Carmichael Comments: Dancing Time

When Carolina women's basketball head coach Courtney Banghart was asked to provide her initial reactions to the Tar Heels' selection to the NCAA Tournament, she came back to a point that is both true and underappreciated: just how difficult it is to qualify for March Madness.

"We recognize how hard it is to make the tournament," she said.

For Banghart, who has qualified for the event 12 times in 17 seasons as a head coach (with the tournament canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic), that statement is especially impactful. Each season, only 68 of 360 teams have the ability to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, less than 20 percent of all Division I programs. Yet in all but two of the last 14 tournaments to be contested, she's been there – that includes four straight years at Carolina.

"We're thrilled to be in the 2024 edition," she continued.

The Tar Heels will open their 31st NCAA Tournament on Friday, playing the first game of the First Round at 11:30 a.m. in Columbia, S.C. against Michigan State. Carolina was named the No. 8 seed in the event's Albany 1 Regional, with the opposing Spartans the No. 9 seed. South Carolina was named No. 1 overall seed and the top seed in the region, earning them hosting duties for the subregional this weekend. Also headed for Columbia are a pair of 16 seeds in Presbyterian and Sacred Heart, who will square off Wednesday in a First Four game for the right to play South Carolina.

While a potential Second Round matchup with South Carolina immediately grabbed the attention of many, the Tar Heels know that it's one game at a time during March. Banghart said Sunday she was eager to begin studying Michigan State and prepare for a "formidable" Big Ten opponent.

Having an opponent to prepare for, especially one that that is unfamiliar, marks a return to a routine of sorts for the Tar Heels. Since Carolina's March 7th exit from the ACC Tournament, any team activity has been self-focused in practice. Banghart pointed out that during the season, there's always an opponent to prepare for and devote practice time toward, so taking an entire week to balance rest, recovery, and inward development is a welcome luxury. Tar Heel players had three days off, then a week of preparation that coincided with the University's spring break. While the journey of the 2023-24 Tar Heels is closer to its end than its beginning – regardless of outcome this week – every day is valuable for improvement and preparation.

"Every day helps in our process," Banghart said.

One thing the Tar Heels won't lack in Friday morning's game is experience. The members of the heralded senior class of Deja Kelly, Anya Poole, Alyssa Ustby, and Alexandra Zelaya have played in six NCAA Tournament games over their Carolina careers, advancing in the event each of the last two years. Not only that, they've handled the challenges necessary to reach the threshold for qualification and be one of those 68 teams selected each year of their Tar Heel career. Carolina's body of work, with wins over some of the nation's best teams in Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Louisville, and NC State, and 19 wins in total, is what earned Carolina their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, it's time for that experience and success to shine. It's March. One game at a time.

Opponent Previews

(9) Michigan State Spartans

2023-24: 22-8, 12-6 Big Ten – fell to Nebraska 73-61 in Big Ten Quarterfinals
Series Record: UNC leads, 4-1
Last Meeting: UNC wins, 62-53, at Carmichael Arena on Mar. 25, 2014 (NCAA Second Round)
Coach Banghart Record: First Meeting

Carolina's first opponent in the NCAA Tournament is led by a familiar face for Coach Banghart. Banghart and first-year Michigan State Head Coach Robyn Fralick are good friends, a relationship fostered by their involvement in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and professional development conversations during their careers. Fralick mentioned in her press conference after the selections were announced that Banghart texted her immediately after the announcement, while Banghart said she had been loosely following the Spartans throughout the season to support Fralick's first season at the power conference level. Fralick, who inherited the Michigan State job following Suzy Merchant stepping down in 2023 to conclude a 16-year run, came to East Lansing from Bowling Green. While at Bowling Green, Fralick led her team to a 88-73 overall record, but 69-31 mark in her final three seasons. The stint with the Falcons followed a three-year run at Division II Ashland University, where Fralick went a remarkable 104-3 with a 2017 National Championship.

This year's MSU team is an unselfish group that averages over 83 points per game and can score from all five positions. Julia Ayrault, listed as a guard/forward on the roster, plays the "five" spot and leads the team with a 15.4 PPG average, good enough to earn her a spot on the All-Big Ten first team. She also leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 per game. Guard Moira Joiner was named All-Big Ten second team and averages 14.7 points per game while taking about half of her shots from three at 43.2 percent. Two other players average double figures in scoring – second-team All-Big Ten guard DeeDee Hagemann at 12.4 PPG (and 5.1 APG), and reserve guard Theryn Hallock at 11.1 PPG. Hallock was named Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year. As explosive as MSU is on offense, they are vulnerable defensively by allowing opponents to shoot 43.3%, 13th in the 14-team Big Ten and 306th nationally.

