Carmichael Comments: A Day For The Ages

Eva Hodgson and Ariel Young are both in their fifth seasons playing college basketball. The two veterans of the Tar Heel women's basketball team each began their careers in the fall of 2018 – Hodgson at William & Mary and Young at Michigan. Yet even when you use Hodgson and Young as a measuring stick, the last sellout of Carmichael Arena for a Carolina women's basketball game occurred during their freshman year. Of high school. Paulina Paris, the youngest Tar Heel, was in fourth grade when over 6,000 Tar Heels fans crowded the historic hub of women's basketball for the Jan. 25, 2015, clash with Duke.

Nearly eight years later, the veterans and rookie – and superstars in between such as Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby, and Kennedy Todd-Williams – were able to experience the new feeling of playing in front of a sellout crowd at home. Together. And to make matters better, the 6,319 fans, a heavy majority of whom wore Carolina blue, witnessed a 56-47 Tar Heel win, Carolina's fourth against a ranked team this season.

"I'm filled with gratitude," Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart said. "I told my (players) that how they do their work, how they treat one another, and how they play through adversity (was) on full display to a community that really respects it. To have that fanbase is earned."

You could tell the day was different when the lines to get in the door stretched to the top of the Carmichael Arena driveway before gates opened. Precious general admission seats in the Carmichael upper deck were at stake – some that might not have been used to view a basketball game since that January day in 2015 when Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars topped the Billboard charts with their hit Uptown Funk! (Was that song played on Sunday? Someone should let me know because my broadcast headphones block out most media timeout music.) Carolina students raced to fill up the student section behind the north goal, eager to enter their names into a drawing for a free pair of Jordans. Student-athletes from other teams came. Men's basketball, women's soccer, field hockey, and more came en masse, and so did the dignitaries such as Mack Brown, Roy Williams, and their wives. Over 70 former Tar Heel players and managers were back at Carmichael for Alumni Weekend, too.

The baseline for excitement for a Carolina home game against NC State or Duke is always higher than the average home contest, but that's still no guarantee of a sellout or raucous atmosphere. No, to understand Sunday's slice of basketball heaven is to understand the confluence of tradition, personality, and success. As we just said, the tradition of excellence at Carolina and State and 115 hotly-contested matchups between the two through the years lays the groundwork for a rivalry. The fact that the Tar Heels have had recent success against the Wolfpack helps too, especially when NC State is the three-time reigning ACC champion.

Then comes the work of the current team.

The number one factor that drives fan interest in college sports – or any team sport, for that matter – is winning. And that's something the Tar Heels have done a lot of recently. Sunday's win marked the 37th victory since the start of the 2021-22 season, a span of 49 games. Winning at home? Helpful as well. Twenty-three wins in the span of 25 home games since February 2021 takes care of that. That's the most successful run at Carmichael Arena since taking 24 of 26 home games from the start of 2012-13 through early January 2014. But there's more than just winning that drives fan interest: there's personality, too.

Attend a Carolina women's basketball game and you'll see players taking time after the game to thank loyal fans, signining autographs for children, and being purposeful in connecting with the Tar Heel fanbase. Through name, image, and likeness, Carolina players are able to market themselves and their personal brand more than ever before. The fanbase has learned what those on the inside have long known: this is a special group of really, really likeable people. With that, the personality element is complete.

Tradition. Success. Personality. Sunday marked the confluence.

It won't take eight years for Carmichael to sell out again. Heck, try four days. Duke visits Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Expect to see the venerable home of the greatest player of all time come to life once again. Oh, and if you haven't been to a game yet, join us.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Board Meeting
Even with wins piling up, the Tar Heels have been constantly striving for improvement in the rebound department this season. Prior to Sunday's game with NC State, Carolina had not won the boards against a Power Five foe since November 12 against TCU, the first Power Five opponent of the season. All that changed against NC State. Not only did the Tar Heels hold the Wolfpack to 29-percent shooting, but NC State collected only eight offensive rebounds. Carolina prevailed on the glass 45-41, winning rebounding in a game where every possession mattered. The individual rebounding star was Alyssa Ustby, who collected a career-high 18 boards in the win, surpassing the 16 she had at TCU in November 2021. A turnaround performance on the glass was the result of an increased comfort level and understanding from the players and coaches, according to Banghart.

