're going to take a few days to breathe now."

At times, it feels tempting to try and find some glaring headline for each game, but this particular win simply provided a chance to reflect on the big picture. The Tar Heel players and coaches will venture away from Carmichael Arena to spend time with their families for the holiday break carrying that 11-0 record, No. 25 AP Poll ranking, and No. 3 ranking in the NCAA NET metric to measure overall team quality. A few months ago, we asked ourselves, "How will this young group be able to gel together?" or "How will injuries and youth impact the team's ceiling?". Now, we have answers to those questions. North Carolina is a bona fide contender in the ACC and a team you don't want to match up against come March.

That's what we saw on Tuesday. Less than 48 hours after a gut-check road win and the elation of a 1-0 ACC start, Carolina led from wire-to-wire, paced by a 17-0 run in the first quarter to own a comfortable cushion for the duration of the game. Ten players scored, with four in double figures. Deja Kelly was one of those four, as she's reached the mark in every game this season. On the defensive end, for the eighth time this season, the opponent failed to reach 50 points. That's already the most occurrences of sub-50 point defensive games in an entire season since 2011-12.

All this is music to the ears of the players and coaches, but what stuck out to me was that line from Coach Banghart: "You have an undefeated basketball team." That "you" is the fans. Who have endured lean years, disappointments, and bought into the idea of hope for the future. The future is now. You have an undefeated basketball team. And that's a pretty great gift.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Adams Inherits Larger Role
Among the adversity Carolina faced in Sunday's comeback win at Boston College was foul trouble to a pair of starters in Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby. Todd-Williams' two fouls before the first media timeout of the game limited her availability in the contest's first half, while Ustby picked up her fourth foul with just under four minutes left in the third quarter and eventually fouled out at the 5:48 juncture of the fourth. Especially against a physical and athletic Boston College team that features All-ACC forward Taylor Soule and a talented freshman center in Maria Gakdeng, Banghart needed length defensively combined with athleticism in the absence of Todd-Williams or Ustby. Enter Destiny Adams, the freshman from New Jersey. Adams had appeared in all but one of the Tar Heels' games this season, but had not played more than 12 minutes, most of those in second halves of already-decided games. Against BC, however, Adams first appeared in the game with 6:13 left in the opening half, when Carolina trailed 26-21. She would finish her day with three points and a rebound in 11 minutes, but made an impact on the defensive end that goes un-checked in the final box score. For Banghart, the trust in Adams in a critical time of the game stems from the freshman's efforts in practice the week prior, when the end of the semester gave Adams the time needed to refine her game.

"With no classes, she was here all week early," Banghart shared. "Knowing that if (Ustby) gets in foul trouble, it will be an important matchup for her, guarding one of the better players in our league. So she was locked in on that all week. Her quickness, her activity, and her fearlessness came into play."

For an encore, Adams again saw extended playing time against Alabama State, logging a season-high 14 minutes and scoring eight points, all at the free throw line. She also established career highs in rebounds (six), assists (two), and steals (three). As we head deeper into ACC play, another trusted piece in the rotation is a definite luxury for Carolina.

Littlefield's Memorable ACC Debut
Carlie Littlefield and Courtney Banghart are used to winning conference games. The pair combined to go 28-4 against Ivy League foes across two seasons at Princeton from 2017-19, winning two league titles along the way. Then came two years apart. Littlefield remained in New Jersey for the 2019-20 season, while Banghart took the reins in Chapel Hill at the helm of the Tar Heels. When the Ivy League canceled their entire 2020-21 season, Littlefield was left with one year of eligibility left, and a chance to reunite with her former head coach at Carolina for a last hurrah. So while Sunday might have been the 72^nd game Littlefield played with Banghart as her head coach, it was the first ACC game.

That's a fact that Banghart was very well aware of, and used to motivate Littlefield prior to tip in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

"I texted her on the bus and said 'Hey, it's our first one. We went from winning Ivy titles to now trying to win ACC ones,'" Banghart said. "She responded and said 'I'm so glad to be here, and I'll give you everything I have.' And she did that."

The Waukee, Iowa native responded. For the first time all season, Littlefield led Carolina in scoring with 22 points, matching a season high with six made field goals and achieving a perfect 9-for-9 day at the free throw line. To put some icing on the cake, she pulled in three rebounds and swiped three steals. More importantly, though, she displayed the leadership, grit, and toughness needed to win ACC games. Those are qualities that helped her earn a tri-captain role on the team in her first season in the program – and now we see why.

"The kid's a winner," Banghart beamed. "I'm just so happy for her."

Scoring With the Clock Stopped
In the Tar Heels' 83-47 win over Alabama State on Tuesday, Carolina scored 28 of the 83 points on free throws. The 28 makes came as part of 43 attempts, both season highs and high-water marks dating back much further than the start of this campaign. The 28 charity tosses made is the most since 31 against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 12, 2011, while 43 attempts is Carolina's highest mark in that department since 47 against College of Charleston back on Nov. 13, 2009. We mentioned already how Adams hit eight of those 28 free throws, but Kennedy Todd-Williams also matched a career high with five made foul shots. Even after making so many free throws, Banghart was still cognizant that there's room for improvement in that department.

"We're a pretty aggressive group, and we haven't been shooting it well the last few games," Banghart explained. "When we're not going to shoot well, we're going to go to the free throw line. But we missed 15 of them, so that's 15 more points that we'll have to get back after the break."

Remember how we said that those numbers were season highs? You only had to go back two days to find the numbers they surpassed. The Tar Heels went 25-for-30 at the line against Boston College, an 83-percent success rate that was critical in pulling out a 76-73 road win. The graduate transfers – the aforementioned Littlefield and Eva Hodgson – combined to shoot 17-for-19 at the foul line in their ACC debuts.

Up Next
Carolina will return from the holiday break and dive headfirst into an all-ACC schedule for the duration of the regular season. The marathon begins with back-to-back home games in Carmichael Arena that will leave the home of the Tar Heels with an Orange hue for a few days. First, Syracuse, quite literally the Orange, will visit on Thursday, Dec. 30. The two teams split a pair of games last season, with each team winning on its home floor, but Carolina and Syracuse will play just once this season. Note the tip time for that game has been bumped up to 4:00 p.m. from its originally scheduled 6:00 p.m. window. With that 4:00 tip, Tar Heel Sports Network airtime is 3:30 p.m. for the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. Catch the call on all our streaming options – The Varsity Network App from Learfield, GoHeels.com, and the GoHeels app – all for free.

Then, the first game of the 2022 calendar year takes place on Sunday, Jan. 2, when another Orange team – the Clemson Tigers – visits Carmichael. Carolina has won four straight and nine of the last 10 over Clemson, including a 77-64 win on the road in February during the Tar Heels' late-season surge. This year's game will be a 6:00 p.m. Sunday night tip. Tar Heel Sports Network airtime is at 5:30 p.m. with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. Catch the call on all our streaming options – The Varsity Network App from Learfield, GoHeels.com, and the GoHeels app – all for free. Additionally, our flagship station, 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, will carry the broadcast in its entirety.

In the meantime, if you haven't already checked it out, this week's edition of the Courtney Banghart Show is posted on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel. It's a special edition of the show that is worth your time: Carolina assistant coaches Joanne Aluka-White and Itoro Coleman join the show together as guests. The duo has known one another since high school, and their friendship has taken them into the profession of basketball coaching, to the 2004 Athens Olympics, and ultimately to Chapel Hil.

That's all for now! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Go Heels!
-Matt