(1) South Carolina Gamecocks

2023-24: 32-0, 16-0 SEC – won SEC Tournament Final vs. LSU, 79-72
Series Record: UNC leads, 11-10
Last Meeting: South Carolina wins, 65-58, at Carmichael Arena on Nov. 30, 2023
Coach Banghart Record: South Carolina leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Same as above

The lone undefeated team remaining in all of Division I basketball is the South Carolina Gamecocks. Should Carolina advance to Sunday, it would take arguably the greatest upset in college basketball history for the Tar Heels' opponent to not be South Carolina, the host for this weekend's action. Dawn Staley's team claimed the 2017 and 2022 National Championships and would have been the odds-on favorite to win in 2020 had the NCAA Tournament not been canceled. For the second straight season, the Gamecocks enter March Madness undefeated. A year ago, South Carolina fell victim to Iowa and Caitlin Clark in the Final Four, their lone loss of the season sending them packing short of a championship. The Gamecocks then lost all five starters to graduation and the professional ranks, but have been the best team in the nation all year with a new cast. Four Gamecocks were named to All-SEC teams, with center Kamilla Cardoso selected to the first team and earning Defensive Player of the Year honors. G Raven Johnson, G Te-Hina Paopao, and F Ashlyn Watkins were picked to the All-SEC second team, while Staley was named Coach of the Year. Cardoso's 14 points per game lead the team, as do her 9.5 rebounds per game. Around the 6-7 center, the Gamecocks shoot the three exceptionally well – 39.7 percent ranks third nationally, and Paopao herself is third in the nation at 47.1 percent.

Obviously, these two teams have a bit of a history, as South Carolina won 65-58 in Carmichael Arena after trailing at halftime back on Nov. 30 in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Two seasons ago in 2022, the schools clashed in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro, a 69-61 Gamecock win. Carolina is one of two teams (Stanford being the other) to play South Carolina multiple times in the last three seasons and not suffer a loss by double digits in any game.

(16) Sacred Heart Pioneers

2023-24: 24-9, 15-1 Northeast Conference – won NEC Tournament Final vs. Le Moyne, 69-48
Series Record: First Meeting
Coach Banghart Record: Sacred Heart leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Sacred Heart wins, 64-56, in Princeton, N.J. on Dec. 14, 2008
Sacred Heart, one of the two teams in the First Four game that feeds into South Carolina's First Round matchup, won its second straight Northeast Conference championship on Sunday with a 21-point blowout win over Le Moyne. It's Sacred Heart's fifth-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, having also been to the Dance in 2006, 2009, and 2012 before the last two years. A season ago, Sacred Heart beat Southern in a First Four game for their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, then fell to Stanford 92-49 in the First Round. Jessica Mannetti is in her 11th season at Sacred Heart as Head Coach and has spent the last two coaching two-time NEC Player of the Year Ny'Ceara Pryor. The 5-3 guard averages 18.9 points per game and 4.5 assists a game while also collecting over seven rebounds a game.

(16) Presbyterian Blue Hose

2023-24: 20-14, 8-8 Big South– won Big South Tournament Final vs. Radford, 60-37
Series Record: UNC leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: UNC wins, 91-56, at Carmichael Arena on Dec. 5, 2017
Coach Banghart Record: First Meeting

Presbyterian entered the Big South Tournament as the No. 5 seed yet reeled off an improbable run to win their first league title. The Blue Hose beat Charleston Southern 54-51 in their first tournament clash, then upset top seed and host High Point 59-50 before blasting Radford by 23. Center Bryanna Brady was a second team All-Big South pick and is tied for the team lead with 12.4 PPG, a distinction she shares with guard Tilda Sjökvist, a Swedish native shooting 31 percent from three-point range. Alaura Sharp is in her sixth season as Presbyterian's head coach and has guided the team to a fourth-place finish last season and fifth-place mark this year in the Big South. The 20 wins this season are Presbyterian's most in school history.

Up Next

As we've discussed several times through this column, the Tar Heels' postseason run opens up on Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Columbia against Michigan State. Our Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast coverage commences at 11 a.m. with an NCAA Tournament edition of the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. There are no special circumstances or restrictions on our Learfield postseason broadcasts, so you'll hear the call in all the normal places: worldwide for free on the Varsity Network App from Learfield, GoHeels.com, or the GoHeels app, or locally in the Triangle on 97.9 FM/1360 AM WCHL, the flagship station of Carolina women's basketball.

For all potential games the rest of the way for the Tar Heels – which, coincidentally, will take place on a Friday/Sunday cadence in Columbia, Albany, and Cleveland – our THSN coverage will begin a half hour prior to each game. You can hear any of these broadcasts on all the outlets above.

Be on the lookout for a final edition of Holding Court, an NCAA Tournament preview edition of the show. It will be available Wednesday on the Tar Heel Voices podcast channel, and on Wednesday night, Mar. 20, at 7:00 p.m. on WCHL 97.9 FM/1360 AM.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-Matt