One of the beauties of sports is the ability to bounce back when things don’t go your way. During the bulk of the college basketball season, the wait to step back on the game court after a loss is just two or three days. It’s even sooner to get back on the practice court.
But when the Carolina women’s basketball team fell to Michigan in a disappointing 76-68 loss in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte on Dec. 20, that wait was longer. Much longer. With the five-day Christmas break immediately after the loss, and nine days until the next game, players and coaches had an opportunity to feel the defeat and analyze the contest. And while logic suggests that forgetting such a disappointing game might be best, Carolina coach Courtney Banghart felt differently. So, she issued a challenge.
“I thought Michigan was a real turning point for us,” she reflected. “We sat on it. I asked (the players) to think on it and sit on it all break and come up with something they individually were going to do to change the course of how we were playing.”
So the Tar Heels scattered, heading back to their homes and spending some down time away from the team. ACC play loomed on the horizon when the break was over. Fortunately, the challenge to improve was well-received and seemed to take hold over the break.
“They came back with a renewed sense of purpose,” Banghart said.
But the Michigan game still wasn’t in the rearview mirror quite just yet.
“We made them watch it the first day back,” the fourth-year Tar Heel head coach said.
Recommitting to playing with physicality and energy, Carolina embarked on the ACC journey and tangled with Florida State and Virginia Tech in the first week of league action. The win-loss column may not reflect the growth since Michigan, as FSU walked away with a 78-71 win at Carmichael Arena and Virginia Tech eked out a 68-65 home win on Sunday, but the process certainly shows improvement.
“We’ve gotten back to ourselves, which is a group of fighters that are focused on the growth that we have to have at this level and the toughness we have to play with,” Banghart said.
An obvious area of improvement is starting games. Carolina trailed each of the four ranked non-conference teams they played by at least 12 points. Yes, the Tar Heels won two of those games, but having to dig from a large hole isn’t…
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