Carmichael Comments: Scoring Points

Carmichael Comments: Scoring Points
Vol. 7, No. 10
By: Matt Krause (@MattKrausePxP)

Even by going 1-1 in the last week, the Carolina women's basketball team put its offense on display. The Tar Heels scored 76 points in a 76-51 win over Wake Forest on Thursday night, then poured in 84 in an 86-84 loss to now-No. 25 Florida State on Sunday. Needless to say, a lot of offensive nuggets are featured in this week's edition of Carmichael Comments.

With the win over Wake Forest, Carolina improved to 6-2 in the ACC with its fifth straight win. Carolina now has a five-game win streak in ACC play for the third straight season. The last time Carolina had three straight years of five-game ACC win streaks was 2010-11 through 2012-13 (the final three years pre-Big East expansion).

For the third straight season, Carolina has caught fire in January and won five consecutive ACC games. Part of that success is due to the schedule, sure, but it's a testament to the Tar Heels' consistency in recent seasons. Carolina is one of four ACC teams to win 11 or more ACC games each of the last three seasons, joining Louisville, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech. With a 6-3 record at the halfway mark of ACC play, the Tar Heels are on their way to repeating the accomplishment this season.

The win streak is a testament to the team's growth in areas of focus, Carolina Head Coach Courtney Banghart said.

"I thought outside of that second quarter, we played both ends pretty solidly," she reflected after the Wake Forest win. "(We) shot the ball well because we're getting better shots. We rebounded the ball well because that's been a priority."

Carolina's 56.6% field goal percentage against Wake Forest was the Tar Heels' best in an ACC game under Banghart and since shooting 57.1% against Boston College on Feb. 21, 2019.

The story of the Wake Forest win has to include the fact that the Tar Heels essentially blew out the Demon Deacons twice. Carolina led 22-6 at the conclusion of the first quarter, only to see an uncharacteristic second quarter enable Wake Forest to pull within four at 32-28 at halftime. The Tar Heels committed nine turnovers in the quarter while only making two field goals, but quickly turned the page to win by 25. Carolina shot 67.9% after halftime (19-for-28), and 78.6% in the fourth quarter (11-for-14), both season highs. While Wake Forest came into the game winless in the ACC, their struggles actually rested more on the offensive end than defense, where the Deacs were third in the ACC in scoring defense at just over 61 points per game.

The second half turnaround was sparked in part by a halftime film session that Banghart and her staff prepared for the team.

"I went right to the film and showed them that we didn't play with any pace," she said. "We didn't play with pace on our passing, we didn't play with pace on our cutting."

Once adjustments were made, the offense started to click.

"When we move the ball well, we shoot at a high level," Banghart said.

Lexi Donarski's 15 made threes across the SMU, Pitt, and Wake Forest games were the most for a Tar Heel in a three-game span since December 2018, when Stephanie Watts also hit 15 in three games.

Lexi Donarski had posted five games of five or more made threes in her year-and-a-half long Tar Heel career before the Jan. 16 game at SMU. That night, she went 5-for-6 from three. Five more threes followed at Pitt on Jan. 19. The streak reached three straight games with another 5-for-6 performance against Wake Forest. 15 threes in a three-game span hasn't been achieved by a Tar Heel since Stephanie Watts went off for nine threes against UNCW in December 2018, and added six more in the ensuing two games. But the consistency of achieving 15 threes with three straight games of five? That's something Watts, nor Paris Kea or Jamie Cherry before, or even Ivory Latta achieved.

"She's getting good looks," Banghart explained. "We're making better decisions on when to find her, we know it's a small window of time. She's getting a little bit better off the dribble which is good."

Grace Townsend's 13 points against Wake Forest marked her largest point total in an ACC game. Her five made field goals were a season high.

Grace Townsend arrived in Chapel Hill as a somewhat unique graduate transfer. She was a star at the University of Richmond of the Atlantic 10 Conference for four years, finishing her career in the top 15 in career points in the Richmond record books. Townsend's role as a Tar Heel has been somewhat of an understudy to a rapidly improving Reniya Kelly, but has been able to make her own impact in recent games. After one total point in a three-game span from Miami-Duke, Townsend followed with five or more points in four straight games, including 13 in the Wake Forest win.

Twice late in the first quarter, Townsend utilized her greatest asset: her explosive speed. She burst through Wake defenders with the ball, finished a layup, and took contact to earn a trip to the free throw line for an old-fashioned three-point play.

"She's continuing to find her aggressiveness," Banghart explained. "She's such a great kid and competitor who wants to do what we want her to do. We keep imploring her to be aggressive and realize that her speed is her strength."

Maria Gakdeng scored 21 points against Florida State, her third game of 21 points in ACC play. 11 of her 21 points came in the fourth quarter.

As the Tar Heels went punch-for-punch with Florida State on Sunday, Carolina was able to score inside thanks to Maria Gakdeng's third 21-point performance of ACC play, joining games against Georgia Tech and Miami. The effort against Florida State marked a return to form for Gakdeng, who had scored in double figures in eight of nine games since a return from a lower body injury in late November, only to achieve the feat once in the next five before the game against the Seminoles. Gakdeng's seven made free throws against Florida State matched her season high as well.

Up Next
At long last, it's time to head west. No. 15 Carolina will venture to Berkeley, Calif. for a matchup against No. 19 California on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. ET. Carolina and Cal are tied 2-2 all-time, but will meet for the first time as conference foes on Thursday. The Golden Bears, seeking their first NCAA Tournament trip since 2019 (when they beat Carolina in the first round), are 11-0 at home, and boast an offense that hits over nine threes per game to rank in the top 15 nationally. Our THSN coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show at 9:30 p.m. ET. 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, Carolina heads across the Bay to face Stanford for the fifth time in program history. Carolina's one win over Stanford came when the Cardinal were ranked No. 5 in November 2014, and the Tar Heels grabbed a 70-54 win in Hawai'i. By Stanford standards, the Cardinal is down this season, the first post-Tara VanDerveer. However, playing on the road is always tough. Tip on Sunday is set for 3:00 p.m. ET, and our THSN coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET with the Reeds Jewelers Pregame Show. 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, and will air on WCHL at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29. We'll tape again next Tuesday, Feb. 4, at the Sheraton Chapel Hill at Noon. That's a one-week-only change from Monday to Tuesday – we'll be back to Mondays on Feb. 10.

That's all for now. Go Heels!

-Matt