Carmichael Comments: History

Look around either of the two buildings in which the Carolina women's basketball team played last week, and you'll understand what rich history exists across ACC women's basketball. National championship banners hang from the rafters in both Carmichael Arena and Notre Dame's Purcell Pavilion, flanked by conference championships, retired jerseys, and more historical recognition of some of women's basketball's royalty.

The downside of appreciating all that history, if there is one, is that it's really hard to make new history. Yet it happened for the Tar Heels last week – twice.
Unless you've been camped out underneath a rock, you've probably heard by now what Alyssa Ustby accomplished in Thursday's win against Syracuse. Ustby's 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists earned her the first triple-double in the history of Carolina women's basketball, and just the third in Carolina basketball history, joining Brendan Haywood and Jason Capel of the men's program.

"It's amazing to have a program with this much tradition and history and still have the opportunity to do something that's never been done," Banghart reflected.

After the game, when Coach Banghart came over to put the headset on for the Continental Tire Coaches' Corner interview, I pointed out to her that there were 15 honored jerseys in Carmichael, yet none of those legends ever achieved what Ustby accomplished on Thursday. Even with all that Ivory Latta and Charlotte Smith accomplished in their careers, they never reached the magic 10/10/10. Even more recent versatile players like a Paris Kea never got it done.

But has there ever been a Carolina player truly as versatile as Ustby? The blend of raw talent, motor, and basketball IQ?

"Her athleticism gets credit for a lot of it," Banghart said. "But there's an element of basketball skill, angles, reads, that go into something like that."

Even as a "total package" for a triple-double, it's no surprise it comes in Ustby's senior season, with years of experience under her belt.

"Her maturation as a basketball player, her continuous quest for that elite status, it's a perfect combination," Banghart said.

Ustby and her senior classmates – Deja Kelly, Anya Poole, and Alexandra Zelaya – were on the mind of their head coach headed to the Notre Dame game on Sunday. After all, that quartet was the group recruited by Banghart and her staff immediately upon their arrival to Carolina. The first group that was hand-picked by the current administration, and the cornerstones of the program renaissance. They've been to a Sweet 16. They've beaten 13 ranked teams in their career. But they hadn't been able to snap a program 0-for at Notre Dame.

Since the Irish joined the ACC in 2014, the Tar Heels had made five trips to Purcell Pavilion and gone 0-for-5. They've been close – a five-point loss in 2022 was a true heartbreaker – but never gotten over the hump.

Time for more history. Banghart made sure her seniors knew what they had the chance to accomplish, and then they went out and did it with a 61-57 win.

Forgive the head coach for being a bit more emotional about this victory.

"I'm really proud of our seniors," she said. "I told them that it meant a little more to me because I love them so much."

This weekend's Alumni Weekend celebration will be all about honoring the history of this program. There's a lot of it. But if this week taught us anything, it's that there's always room for a little more.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Donarski's Epic Run
Lexi Donarski is on a tear from three-point range. A far cry from her struggles early in the season when battling an ankle injury, the graduate student has rounded into form as the sharpshooter the Tar Heels recruited her out of the transfer portal to be. Donarski was enormous in the Clemson win (as we discussed here last week) with her six made threes on 15 attempts. She's followed that up with four long-range shots against Syracuse and three more against Notre Dame, each critical.

Donarski's first three against the Irish forced Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey to step off the bench and call timeout late in the first quarter. The second enabled the Tar Heels to take a halftime lead and quelled some late-first half momentum from the Irish. The last one set the stage for the fourth quarter by beating the third quarter-ending buzzer and trimming the deficit to just a single point.

"Whenever Lexi makes shots, we're a better team," Banghart said.

It's all part of a three-game run in which Donarski is 13-for-29 from behind the arc, with the 13 triples representing the most for a Tar Heel in such a span since Petra Holešínská had 14 in three straight games in January 2021. Donarski is also the first Carolina player since that run from Holešínská to hit three or more long-range shots in three consecutive games. (That's a lot of mentions of the number three.)

