Carmichael Comments: Past To Present

A little less than 24 hours before the Carolina women's basketball team took the floor to search for a 4-1 start to ACC play, head coach Courtney Banghart and her staff were gathered at the Carolina Club to take part in a dinner celebrating Alumni Weekend. The bulk of the 1994 National Championship team had returned to Chapel Hill, as had nearly 100 other former players from the storied history of the program. The evening entertainment following the dinner was a panel discussion featuring Banghart, 1994 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Charlotte Smith, and 1994 team captains Sylvia Crawley and Carrie McKee (and emceed by yours truly).

The 1994 panelists were asked about a favorite memory other than the day they won the entire tournament and raised the trophy in Richmond, Va. Crawley, now a motivational speaker among other entrepreneurial endeavors, shared a story about the nemesis of the 1994 team: those pesky Virginia Cavaliers.

At the time, Virginia was an equal – if not greater – national power than the Tar Heels. The 'Hoos had advanced to the Elite Eight or deeper in four straight NCAA Tournaments from 1990-1993, but like Carolina, were chasing their first-ever national title. As is the case today, the teams met twice in the regular season. Virginia won both games, taking a 77-75 victory in Chapel Hill and an 83-74 triumph in Charlottesville.

A few weeks later, in Rock Hill, S.C., the teams were slated to meet again in the ACC Championship Game. Carolina had still suffered just two losses all year – the pair of games against the Cavaliers. Crawley, as captain, had to organize the team to run out on to the court one last time prior to tip, but one player was missing: freshman Marion Jones, who was crying in her locker. The desire to win had impacted Jones physically. Crawley sat down beside her and eventually cried as well. Then, the duo ran onto the floor and took care of business with a 77-60 win to claim the ACC title.

"That," Crawley said to the Carolina Club crowd on Saturday, "was when I knew we would win (the National Championship)."

And as you know, the Tar Heels did, finishing the year 33-2 with the lone blemishes against the Cavaliers.

Thirty years later in a twist of fate, Sunday's opponent was again Virginia. Any game with a massive celebration attached to it is much more memorable with a win – something not lost on Banghart.

"You feel almost a little bit more pressure because of what this group has done and what they've meant to this institution," she said. "For us to find a way to win was critical. I was not going to walk into that locker room after (a loss)."

A January regular season game, while still enormously meaningful, isn't an ACC Championship game between a team and the only team that's beaten them all season, but the desire to win is omnipresent. When the Tar Heels went up 28-14 against a Cavaliers team sitting at 0-4 in the ACC, common logic from an outsider's view would suggest the good vibes from the weekend were about to translate to a comfortable win.

Those in the Tar Heel locker room knew differently. Just like in 1994, Virginia wanted the best of its neighbor to the south.

"It's hard to win in the ACC, and we knew this team was better than their record," Banghart said of a Cavaliers team that had already played NC State twice and single games against Duke and Georgia Tech.

Virginia battled to tie the game at 52-all in the waning seconds of the third quarter, only to see Carolina hold the 'Hoos below 25 percent from the floor in the final period and pull away for another double-digit win.

"We just put the clamp down and were more active before your guy had the ball," Banghart said of her team's defense.

Thirty years later, alums gathered arm-in-arm with the current team for the playing of "Hark the Sound" after a victory against Virginia.

"Really happy that we could win for them and really happy they could be here to celebrate this new version of the Tar Heels," Banghart said.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Dynamite Duo Delivers
For the first time ever against an ACC team under Banghart, two Tar Heel teammates each scored 17+ points, pulled in 5+ rebounds, and handed out 5+ assists in the win over Virginia. Of course, it was Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby. Ustby (17/12/5) reached her five assists by halftime, enough to trigger triple-double watch for a second straight home game. Kelly, meanwhile, poured in the most points for a Tar Heel all season with 27, while also notching five rebounds and five assists. The effort capped a 50-point week for Kelly, a major statistical bounce-back after scoring sub-10 in three of her previous five games. For Kelly's head coach, it's a sign that hard work to ensure team success is paying off, and time for the All-ACC guard to earn her own personal time in the spotlight again.

"Deja's been what we've needed all along," Banghart said. "She's had to get everybody else and the transfers going and playing with confidence. She's had to defer her own to make sure the team is good enough when we need them to be."

Ustby's 30th of her own
In the win over Virginia, the Tar Heels wore special throwback uniforms to honor the 1994 National Champions, complete with an NCAA waiver to compete with the uniforms untucked to complete the throwback look. Over on the sideline, Banghart wore a Carolina blue t-shirt made to resemble a Tar Heel uniform with the number "30" on the front. The number was obviously placed there to mark the '94 anniversary, but also indirectly celebrated a feat from Ustby achieved Sunday: her 30th double-double (or better) of her Tar Heel career.

Ustby's 17 points and 12 rebounds marked her eighth double-double of the season, already one more than the seven she posted the entirety of last year. With 13 games left in the regular season, Ustby needs six more double-doubles for a personal best 14 in a season, a feat that certainly seems possible.

Glass Cleaning
As discussed above, Virginia is a much better team than the record indicates. After all, prior to the game, you had a team that is 0-4 in the ACC and also ranked in the national top 10 in a key statistical category, rebounding. The Cavaliers arrived averaging 46.5 rebounds per game and won rebounds in 11 of their first 14 games. Nearly 17 of those 46 caroms come on the offensive end. Contrast those numbers to a Tar Heel team that conceded 10+ offensive rebounds in half of their 12 non-conference games, and you had a potential mismatch enabling Virginia to have success.

By day's end, though, Virginia was limited to just 10 offensive rebounds, well below the Cavaliers' average, and Carolina became just the fourth team to outboard the 'Hoos this season, doing so 44-39. For Banghart, it's a tangible sign of improvement as the year has gone along.

"(Rebounding) was our Achilles' heel at the beginning of the season," she said. "And we talked about that being a huge part of our growth, and we proved it."

Up Next
Carolina will venture back out onto the road this Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. showdown with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets suffered an 84-46 defeat at Duke on Sunday, a defeat that cooled a hot start to ACC play and dropped Georgia Tech to 3-2 in the conference. Nell Fortner's team starts three sophomores and a true freshman, a group that has taken a step forward after a bumpy 2022-23. Carolina is searching for a sixth win in the last seven meetings against the Yellow Jackets, but only the second win in the span in Atlanta. We'll hit the air at 5:30 p.m. for 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. WCHL's coverage begins at 6:00 p.m., right at game time.

Then on Sunday, another Top 25 showdown awaits the Tar Heels, Carolina's second in as many weeks. No. 23 Carolina will welcome No. 13 Louisville at 2:00 p.m. in a clash of two of the ACC's best in recent years. The Cardinals, opening the week at 15-2 overall and 4-0 in the ACC, suffered a defeat in the last trip to Chapel Hill in 2022, a memorable 66-65 Carolina win over the then-No. 3 Cardinals. Per usual, this game will go a long way toward determining the final ACC pecking order come March. Our broadcast coverage on the Tar Heel Sports Network will start at 1:30 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. 23 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 Wednesday night, Jan. 24, at 8:00 p.m. on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-Matt