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“Sweet 16, here we go, baby, here we go!” That was Courtney Banghart.
The Carolina women’s basketball coach reveled in her team reaching the program’s 19th trip to the NCAA regional, and it was a special sendoff to her underclass players for this season and for Alyssa Ustby and other seniors in their last home game ever.
Carmichael Arena was not filled to capacity, but the lively and participatory crowd felt and sounded like it was the men’s team in the old Blue Heaven days with a bravo defensive stand that offset 17 turnovers and just so-so shooting, holding back sixth-seeded West Virginia every time the Mountaineers made a push.
The Tar Heels led for much of the game, but there were three ties and four lead changes as the stubborn Mounties weren’t done until an 11-3 run into the fourth quarter gave UNC fans a chance to catch their breath between roars and sent the third-seeded Heels off to Birmingham and another meeting with No. 2 seed Duke.
The archrivals split their home-and-home series this season with Carolina losing to the Dukies on the Blue Devils’ Senior Day playing without the injured Ustby and sophomore star Reniya Kelly, who goes back to her home state of Alabama. So while neither team seems like a serious threat to beat the powerhouse programs for the national championship, they both have a reasonable chance to win two more games and make the Final Four.
Banghart heaped praise on their defense and said she would take the night to celebrate before starting to prepare for Friday’s headliner. The Tar Heels toughed it out over scrappy opponents by repelling each rally with a run and retook the lead for good with 9 of Ustby’s game-high 21 points, plus 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 steals. She did have 6 of the turnovers, most at full speed trying to make a play for herself or her teammates.
Back to the crowd cheering and clapping under 10 women’s ACC basketball championship banners and those of volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics that also compete there and had made their respective NCAA tournaments. West Virginia came in wearing black uniforms with a fan base in mostly gold along with their mascot in a Davy Crockett fur cap and a musket as two mini-pep bands also battled it out.
Carmichael has become a great fan experience, maybe even better than the Smith Center. Tickets are cheap, even for NCAA games ($25 and $20). During timeouts, they show other NCAA games live on the overhanging video scoreboard and have cool interactive promotions that includes tossing t-shirts from both teams. With virtually every game on television, all should continue to help Banghart recruit well.
In the end, it was all about defense, which held West Virginia to only 24 percent shooting and an awful 2 of 21 from the 3-point line.
“Sweet 16, baby, here we go!”
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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