Carmichael Comments: The Feeling Of Home

Over 5,200 fans filled Carmichael Arena on Sunday afternoon, filling the venerable venue's upper deck with Carolina blue and cheering with every Tar Heel basket and stop. The noise reached a crescendo when the final horn sounded in a 74-46 domination of archrival Duke, providing a Senior Day to remember for two special players in Carlie Littlefield and Jaelynn Murray. The scene was one many around the program have dreamed of for years, and reached with effort and teamwork – a process in which Littlefield and Murray played critical roles. It was a scene so special, Carolina fans want to do it again.

And they don't want to wait for November. Nor do the players.

The afternoon was a perfect climax to the story of the senior duo, chronicled on GoHeels.com prior to the game. Not only did Carolina win, but Littlefield and Murray each carried critical loads. Littlefield, known for her grit and toughness on the defensive end, scored 10 points in the win and hauled in 10 rebounds. Those 10 boards were the most in any game of her college career, whether as a Tar Heel or a Princeton Tiger, and led to her first Carolina double-double. Littlefield also handed out five assists, leaving some (including me) wondering if the first triple-double in Carolina women's basketball history might be on the table. But the thunderous ovation upon exiting the game with 3:19 left was more meaningful than a frantic pursuit of a difficult milestone.

"We lead with her toughness and her relentlessness, and her competitiveness on both ends," Carolina coach Courtney Banghart told the crowd postgame. "(She) almost got a triple-double on her senior night. That kind of says it all."

The 10-point game marked Littlefield's second straight in double figures, as she contributed 13 points in Charlottesville on Thursday in a road win over Virginia. Littlefield wasn't the only senior to have a banner day, as Murray played seven minutes – her most since Dec. 30 against Syracuse – and scored a season-best seven points on three made field goals, also a season-high.

"We know Jaelynn's a crowd favorite," Banghart said while encouraging the fans to show their adoration for the Columbia, S.C. native. "So if we all give a shoutout to Jae, she deserves it."

But as the Tar Heels rallied around their seniors, thanking them for their presence and leadership with their play, the team was also focused on a mission: to make sure the adoring fans only had to wait two weeks to return to Carmichael Arena.

The win was Carolina's 23^rd of the season, the most regular-season triumphs since an equal 23 wins in 2014-15, and the 13^th ACC win continued the best league slate since a 14-win 2013 season. Those 5,200+ in the seats? Well, they played a role in history. With eight ACC home wins, the 2022 Tar Heels match the 2013 and 1997 teams for the program record. The blowout win helped keep Carolina's NET ranking in the top six nationally, on par with programs such as South Carolina, NC State, and Stanford. Also, it allowed Carolina to finish third in the ultra-competitive ACC.

Point being, it's a résumé worthy of serious consideration for the right to play the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Carmichael Arena, a prize that comes as the result of receiving a top-four seed in one's particular region of the March Madness bracket. On Monday night, Carolina learned that the résumé still needs some polishing – or at least a second look. The NCAA Women's Basketball Committee released their "if the season ended now" top 16 seeds for the NCAA Tournament, and the Tar Heels did not hear their name called. The live look-in at the committee's thoughts was the final public release of the up-to-the-minute seedings prior to Selection Sunday on Mar. 13. Some experts, most notably ESPN's Charlie Creme, felt that teams such as Tennessee or Indiana were surprise selections to the top 16. Creme went as far as saying that "Oregon, North Carolina, and Notre Dame have better résumés" than the sliding Hoosiers, who now sit 19-7 at the end of the regular season and have lost four of their last five.
But that's neither here nor there. Carolina knows now that the Tar Heels need to keep on winning – after all, they've won seven of their last eight games – and perhaps get some more help along the way from fellow teams in the projected 4/5 seed range.

