Carmichael Comments: Long Distance Discussion

Playing back at home for the first time in 18 days, the Carolina women's basketball team was determined to start Sunday's home game against James Madison with a bang. And that they did. Anya Poole won the opening tip for the Tar Heels, and while she did so, some of her guard teammates raced forward to the corner. Two passes later, the ball was in the hands of Carlie Littlefield, who promptly drained a three-pointer to put Carolina up 3-0 a mere 10 seconds into the game. Talk about starting with a bang.

That three was just a sign of things to come for Carolina, as the Tar Heels blitzed JMU from behind the arc en route to a 93-47 win to improve to 8-0 on the season. Carolina's 10-for-15 (67 percent) performance was the best single-game three-point percentage of any team in Division I all season with a minimum of 10 makes. The threes fell early and often, with four triples in the first quarter alone.

For Banghart, the three-point barrage could be attributed to an offensive flow and ball movement that showed her group's cohesion on the offensive end of the floor.

"I knew that it was our best outing at moving the ball, sharing it and creating great looks," she reflected.

Though the third-year bench boss – a self-described "cerebral" coach – was noticing a myriad of positives as the Tar Heels raced past JMU, the specific three-point efficiency rate was not at the forefront of her mind. But hey, we'll leave that to us in the media, right?

"It's not something I was tracking on," Banghart admitted. "I was liking our change of direction speed, our rebounding, and how we were sharing it."

Individually, Deja Kelly matched a career high with three made longballs, and Kennedy Todd-Williams equaled her career best with two.

To make the effort more impressive, Carolina's defense limited the Dukes to a mere 1-for-25 (4 percent) from behind the arc themselves. While JMU entered the game last in the CAA in three-point percentage, and has been going through struggles shooting the ball, Banghart still attributed the majority of that low number to her team's defense around the arc.

"I thought we did a good job running them off the line," she said. "And we used our length well, both in gaps and on ball. Our length and the fact that we can keep coming at you, that can be wearing on a team, and I think it wore on JMU."

It's not often that you see a 63-percent difference in three-point percentage. But on Sunday, we did, and the Tar Heels cruised to a season-high 93 points as a result.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Hodgson's 1000^th Point
Carolina's first points of the fourth quarter on Sunday were significant for the history books. Redshirt junior guard Eva Hodgson connected on a transition three from the corner to bring her scoring total to nine points for the game, and 1,000 for her career. The majority of those points, 914, were scored in a brilliant two-year career at William & Mary, a program that belongs to the same conference – the CAA – as James Madison currently does. Hodgson went 0-4 against the Dukes in her two seasons at W&M, leaving her with extra motivation to not only win, but to reach the milestone as well, against JMU.

"For her to come here and play against a team she's used to playing against, it was really special for meto watch," Banghart said while addressing the Carmichael faithful postgame. "From me to you, Eva, and from your teammates, congratulations on your 1,000^th."

Depth on Display
All 11 healthy Carolina players played at least 10 minutes in the James Madison game, including action for each in the first half. For the second time this season, all 11 scored, but each collected at least two rebounds as well. The minutes distribution was a welcome occurrence for a Carolina team that saw six players on the floor for at least 27 minutes in the Minnesota win. Obviously, you can never go into a game knowing it will turn lopsided and you can showcase some depth, but when the Tar Heels raced out to a 17-2 lead on James Madison and only built from there, the chance to play more bodies presented itself for Banghart.

"This is a team game, and the deeper we can get, the more competitive we can get up and down the roster, the better," she said after the JMU win. "It was really fun for us to see our guys battle inside the lines."

Exam Week
Carolina players are pulling double duty this week. The Tar Heels are not only in the midst of the basketball season, but the end-of-semester exam period began late last week and is ongoing. The student-athletes are juggling their preparation between practice on the court and studying in the classroom, and for Banghart and her staff, that's meant an adjustment in the approach of the week.

"We know that there's a lot being asked of them," she said. "So we take that into consideration. We don't practice on the heavy exam days and we go around the exams on other days."

The balance in priorities allows Banghart to share some wisdom with her team.

"I tell them 'in life, be where you are. When you're inside the lines, let's go, but when you're outside the lines, dig in'," she said. "Even in exam week, it's a really committed group. It's really a coach's dream."

Final exams will conclude on Friday, turning the focus strictly to basketball until the spring semester begins on Jan. 10.

Up Next
Due to the exam period, there will only be one game for the Tar Heels this week, a Sunday matinee in Carmichael Arena against UNC Asheville at 2:00 p.m. The Bulldogs, out of the Big South Conference, sit 4-3 on the young season, but do have a Friday game against East Tennessee State on the road prior to their visit to Carmichael. Tar Heel Sports Network airtime on Sunday is at 1:30 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. We're excited to have the flagship station for Carolina Women's Basketball, 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, back on board for Sunday's game, too. Listen in on your radio if you're in the Triangle.

In the meantime, be on the lookout for a new edition of the Courtney Banghart Show via the Tar Heel Voices podcast channel! The show should launch on Wednesday, so by the time you're reading this, it might be out already.

That's all for now! Go Heels!

-Matt