University of North Carolina Athletics
Coach Courtney Banghart with seniors Carlie Littlefield (center) and Jaelynn Murray
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
WBB To Celebrate Unlikely Seniors On Sunday
February 25, 2022 | Women's Basketball
Neither Carlie Littlefield nor Jaelynn Murray planned to be part of the 2021-22 North Carolina women's basketball team.
Littlefield expected to play out a four-year career at Princeton. Murray intended to spend four years at North Carolina and move on after graduating in 2021.
Yet both players have been pivotal to Carolina's success this season and will be honored on Sunday as the No. 18 Tar Heels host Duke. Tipoff at Carmichael is 4 p.m. and Senior Day ceremonies will take place after the game, recognizing Littlefield and Murray, both now graduate students, as well as graduate student athletic trainer Camille King and managers N.J. Hayes and Rachel Kapiko.
Littlefield and Murray serve as captains this season – along with Eva Hodgson – and are coming at the job from very different angles. Littlefield has been in Chapel Hill less than a year, after graduating from Princeton last May. She chose to spend her final year of eligibility with the coach, UNC's Courtney Banghart, who originally recruited her to play for the Tigers. Banghart coached Littlefield for first two years at Princeton before taking the Carolina job in the spring of 2019. After another successful recruitment, Littlefield signed to play for Banghart again and has started for the Tar Heels at point guard in all 27 games this season.
Murray is the furthest thing from a newcomer that this roster has, having been at Carolina longer than anyone else on the team, including the coaching staff. After arriving on campus in the summer of 2017, she was a key part of the rotation her first two years, starting 29 games as a freshman in 2017-18. She tore her ACL in an exhibition game prior to what would have been her junior season and missed that year, then returned to play in 2020-21 and graduated from Carolina last spring. Banghart talked her into returning for one more go-round and, crucially, continuing to fill a team leader role.
On a squad that's heavily weighted with freshmen (four) and sophomores (five), the graduate students have provided and continue to provide maturity that has helped the Tar Heels put together the program's most successful season since winning 26 games in 2014-15. UNC is now 22-5 overall (12-5 in ACC play) and ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, the highest since the spring of 2015.
Sunday's game will bring that successful regular season to a close and launch the Tar Heels into the postseason, beginning with the ACC Tournament in Greensboro next week. With Carolina still in the hunt for a hosting spot in NCAA Tournament play, the matchup with Duke might not actually be the last opportunity for Littlefield and Murray to play on the Carmichael court. The Tar Heels will salute them as though it is, however – at the end of 40 minutes against Duke, the team will shift gears and shower their unlikely "seniors" with love and applause, celebrating a season that, although unexpected, now seems like it was meant to be.
Littlefield expected to play out a four-year career at Princeton. Murray intended to spend four years at North Carolina and move on after graduating in 2021.
Yet both players have been pivotal to Carolina's success this season and will be honored on Sunday as the No. 18 Tar Heels host Duke. Tipoff at Carmichael is 4 p.m. and Senior Day ceremonies will take place after the game, recognizing Littlefield and Murray, both now graduate students, as well as graduate student athletic trainer Camille King and managers N.J. Hayes and Rachel Kapiko.
Littlefield and Murray serve as captains this season – along with Eva Hodgson – and are coming at the job from very different angles. Littlefield has been in Chapel Hill less than a year, after graduating from Princeton last May. She chose to spend her final year of eligibility with the coach, UNC's Courtney Banghart, who originally recruited her to play for the Tigers. Banghart coached Littlefield for first two years at Princeton before taking the Carolina job in the spring of 2019. After another successful recruitment, Littlefield signed to play for Banghart again and has started for the Tar Heels at point guard in all 27 games this season.
Murray is the furthest thing from a newcomer that this roster has, having been at Carolina longer than anyone else on the team, including the coaching staff. After arriving on campus in the summer of 2017, she was a key part of the rotation her first two years, starting 29 games as a freshman in 2017-18. She tore her ACL in an exhibition game prior to what would have been her junior season and missed that year, then returned to play in 2020-21 and graduated from Carolina last spring. Banghart talked her into returning for one more go-round and, crucially, continuing to fill a team leader role.
On a squad that's heavily weighted with freshmen (four) and sophomores (five), the graduate students have provided and continue to provide maturity that has helped the Tar Heels put together the program's most successful season since winning 26 games in 2014-15. UNC is now 22-5 overall (12-5 in ACC play) and ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, the highest since the spring of 2015.
Sunday's game will bring that successful regular season to a close and launch the Tar Heels into the postseason, beginning with the ACC Tournament in Greensboro next week. With Carolina still in the hunt for a hosting spot in NCAA Tournament play, the matchup with Duke might not actually be the last opportunity for Littlefield and Murray to play on the Carmichael court. The Tar Heels will salute them as though it is, however – at the end of 40 minutes against Duke, the team will shift gears and shower their unlikely "seniors" with love and applause, celebrating a season that, although unexpected, now seems like it was meant to be.
Players Mentioned
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