Carmichael Comments: Balanced

Carmichael Comments: Balanced
Vol. 7, No. 6
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

We're now into the month of December, enough time to make some broad observations about the makeup of this Carolina Women's Basketball team for 2024-25. We know that Carolina boasts one of the nation's best defenses, capable of clamping down opposing leading scorers and making life difficult for offenses for a full 40 minutes – that's been written about in this column and plenty of other places. But what's also coming into focus is the team's balanced nature offensively. More on that in this edition of Carmichael Comments.

Carolina has now been led in scoring by eight different players this season, the most in a single season under Banghart.

When Maria Gakdeng led the Tar Heels in scoring against Coppin State on Sunday, she became the eighth different Carolina player to pace the team's offensive output in a game this season. Already – in just 10 games – that's the highest number of players to lead the team in a season in the six-year Courtney Banghart era. The majority of leading scorers have been guards, but Gakdeng and wing/forward Alyssa Ustby have also led the team along the way. A look at the stat sheet shows no player is taking 10 shots per game, yet nine players average at least four shots per game. Carolina has one player –

Alyssa Ustby – averaging double digits in scoring, and she's not among the top 25 scorers in the ACC at press time.

Yet, the Tar Heels are 9-1.

"They just want our team to win," Banghart said. "If you look at the shot distribution, everyone's somewhere between four and 10 (a game). We're a tough team when we do it by committee."

The number of leading scorers could easily grow to nine when you consider that names like Ciera Toomey, Blanca Thomas, or Grace Townsend aren't among Carolina's scoring leaders thus far.

Over the last two games, Carolina has conceded just 18 points in the paint. That's the best in a two-game span since TCU and South Carolina State had 12 combined on Nov. 12 and 16, 2022.

Kentucky entered Thursday's game winning the paint in six of their first seven games, and piling up at least 25 points in the paint against each power conference opponent they'd faced (Louisville, Arizona State, and Illinois). That shouldn't surprise you when you realize the Wildcats started three players standing 6'3 or taller, and brought a 6'7 option off the bench. Carolina, though, flipped that trend on its head, utilizing their quickness and athleticism to score at the rim while also flummoxing Kentucky defensively. A key for the Tar Heels coming in was to "make the size move" and make Kentucky's size a disadvantage.

"I kept telling them at timeouts, 'don't just let them be tall,'" Banghart reflected. "We have to make tall people move, and the possessions we did that, we got really good looks."

The defensive success was built on the team's preparation.

"Even in shootaround, we spent the first 16 minutes (on) the posts and their favorite move. We wanted to force plan B and then take that away."

Carolina followed that up by allowing Coppin State only eight points in the paint on Sunday.

The 19-point win against Kentucky was Carolina's best against a ranked opponent since beating No. 18 Syracuse by 24 (92-68) on Dec. 17, 2020. The 19-point win is the best against a Top 15 opponent since a 26-point win over No. 10 Miami in the ACC Semifinals on Mar. 5, 2011.

Not only did Carolina beat Kentucky, they did so in convincing fashion, pulling away to win by 19. The Wildcats tied the game at 2-2 early in the first quarter, but the ensuing 9-0 Carolina run gave the Tar Heels the lead for good, and Kentucky never got closer than four points at 27-23.

It was a far cry from the nail-biters Carolina played against now-Kentucky Head Coach Kenny Brooks when he led the Virginia Tech Hokies. You may remember that from March 2022-February 2024, four consecutive Carolina-Virginia Tech games came down to overtime or the final possession of regulation.

Carolina is now 66-4 under Banghart when holding its opponent under 60 points.

66-4 in the last six seasons and 9-0 this season, that is. Carolina has held four of its last five opponents under the 50 point mark, with Kentucky's season-low 53 points the lone outlier there. The Wildcats arrived scoring over 78 per game, and walked out 25 points below that average.

"I thought we defended really, really, really well," Banghart said after the win over Kentucky. "That's a really hard team to guard. They have a ton of actions, a ton of counters."
Coppin State, who had beaten the Big XII's Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday, were scoring over 60 points per game and scored just 46 against the Tar Heels.

Reniya Kelly scored a season-high 18 points on a season-best five made field goals. She matched her season high with three made three-pointers and her career high with six assists. Kelly becomes the first Tar Heel with six assists or more in consecutive games since Deja Kelly against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech on Feb. 19 and 23, 2023.

Reniya Kelly had established a career high with six assists against North Carolina Central on Nov. 29. No disrespect intended toward the Eagles, but replicating the feat against Kentucky certainly turned some more heads. Even more head-turning? She handed out six assists while committing just one turnover and pouring in 18 points to lead the team.
Kelly, who missed the final nine games of last season with injury, was just starting to come into her own when her freshman campaign was cut short. Now, she's back. Kelly is shooting the three remarkably well (9-for-12) in her last four games, and is at 56% on the season. Throw in a 2.1 assist:turnover ratio and 91% success rate at the free throw line, and Kelly is making winning plays constantly.

"+28 says it all as a plus-minus," Banghart said post-Kentucky, reflecting on Carolina's scoring margin with Kelly in the game. "She played great. Put a lot of time in in the offseason and has matured a lot. I've trusted her from the beginning. She deserves every bit of this."

Up Next
Carolina remains home for a pair of games this week, beginning with a non-conference game against UNCG on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It's the second straight season that the Spartans have made the trip to Carmichael Arena, with Carolina moving to 13-0 all-time against their neighbors to the west a year ago with an 81-66 win. Our THSN coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 6:30 p.m. Catch the call worldwide for free on the Varsity Network app from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app, as well as on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

Then on Sunday, a Georgia Tech team off to its best start since 1977-78 will come in for the 2024-25 ACC opener. Carolina will open the league slate at home for a third consecutive season, and will look to beat Georgia Tech at home for a seventh consecutive meeting. The top 25 showdown between the No. 14 Tar Heels and No. 25 Yellow Jackets will tip at 2:00 p.m., and our THSN coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 1:30 p.m. Catch the call worldwide for free on the Varsity Network app from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app, as well as on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

If you missed it, this week's edition of Holding Court is available now on the Tar Heel Voices Podcast Channel.

That's all for now. Go Heels!
-Matt