Carmichael Comments: Fighters

Just minutes after the final horn sounded on March 20 in Columbus, Ohio, Carolina women's basketball coach Courtney Banghart was asked to reflect on the legacy of her 2022-23 team.

"Fighters though adversity," the fourth-year head coach told the Tar Heels Sports Network audience. "When things don't go well, they don't walk away. They walk right into the fire."

Fighting – the good kind, playing hard and showing toughness – was an omnipresent aspect of this year's team. A group that was defined by a core of sophomores-turned-juniors coming off their first taste of national success in the 2022 NCAA Tournament entered the season with expectations. Still "hunters," but even carnivores have their own spot on the food chain, after all. Injuries, the most challenging schedule the program has faced under Banghart, and a seemingly endless string of close games followed.

The injury bug first appeared early in the season, when Alyssa Ustby was limited through the first few games of the year, Teonni Key's debut was pushed to the third game of the season, and Kayla McPherson's first taste of action pushed even deeper, to late January. Seemingly as soon as McPherson was ready roll, Eva Hodgson went down. So did Ustby again. For good measure (sarcasm), Anya Poole missed a game. A team that used the same starting five in every game in 2021-22 used eight different starting groups throughout this season. The chemistry of the starting unit was a given last year, but new faces consistently had to step up in this campaign.

Overcoming adversity against elite opponents was on display early for Banghart's team. En route to a Phil Knight Invitational title, Carolina erased a pair of double-digit deficits to beat ranked Oregon and Iowa State, with the Cyclones appearing in the top five at the time. During the Thanksgiving week trip, the team adopted the mantra "hard to beat," which became an internal rallying cry in big games the rest of the way. When the Heels started ACC play 0-3 and another top-five team in Notre Dame awaited, the mantra returned. Soon after, wins over No. 11 NC State and No. 13 Duke had Carolina right back into the national conversation all the way to March.

Remember the 0-3 ACC start? All three losses came by seven points or fewer. This year's Tar Heels lost just two games by double digits, and one of those was in overtime. The average margin of defeat? Just 7.3 points per game. Take out the Indiana defeat (the 24-point loss to an eventual No. 1 seed), and it's just 5.6 points per game. Any agonizing loss – Miami on the road, Virginia Tech at home, or Duke in the ACC Tournament – could have had after-effects. But for all those losses, there were the two Duke wins in the regular season and the St. John's comeback in the NCAA Tournament. Adversity will make a fighter stronger.

So it's only fitting that the journey of this team ended in a combination of all three. Ohio State, the Tar Heels' NCAA Tournament second-round opponent, was one of the final three unbeaten teams left in January, a Big Ten finalist, and a No. 3 seed in the tournament field. Quite the challenge, indeed. With just under eight minutes remaining in the game, Hodgson exited the game after a hard fall. Deja Kelly appeared to injure her leg a minute later, and went to the locker room with her team down 12. Yet, the Tar Heels fought. Adversity was everywhere, and so were chances to fold. But with 2:09 remaining in regulation, Carolina held the lead at 67-66. When Ohio State pushed ahead 69-67, Kelly answered with a jumper to tie the score at 69. Another close game. Jacy Sheldon of the Buckeyes hit the eventual winner with 1.8 seconds to go on a runner in the lane, ending the season on the fifth loss by four points or fewer. Sports will rip your heart out, huh?

"You've got to be so good to win in March, and we were not quite good enough," Banghart said postgame. "We've got to sit on that a little bit."

As for what's next here? Per usual, we'll have some offseason content surrounding schedule releases, offseason practices, etc. Then, the new season will crank up again in the fall, and we'll be right with you every step of the way on the Tar Heel Sports Network. There are still a lot of questions to be answered (much of this fantastic Adam Lucas column pertains to women's basketball as a whole, too), but the Tar Heels have a pair of All-ACC first team seniors in Kelly and Ustby set to return, with a young core of improving pieces around them. Add in another top-10 class of freshmen as ranked by ESPN.com, and you've got yourself another championship contender to cheer for. Now is time to rest, but that will be here before we know it.

For now, thanks for reading, listening, and tweeting all season long. I appreciate interacting with all of you.

Go Heels!

-Matt