Carmichael Comments: Why They Do It

It was loud right behind the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast location at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem on Sunday. Carolina had just beaten Wake Forest, 58-50, and we were preparing to conduct the Continental Tire Coaches' Corner postgame interview with Coach Courtney Banghart, an every-game staple of postgame coverage. It's not unusual for Coach's conversation to take place amongst a din: pep bands playing alma maters, raucous Carolina fans celebrating at Carmichael, etc.

But this noise was different: high pitched screams of a girls' youth basketball team that had lined up adjacent to the tunnel used by the Tar Heels to walk back to their locker room. The potential future college players were there to see their idols in action – the Tar Heels they watch on TV, see on social media, and aim to emulate on a daily basis in their own practices and games. Not too long ago, the current Tar Heels were those players.

Never lose sight of this 🩵 pic.twitter.com/piBkqzS3pS — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) February 20, 2024

As Banghart and I chatted about the Carolina win on the radio, the Tar Heels circled around the bench and formed a line to exchange high fives, fist bumps, and autographs with the adoring crowd. When I turned around, I saw a young girl literally brought to tears by meeting Deja Kelly. These young fans, part of a larger contingent of Carolina faithful in the Joel Coliseum, gave the Tar Heels a near-home court advantage even when playing on the road.

"I wish I had better words other than gratitude," Banghart said. "We come here all the time, and we had three-fourths of the crowd today."

Carolina's fourth visit to Joel Coliseum in five seasons featured a 58-50 win that gave Carolina a second straight victory and further distance from a frustrating four-game losing skid from Jan. 28-Feb. 11. Even in the win, not everything went perfectly for the Tar Heels. Banghart herself would be the first to point out the 24 turnovers and 11-for-25 performance at the free throw line. In a way, those numbers were the latest examples of what's been an up-and-down stretch for Carolina on the offensive end of the floor.

The young fans didn't care. They'll remember Alyssa Ustby's career-high 25 points, or Kelly's contested three late to seemingly ice the game. Same for the constantly-present group of Triad-area Carolina fans who may not have the time or resources for a trip to Chapel Hill. One thing we learned from the great Woody Durham: the Tar Heels matter "from Murphy to Manteo." The crowd also contained several Chapel Hill-based fans loyal to the program, and a bus of Carolina students chartered by Carolina Fever to come to Winston-Salem for the occasion.

"I know it's not far – it's only an hour, but people chose to come here on a Sunday night, and it means a whole lot," Banghart said.

Yes, there were frustrations. Yes, there's always pressure being a Division I athlete these days. But the reaction of fans young and old on Sunday reminded everyone that this is what college sports, and being a Carolina Women's Basketball player, is all about.

Here's what else caught my eye this week…

Keep on Shooting
As Carolina fell behind in the second quarter on Thursday in the Tar Heels' home game against Pitt, Lexi Donarski's three-point shots frustratingly would not fall. At one juncture, the graduate student was 0-for-5 from three, and Carolina's offense seemed stuck in the mud.

At the time, you'd think there was no way that Donarski's night would end with a season-best-tying six made threes. But when the first three fell through with 1:50 to go before halftime, a turnaround was underway. Pitt still led by two at the half, and Carolina was just 32 percent from the floor as a team. Banghart and her staff gave the team a message – simple, yet critical.
"We just implored them to remember how good they are and what they've earned, and to go out and do what they do," she said.

After halftime, Donarski hit five of the Tar Heels' eight threes in the half and finished the night with six triples to match a season high, which also occurred in home wins over UNCG and Clemson.

Donarski's unselfishness, a trait that is normally extremely beneficial from a human and leadership perspective, was actually a slight detriment in this case, said Banghart.

"If she missed a few shots, she thought someone else could get a better shot," Donarski's head coach said. "But good shots are the ones that are open when she takes them."

Message received, for sure.