"It sometimes takes a little bit of time to figure out your team," she explained. "What your strengths are, what you're going to be really good at, certain lineups – it just takes time. We've now figured it out a little bit."

An Offensive Destiny
If you've watched the Tar Heels this season, you've probably been impressed by the play of Destiny Adams on the defensive end, as the sophomore is constantly hustling to cause difficulty for opposing offenses. In the games against Notre Dame and Virginia, she was responsible for six of the 15 blocks the Tar Heels recorded. She's had some flashes on the offensive end, too, but none bigger than on Sunday. With the Tar Heels in front by four and just about three and a half minutes left, Adams triggered a personal 8-0 run to help Carolina hold off a late Wolfpack charge and ultimately put the game away. The 8-0 run included a pair of three-pointers for Adams, who is now shooting 8-for-17 from three for a team best 47.1 percent. (She would rank second in the ACC in three-point percentage if she met the minimum number of makes.) The success from long range stems back to a conversation the sophomore had with her head coach after the Jan. 1 setback at Virginia Tech.

"She came in after the Virginia Tech game and said, 'I want to be a better helper, how can I do that?'" Banghart said. "And I talked about stretching the floor. She just wants to help the team win basketball games."

Pressing Under Pressure
The NC State win wasn't the only dramatic triumph of the week for the Tar Heels, as Carolina erased a nine-point hole with 6:46 to go to win 70-59 at Virginia on Thursday. Needing to do something to alter the trajectory of the game, Banghart and her staff opted to press the Cavaliers, and the plan worked. Carolina finished the game on a 22-2 run and controlled the turnover margin 8-0 in the fourth quarter. Those key defensive stops and turnovers are just as important as clutch shots in helping to earn a big win.

"At some point, players have to make plays, at both ends," Banghart said.

It's not the first time this season that pressing has changed a game for the Tar Heels, as Carolina was able to claw back into the Dec. 20 game against Michigan in Charlotte by pressing, holding the Wolverines without a field goal for over five minutes and trimming a 23-point deficit to get as close as six.

Up Next
As we teased before, Carolina fans will enjoy the treat of back-to-back rivalry home games. No. 13 Duke will visit the No. 17 Tar Heels on Thursday for an 8:00 p.m. tip in the first of two regular-season meetings for the pair this year. Duke arrives 16-1 on the season and 6-0 in the ACC but has played just two ranked teams so far. The Blue Devils split the matchups, falling to Connecticut and beating NC State. A Tar Heel win and Carolina will own its first three-game win streak over Duke since 2008-2009. We'll be on the air at 7:30 p.m. with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. Catch the broadcast locally on 97.9 FM/1360 AM in the Triangle, or worldwide for free via our THSN streaming platforms: GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and the Varsity Network app from Learfield.

Then on Sunday, the three-game homestand concludes with the annual matchup against Georgia Tech at 4:00 p.m. The Yellow Jackets are at the opposite end of the ACC standings from Duke, currently sitting at 0-6. But when you consider Tech's stingy defensive style under Nell Fortner and the fact that four of those six setbacks have come by single digits, playing a full 40 minutes will be critical for the Tar Heels. We'll be on the air at 3:30 p.m. with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. Catch the broadcast locally on 97.9 FM/1360 AM in the Triangle, or worldwide for free via our THSN streaming platforms: GoHeels.com, the GoHeels app, and the Varsity Network app from Learfield. It's National Girls and Women in Sports Day at Carmichael, featuring a free clinic for girls and boys next door at the Indoor Practice Facility from 2:00-3:30 p.m.!

In the meantime, check out the latest edition of Holding Court with Courtney Banghart, which is available on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It will also air on Wednesday night at 8:00 on WCHL in Chapel Hill.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-- Matt