My children settled in and I was glad I'd gotten dinner en route. My son left our extra seat between us like he knew this was going to require some room for mommy. My daughter took her usual "we are playing a really good team, we better bring it" position. The child will never have nails.
This was one of those games that sends you as a fan, home tired from the battle. I have learned as I have gotten older and had children not to scream until I had no voice; but I definitely tortured my throat in this one. Was it worth it? SCOREBOARD!
The Tar Heels did play from behind in this game; but they showed a toughness we all knew was in them. It was an "It's February of the ACC season" toughness. This game was not pretty. There were almost 50 fouls called and neither team is great at the charity stripe. There was more than one stoppage for an injury (no one seriously hurt thankfully). There were bodies flying everywhere and the teams combined for more than 40 turnovers. North Carolina trailed by 9 early when the score was15 to 6 and trailed by 7 at halftime. It was also a game where heroes emerged. At the end of the first half, our two best players, Allisha Gray and Stephanie Mavunga had combined for 6 points. North Carolina was down by 7. That was largely due to the play of Hillary Summers.
Hillary Summers: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)
That's a career high and nearly a double double! I was thrilled for her and for the team. North Carolina went on a European tour during the summer prior to her freshman year and I'd heard she was doing really well and was so excited to see her play. She tore her ACL in a practice after that trip though and she's been quiet but showed flashes coming in off the bench the two seasons since then. It was great to see her use her size crashing the boards, keeping the ball high inside and finishing. She also came out to the perimeter when North Carolina switched on screens and showed herself to be quite mobile. She hit 4 of her 5 field goal attempts and it was great to see her get some press time after the game. For Florida State, their leading scorers were held in check in the first half; but Ivey Slaughter was in double figures in the first 20 minutes. She actually managed 15 points in the 19 minutes she played, which I believe was less than usual due to foul trouble.
The 2nd half
I generally consider a 7 point deficit kind of on the edge of a danger zone. If you don't manage a couple of scores early on, you can find yourself staring at a double digit deficit. And that is what happened. After several possessions where each team failed to find the basket, Florida State hit a 3-point bucket increasing their lead to 10 points.
The folks in the striped shirts had been active early and continued to blow the whistles in what wasn't really that physical a game at least compared to some I'd seen. But it turned. It seemed like the players decided if there were going to be a lot of calls, they'd test the waters. I don't know that I'd seen a game with this many offensive fouls. It seemed touch fouls were called and harder contact wasn't. It seemed frustrating for the post players. Florida State's Adut Bulgak fouled out near the end. North Carolina's Stephanie Mavunga wasn't quite comfortable but did get loose for 11 points and 4 rebounds, which she managed in 20 minutes.
Stephanie Mavunga: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)
It was a tough one for her. I'm glad Hillary Summers came in a played so well. Opposing teams are more and more determined to clamp down on Stephanie the longer Xylina McDaniel is sidelined. She continued to attack and got trips to the line where she got 5 of her 11 points. Bulgak battled hard inside and had 13 rebounds; but finished well below her average with 9 points. The officiating had some to do with both teams post players' numbers; but for Bulgak, the combination of Hillary Summers and Stephanie Mavunga was also too much to overcome.
Brittany Rountree: 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
In double figures for the 2nd consecutive game; but the rest of the stat line tells the story on what I'm going to miss about Brittany when she is done at the end of this season. Just out there making things happen as a senior in a big game.
Jamie Cherry: 5 points, 2 assists, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)
Latifah Coleman: 6 points, 1 assist, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
Our point guards had a tough night. Jamie had some absolutely sick moves to the hoop she didn't quite finish and a couple of tough plays where there was some miscommunication. Latifah had some tough plays as well; but one thing about her which is something that has developed over time is she keeps her head up and fight through. Late in the game with it on the line, she broke through for a couple of huge baskets in the lane that drew fouls on FSU players. I wonder if one inspired this reaction from Coach Latta. I think she still wants to get back out there.
Ivory Latta '07 (photo from www.goheels.com)
The folks in the striped shirts made me think we'd be there all night. Both teams had some foul trouble.
N'Dea Bryant: 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)
Along with her 2nd career start, N'Dea got to spend a significant amount of time guarding Bulgak and that was a tall task. She had a couple of plays where I thought she'd gotten all ball; but the officials didn't agree so she was a bit limited. She never showed any fear of crashing the boards against the taller Seminoles. The rest will come.
This crew really worked their whistles. I never like to see more fouls than minutes played; but they also seemed unsure of themselves at times. I thought to myself, if they don't get it together, something is going to go wrong.
Danielle Butts: 2 points, 2 assists (photo from www.goheels.com)
Going after a loose ball, a Florida State player jumped into Danielle's path. It was an awful collision; and obviously a foul on the Florida State player. The initial call however charged the foul to Danielle (Butts) which sent Carmichael Auditorium into a frenzy and resulted in seeing this for the 2nd time this season. She went from Coach to momma on a dime.
(photo from www.goheels.com)
Thankfully they corrected the error and both players are okay; but if I don't see this crew again I will be okay. But in the end, they had another lasting effect on the game.
BOOM!
I can't say I've ever seen Allisha Gray play "angry". She's usually very steady even when things aren't going well. But in the last quarter or so of this one, she looked different. In the post game presser she admitted to being angered in the game. Let me just say, I don't mind angry Allisha.
Allisha Gray: 22 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
Not that we didn't know she could take over a game; but it was beautiful to watch. She did most of the damage in the final few minutes of the game. She was scoring in the paint, at the free throw line and yes, the 3 point line. For a stretch it seemed she was grabbing every rebound. And this...
photo from www.goheels.com
This was a block on what looked to be a sure 2 points when Florida State was trying to increase the lead. Still not sure how she got to it. A friend said, "In the end we had Allisha Gray and they didn't." No doubt, this was an All-American type of performance. And she comes with an All-American attitude. She's as humble as they come.
It can't be said enough. This was a huge win. Florida State is a conference opponent and a top 10 team. As the regular season winds down every win is going to be crucial. To pull together and get this win in what was a bit of an ugly game makes me very proud of the staff and players. North Carolina scored 71 points on a team that normally allows just over 50 points per game and held a team to just over 60 that averages close to 80 points.
Conversations around Carmichael let me know the significance of this one wasn't lost on anyone. My daughter knew it as she made her way down to stand on the sideline for the team's victory lap. She even waited patiently for Stephanie to finish her interview and come around. I let her wait. the more she sees of them the more I like it. I take all the help I can get reinforcing the concept that you have to work hard to accomplish things even when you are gifted. Not an athlete; but she's studying music; but it translates anyway.
Have to build on this one. The Tar Heels head into Louisville on Sunday to face the Cardinals who are at this point enjoying a lot of success in their first season in the ACC.
Until then,
Go Heels!
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