Positional Adjustment Leads to Career High
When Reniya Kelly missed both of this week's games with a lower body injury, Banghart and her staff were forced to adjust Carolina's starting lineup once more to send out a sixth different starting five this season. The logical 1-for-1 swap would have been to insert Indya Nivar, who made a handful of substitute starts earlier this season, into the starting quintet as the third guard. However, Banghart put Anya Poole, the veteran post who had been a starter each of the last two years, into the starting five. The move was made to primarily ensure that a guard substitute was available for players like Deja Kelly or Lexi Donarski, each of whom have played huge chunks of minutes of late.

The trickle-down effect meant Alyssa Ustby would be moving from the power forward "four" spot to playing the "three" – more a guard than a forward.
The move more outside has yielded positive results from the get-go for Ustby, with games of 14 and 25 points, respectively, against Pitt and Wake Forest.

"She's moved to guard and it's been fun to watch her figure out her attack angles and be good on the ball," Banghart remarked.

Not only did Ustby put up a career high against Wake Forest with 25 points (on 10-for-11 shooting, mind you), but she also grabbed 10 rebounds from the guard spot. Positioning as a guard makes that a more impressive accomplishment than her days exclusively operating in the post.

"She was made she missed a triple-double (against Pitt), so she wanted to get better on the glass," Banghart remarked, referencing Ustby's 10 assists on Thursday to go with her 14 points.

Who knows, maybe that second triple-double is coming?

Closing Them Out
A storyline for Carolina at the end of the four-game losing skid was the Tar Heels' struggles to close out a tight possession game, with back-to-back losses in overtime on the heels of a four-point defeat at NC State on Feb. 1. It only makes sense, then, that stopping the skid would require finding a way to win possession games, something that Carolina did in both games this week. Thursday against Pitt, the Tar Heels led by just three as late as 7:45 to play, and the lead was trimmed under to four with less than five minutes to go. Rather than crumble under the pressure, the gritty and veteran Carolina team stepped up to force five Pitt turnovers in the game's final five minutes, outscoring Pitt 15-6 the rest of the way.

On Sunday, though Carolina built its lead over Wake Forest as high as 14 in the first quarter alone, the Demon Deacons hung around and trimmed it as close as six on multiple occasions throughout the second half. Perhaps Wake's best chance to truly swing momentum came with about 8:30 left, when the Demon Deacons missed a three that would have cut the lead to three points, but Carolina punched right back with an assisted layup to go up eight. The lead continued to swell from there, as the Alyssa Ustby bucket started a 13-5 run to push the advantage back to 14 with under two minutes left. Game on the line, big plays made.

"We found a way on the road," Banghart expressed postgame. "Didn't play as well as we would have liked, but we'll take any win we can get."

That's what good teams do, especially in February with the postseason looming.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will embark on a pair of top-10 battles this week – the first time they've played back-to-back top 10 teams since late 2022 against No. 5 Iowa State and new No. 5 Indiana (the polls refreshed between the games). Up first, the penultimate home game of the regular season pits the Tar Heels and NC State for the 119^th time in the storied history of the rivalry. The No. 6 Wolfpack won the first meeting, 63-59, in Raleigh on Feb. 1, with the lone loss since coming to now-No. 8 Virginia Tech. Carmichael has been a difficult venue of late for the Wolfpack, though, with Carolina winning three of the last four annual matchups in Chapel Hill. Thursday's tip is set for 8:00 p.m., with our Tar Heel Sports Network coverage commencing at 7:30 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.

Then on Sunday, the second of two games this regular season with No. 8 Virginia Tech. The Hokies will play their regular season home finale and arrive there on a nine-game winning streak. That includes a 70-61 overtime win in Carmichael Arena on Feb. 4, the fourth straight meeting between Carolina and Virginia Tech to hang in the balance for the final play of regulation. We'll tip it off from Blacksburg at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, with THSN coverage beginning with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 1:30 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.

Additionally, the next Holding Court with Courtney Banghart tapes on Tuesday, Feb. 27 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, Feb. 28, at 8:00 p.m. on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-Matt