University of North Carolina Athletics
The Tar Heels celebrated Thursday's win then moved on to focus on FSU.
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Celebration Over, Back To Work
February 18, 2022 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Roughly 18 hours after celebrating a win over No. 3 Louisville, the UNC women's basketball team was again gathered in its film room and focused, briefly, on the Cardinals, the highest ranked opponent Carolina has beaten during coach Courtney Banghart's three seasons in Chapel Hill.
Banghart started Friday afternoon's pre-practice video session by reminding her players what she'd told them they needed to do to win the previous night: Compete, stay connected and trust each other. Then she showed them a clip of the last play of the game, illustrating that connectedness on defense and the fact that they'd done all she'd asked and ultimately earned a 66-65 win. Next a few celebration photos flashed up on the video monitor and they all soaked up the feeling just a little more.
Then, the Tar Heels moved on.
"Every win counts the same," Banghart said. "If we pull off a big one and then stumble, it takes away from what we earned with the last one. So we need to make sure we're ready for the next one – we take some time to enjoy the wins and then put them behind us and move on."
And from that moment on Friday afternoon, the focus was on Florida State, which the No. 24 Tar Heels take on in Tallahassee on Sunday at noon.
But even as the team looks ahead, those of us not playing or coaching in the game can take a look back at what stands as the loudest statement win for the Tar Heels since Banghart came to Chapel Hill.
It's the third time one of her Carolina teams has knocked off a top-10 opponent, but in the other two instances, both vs. NC State, the Tar Heels were unranked at the time. It's easy to write wins like that off as flukes.
This one was no fluke. In beating the Cardinals, who had lost just twice this season, to Arizona in OT and to NC State, the Tar Heels consistently did what they needed to do for 40 minutes to knock off a very good team: they stuck to the plan and continued to execute, even during stretches when the Cardinals went up by as many as 10.
UNC didn't shoot particularly well – the Tar Heels finished at 37.7 percent for the game and were only above 40 percent in one quarter (they shot 46.2 percent, 6-13, in the fourth). They were 5-19 from three for the game. But they made big shots when they needed them, and they didn't lose their composure when the shots didn't fall.
Crucially, the Tar Heels shot free throws very well for the sixth game in a row, hitting 15 of 20 to continue to improve their season average, which now stands at .712 overall and .739 in ACC games. It's at .821 over the past six games, a span during which the Tar Heels have made more free throws ( 96 of 117) than opponents have taken (67, with 44 makes).
It's an example of doing the little things well, and the ways in which this young team continues to grow.
At the end of practice back on Tuesday, Banghart assured her players that it was OK if they were feeling a little lost – it was only Day 1 of preparing for Louisville (Carolina had Monday off after returning from Sunday's loss at Virginia Tech) and that by Thursday, they'd have it. She proved to be correct, as the Tar Heels were clearly prepared.
Still, until her team was celebrating and she was high-fiving fans around sides of the court, Banghart didn't know for sure which way the game would go. While Louisville's final attempt hung on the rim for what seemed like an eternity, Banghart imagined having to go into the locker room and console her team.
Instead she celebrated with them, her players showering her with water from the Gatorade cups they'd pretended to be casually sipping from when their coach walked into the film room following her postgame radio interview.
"I'm just so happy for them," Banghart said later Thursday night, her hair and her pink quarter-zip still damp from the postgame celebration. "They've worked so hard and they deserve this."
And they deserved to enjoy it, for a night. Now it's on to the next one – competing, connected, and trusting one another more every day.
Banghart started Friday afternoon's pre-practice video session by reminding her players what she'd told them they needed to do to win the previous night: Compete, stay connected and trust each other. Then she showed them a clip of the last play of the game, illustrating that connectedness on defense and the fact that they'd done all she'd asked and ultimately earned a 66-65 win. Next a few celebration photos flashed up on the video monitor and they all soaked up the feeling just a little more.
Then, the Tar Heels moved on.
"Every win counts the same," Banghart said. "If we pull off a big one and then stumble, it takes away from what we earned with the last one. So we need to make sure we're ready for the next one – we take some time to enjoy the wins and then put them behind us and move on."
And from that moment on Friday afternoon, the focus was on Florida State, which the No. 24 Tar Heels take on in Tallahassee on Sunday at noon.
But even as the team looks ahead, those of us not playing or coaching in the game can take a look back at what stands as the loudest statement win for the Tar Heels since Banghart came to Chapel Hill.
It's the third time one of her Carolina teams has knocked off a top-10 opponent, but in the other two instances, both vs. NC State, the Tar Heels were unranked at the time. It's easy to write wins like that off as flukes.
This one was no fluke. In beating the Cardinals, who had lost just twice this season, to Arizona in OT and to NC State, the Tar Heels consistently did what they needed to do for 40 minutes to knock off a very good team: they stuck to the plan and continued to execute, even during stretches when the Cardinals went up by as many as 10.
UNC didn't shoot particularly well – the Tar Heels finished at 37.7 percent for the game and were only above 40 percent in one quarter (they shot 46.2 percent, 6-13, in the fourth). They were 5-19 from three for the game. But they made big shots when they needed them, and they didn't lose their composure when the shots didn't fall.
Crucially, the Tar Heels shot free throws very well for the sixth game in a row, hitting 15 of 20 to continue to improve their season average, which now stands at .712 overall and .739 in ACC games. It's at .821 over the past six games, a span during which the Tar Heels have made more free throws ( 96 of 117) than opponents have taken (67, with 44 makes).
It's an example of doing the little things well, and the ways in which this young team continues to grow.
At the end of practice back on Tuesday, Banghart assured her players that it was OK if they were feeling a little lost – it was only Day 1 of preparing for Louisville (Carolina had Monday off after returning from Sunday's loss at Virginia Tech) and that by Thursday, they'd have it. She proved to be correct, as the Tar Heels were clearly prepared.
Still, until her team was celebrating and she was high-fiving fans around sides of the court, Banghart didn't know for sure which way the game would go. While Louisville's final attempt hung on the rim for what seemed like an eternity, Banghart imagined having to go into the locker room and console her team.
Instead she celebrated with them, her players showering her with water from the Gatorade cups they'd pretended to be casually sipping from when their coach walked into the film room following her postgame radio interview.
"I'm just so happy for them," Banghart said later Thursday night, her hair and her pink quarter-zip still damp from the postgame celebration. "They've worked so hard and they deserve this."
And they deserved to enjoy it, for a night. Now it's on to the next one – competing, connected, and trusting one another more every day.
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