Close your eyes for a second. Imagine Carmichael filled again, this time for the NCAA Tournament. A tremendous reward for the immeasurable growth made by Banghart's team since they first began practice back in the summer. This team, this program, and this fanbase, especially after the scene on Sunday, deserves to play at home. We'll find out if that comes true over the next two weeks.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Devilish Defense Keeps Duke's Heels Stuck in Tar
Sunday's game marked the 103^rd all-time meeting between the Tar Heels and their nextdoor neighbors in women's basketball. With so many matchups, you don't see milestones set too often in the series, but that's exactly what happened in Game 103. Carolina limited Duke to 46 points, the lowest point total for the Blue Devils in a game against the Tar Heels. Duke shot a mere 31 percent from the field, and were held to 4-for-22 (18 percent) from three-point range. By the half, Duke had just 16 points, the ninth time this season that Carolina has held an opponent sub-20 in the first 20 minutes. Combine the 28-point win in Carmichael with Carolina's 78-62 win in Cameron Indoor Stadium in late January, and the season sweep by 44 total points was Carolina's best showing in the regular season against Duke since a 2008 sweep by 48 total points (82-51 in Carmichael and 93-76 in Cameron).

"These guys are committed to it," Banghart said about her defense. "They're committed to getting stops, and they play together. You always say 'if your teammate moves, you move,' and we're doing that."

Gradual Improvement
A fascinating part of the ongoing chess match of a basketball game is watching the adjustments a team makes as they feel out the opponent's offensive or defensive tendencies. The adjustments Carolina made on the offensive end clearly worked on Sunday, as the Tar Heels increased their quarterly field goal percentage over each 10-minute span for the first time all year. Carolina shot just 32 percent in the first quarter, 37 percent in the second, 42 percent in the third, and 47 percent in the final 10 minutes.

"Their zone was playing a little bit more extended and had different angles than the practice guys we had been playing with," Banghart explained. "It took a chance for us to make a few tactical decisions but also for them to settle in to where the angles were."

Picking Apart the Wahoos
Carolina's Thursday night win in Charlottesville featured the best field goal percentage for the Tar Heels in an ACC game this season, at 47.3 percent. Unlike the gradual improvement on Sunday, though, the route to the 47-percent game was circuitous on Thursday. Carolina shot 61 percent in the first half, their best half shooting the ball in ACC play all season, and reached the mark while shooting 20-for-33 in the first 20 minutes at John Paul Jones Arena. After halftime, though, the Heels took just 22 shots and made a mere six, a 27-percent showing in a physical half of basketball. Yet thanks to Carolina's defense, Virginia never trimmed the deficit any closer than eight points, and the Tar Heels earned their fifth ACC road win of the season.

"The ball was moving really well, it was crisp," Banghart reflected on her team's first half. "We got to our spots with pace. Then in the second half, for some reason, the game totally shifted to allow a lot of physical play, so we felt a little bit shoved off our line and that forced us to keep the ball in our hands a little longer than we would have liked."

Even though it was a tale of two halves, the Tar Heels "competed their way to a victory," as Banghart put it.

Up Next
It's ACC Tournament time. Carolina heads to Greensboro as the No. 4 seed in the event, earning a double bye for the first time since the tournament expanded to 15 teams in 2014. Due to receiving a double bye, Carolina does not know its first opponent for Friday's quarterfinals, but if the seeds hold, it will be fifth-seed Virginia Tech. The Hokies, though, would need to beat the winner of a first-round Syracuse-Clemson matchup in a second-round game on Thursday morning in order to advance to see the Tar Heels. If we do see Carolina-Virginia Tech, it's a fitting rubber match. Each team won on its home court – the Tar Heels took a 71-46 triumph on Jan. 9 at Carmichael, while the Hokies returned the favor with a 66-61 win in Blacksburg on Feb. 13. Now, we'd see round three at a neutral venue in a building both teams drive right past when traveling to the other's campus. As we said, fitting. One thing we do know: the tip time for Friday's game, regardless of opponent. It's an early one, at 11 a.m. That means the Tar Heel Sports Network coverage will begin with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 10:30 a.m. from the Greensboro Coliseum. 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.

Carolina's Saturday semifinal game and Sunday championship game appearance would both tip at 12:00 p.m., with an 11:30 a.m. THSN airtime. Like Friday, 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 broadcasts in their entirety.
In the meantime, a new edition of Holding Court with Courtney Banghart will air on Tuesday night at 8p.m. on WCHL. Tune in to hear from Coach Banghart on all things Carolina Women's Basketball, including a preview of this week's ACC Tournament. As always, the show will be available on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel. It's set to roll out Wednesday morning wherever you get your podcasts.

That's all for now! Go Heels!

-Matt