Carmichael Comments: The Way It Goes

On Monday's edition of Holding Court with Courtney Banghart, the weekly radio show with the head coach of the Carolina women's basketball team hosted by yours truly, Coach Banghart was asked about what factors of Louisville's pressure defense – aside from the absence of Alyssa Ustby and Eva Hodgson – gave the Tar Heels trouble in Sunday's loss. A 62-55 setback at Louisville ended an eight-game win streak, the longest in ACC play since a 17-game run from 2007-09.

"Well, that's a big 'other than,'" Banghart responded. "When you go in front of 10,000 fans with two starters, that's a lot. We didn't play well enough and the pressure bothered us."

And she's right.

Would having Hodgson and Ustby, a graduate student and junior with 71 straight starts under her belt, respectively, pave the way for a Carolina win? Not necessarily. But it would have helped. A lot.

Ustby's 8.9 rebounds per game (fourth in the ACC as of press time) were obviously missed as Louisville controlled the glass, 46-35. That's an easy number to circle as a sign of Ustby's absence. But where she was also missed? On offense. The Tar Heels were held to just two fast break points in the loss, a season low. Ustby's speed in transition and ability to rim run is an aspect of Carolina's offense that's sometimes unappreciated by the average fan. (For those that are only conversationally fluent in hoop-ese, "rim running" is when a player sprints back to the area under the basket their team is attacking as their primary job in transition.)

"Missing Alyssa is a tough ask," Banghart said.

Without Ustby's ability to score in transition available, the Tar Heels were often forced to look for options on offense out of the half court. And that's where the loss of Hodgson comes in. An experienced and gritty ball-handler, Hodgson's presence could have stabilized the offense when Louisville cranked up the pressure in the third quarter. She was also missed in three-point shooting, where Carolina was a mere 1-for-12.

There is a silver lining, that being the chance to play in front of 10,000 fans for players like Kayla McPherson, Paulina Paris, and Teonni Key.

"It's good experience for our young guys," Banghart said. "I expect them to get better, and this experience helps."

The world doesn't stop when starters go down. If anyone knows that, it's Banghart.

"It's a long season and no one is feeling sorry for us that we've got some guys banged up," she said.

There are two sides to the coin. In the win over Virginia on Thursday, the Cavaliers were without both Mir McLean and Sam Brunelle, a pair of transfers who began the season as members of the Hoos' starting core. Without Hodgson, Carolina took care of business in road tests against Pitt and Clemson, plus that Virginia win. And all those ranked wins for Carolina earlier in the season? The five of them? Kayla McPherson didn't play in any of them. Case in point: every team deals with absences.

So as we progress forward through the season, the metrics and rankings will always reflect a 62-55 final score in the Louisville loss. The human analysis, though, will tell you to put an asterisk on this point in the season and leave you wondering what could have been. And that's the nuance of evaluating college basketball teams. Just the way it goes.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Offense Flows Swimmingly Through Poole
Anya Poole has maintained her status among the ACC's top 20 rebounders all throughout the season. Check the stats today and you'll see her at No. 15 on that list at 6.3 a game. But where Poole has increased her contributions of late is on the offensive end. The junior from Raleigh averaged just 1.7 points per game in the first six ACC games of the season but upped that average to 7.3 a game in the most recent six-game run. In this week's games against Virginia and Louisville, Poole posted her first double-digit scoring games of the ACC season with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The most obvious change to Poole's offensive game last week was extending her range when given the chance, as evidenced by two wide open jumpers from just inside the arc against the Cavaliers.

"Over the last two or three weeks, she's done a good job of (finding her place in the offense)," Banghart said. "Both on the interior as a face-up player and to pull the defense away from the basket."

McPherson's Home Debut
Not only was the Thursday home game against Virginia the lone game inside Carmichael Arena in a 20-day span, but it was the home debut of Kayla McPherson. McPherson, who played in her first Carolina game in the Clemson road contest on Jan. 29, stepped onto the Carmichael floor in a game for the first time and didn't disappoint the home fans who had waited two and a half years since the day she committed to see her play at home. The Georgia native scored 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting, showing her ability to score on both three-point shots and aggressive drives to the rim. Her 14 points marked the Carolina team high, and meant McPherson became the seventh different player to lead the Tar Heels in scoring this season – the most leading scorers since 2014-15.

"There's a lot of people that are loving Kayla McPherson, as they should," Banghart said. "She's a special guard. The ability to embed herself in this team on both sides of the ball has been a welcome jumpstart for her and for us."

Thinking Pink
Sunday's game at Louisville, along with the two upcoming games this week at Syracuse and at home against Boston College, are designated as Play4Kay games. These games help to promote awareness of the fight against Breast Cancer, encourage fundraising for research, and honor and celebrate survivors. The annual celebration honors the legacy of the late NC State Head Coach Kay Yow, who passed away from the disease in 2009. Teams this week will wear either special pink uniforms or pink accessories with their normal uniforms. The special games and meaningful cause hit home for Banghart.

"My college roommate went through stage two breast cancer, and that's just such one example," Banghart said. "So anything that brings attention and therefore funding, we're happy to do it with our platform."

So if you come to support the Tar Heels this week, be sure to wear your pink!

Up Next
The Tar Heels will take on the two northernmost teams in the ACC this week, matching up with the Syracuse Orange and the Boston College Eagles. Once Carolina gets through this week, there's just one new ACC opponent left to play this season – Wake Forest, who visits Carmichael on Sunday, Feb. 19. Purely by coincidence, the Tar Heels haven't played either Syracuse or BC since 2021, with the games serving as the first two ACC games in late December last season.

Thursday's visit to the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse (it's always the Carrier Dome in our hearts) marks the final time Carolina will venture outside the Triangle this regular season. The Orange sit 6-7 play in this first season under Felisha Legette-Jack, a former Syracuse player in the late 1980s who has taken the head coaching position at her alma mater after a successful run at Buffalo. Keep an eye on Dyaisha Fair, one of three players who transferred from Buffalo to Syracuse to follow Coach Jack. Fair averages 20 points per game on the nose, a figure that sits second in the ACC behind only Florida State freshman sensation Ta'Niya Latson. The Orange have not beaten a ranked ACC team since February of 2020, so if the Tar Heels can keep that drought going, a win at the Dome for the first time in the teams' mutual ACC membership era is in the cards. Thursday's tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with our THSN coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. You can find us at all the normal spots: 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.

The Sunday matchup with Boston College marks the Eagles' first visit to Carmichael Arena since 2019, as the 2021 game was canceled due to a mix of COVID protocols impacting the Eagles' program and a lack of a mutual makeup date before the conclusion of the regular season. BC is 4-9 this year in ACC play but owns wins over NC State in Raleigh and at home against Florida State. Tip on Sunday is set for noon, with our THSN coverage commencing bright and early at 11:30 a.m. Catch the call 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.

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.

That's all for now. Go Heels!