Not-so-shockingly, Ustby's great play has led to Donarski's success, too.

"You have to make a choice," Banghart said of Carolina's opponents. "Are you going to find Lexi on the break? You'll give up a layup. Or are you going to deal with (Ustby)? You'll give up a three."

Defending the Arc
On the other hand, while Donarski's three-point shots have been falling, she's had a major role in preventing Carolina opponents from converting from deep. Since the Western Carolina game on Dec. 15, the Tar Heels have held their opponents to 20-for-108 from three, a success rate of just 18.5 percent. That's the best five-game run of three-point defense under Banghart, and it speaks to her defensive principle of having the "right player take the wrong shot."

Most teams have someone stashed on their bench who is capable of coming into a game and going on a hot streak from three despite not being at the top of an opponent's scouting report. A perfect example was Carolina's Dec. 6 game against UNCG, where Spartans reserve Kennedy Simpson entered the contest and drained five threes. That kept UNCG within single digits deep into the second half before Carolina pulled away.

By the Oklahoma game on Dec. 19, the Tar Heels allowed three different Oklahoma starters at least five three-point attempts, but only one of the 16 tries went in. In the Clemson game, the Tar Heels held a pair of 40 percent three-point shooters, Mackenzie Kramer and Amari Robinson, to 1-for-6 from three. Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair tried 12 threes and hit only three, and the rest of the team was 3-for-18. Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and Anna DeWolfe? 1-for-9 combined from three. Right players, wrong shots.

Gakdeng in the Zone
Maria Gakdeng scored seven total points against Oklahoma and Clemson, but it wasn't for a plethora of missed shots – she only took five in the two games. That changed in a hurry against Syracuse, where Gakdeng was the recipient of seven of Ustby's 10 historic assists en route to 22 points and nine made field goals (both matching career highs). The bounce-back occurred in a second straight game where the Tar Heels saw a lot of zone defense – first from Clemson, and then from Syracuse.
"Against the zone, you play everybody a bit equal, that's what zone does," Banghart said. "For us, we really made sure that she attached herself to bodies and had quicker finishes."

The fact that Ustby was the one feeding Gakdeng was no accident, either. You may remember that one of Carolina's key halftime adjustments against Clemson was emphasizing playing through the high post on offense when facing a zone, and that's where Ustby spends a lot of time in a halfcourt set. Sometimes if a lane is open, she'll drive. Others, she'll distribute with pinpoint accuracy.

"Alyssa gave (Maria) great passes away from the defense," Banghart said.

Up Next
One of Carolina's recent nemeses awaits on Thursday for a Top 25 showdown. Florida State has won seven of the last eight games against Carolina, but the Tar Heels did win in Tallahassee in 2022. Now, with the No. 20 Tar Heels back in the polls, they'll travel to see No. 21 FSU to look for a second straight win in Florida's capital city. A win would give Carolina its first run of three ranked wins in as many games on the schedule since the 1998 ACC Tournament, when Carolina beat No. 15 Virginia, No. 8 Duke, and No. 16 Clemson en route to a title. Tip in the matchup with the Seminoles is set for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show getting going at 5:30 p.m. As always, hear the broadcast worldwide for free on the Varsity Network App from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app. The game will air locally in the Triangle on 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, the flagship station of Carolina women's basketball. WCHL's coverage begins at 6:00 p.m., right at game time.

Sunday will see the Tar Heels return home for the first time since Jan. 4 to host Virginia. It will be Alumni Weekend, and a celebration of the 1994 National Championship team, marking the 30th anniversary of the historic win. The Tar Heels have won seven straight over Virginia, including a 6-0 mark in the Banghart era. This year's Carolina team will try and extend that run on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., and our coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. As always, hear the broadcast worldwide for free on the Varsity Network App from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app. The game will air locally in the Triangle on 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, the flagship station of Carolina women's basketball.

Additionally, the next Holding Court with Courtney Banghart tapes on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at noon at the Sheraton Chapel Hill. As a reminder, the show is open to the public, and we hope to see you there! If you can't make it, catch the show on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel or on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-Matt