Those are the four words that can be found on the bedroom ceiling of every North Carolina women’s basketball player. Those four words were also what kept the Tar Heels from getting their second ACC win of the season in their 80-77 loss against Wake Forest on Thursday.
“During practice one day, I had the managers go over and they taped them to the ceiling, so when they lay down at night to go to bed it is right in front their face,” UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell said.
“Every one of them, when they lay down to go to bed, it’s on their ceiling. It’s in their bathrooms, it’s in their living area, it’s everywhere. I told them the only thing I hadn’t done was pipe it in to their rooms. That’s the next thing I’m going to do.”
Hatchell wants her players to breathe rebounding and boxing out. It’s the first thing they see in the morning, and it’s the last thing they see before they go to bed.
“I still have the one from when they did it last year,” sophomore Stephanie Watts said with a smile. “It’s all over my living room, also.”
But so far this season, the posters have not been enough.
“The rebounding has just been our Achilles all year,” Hatchell said. “It’s killing us.”
In Thursday’s contest, the Tar Heels were outrebounded by the Demon Deacons, 42-32. With a bevy of young post players still developing, and just one player — Hillary Fuller — with solid experience, the inability to rebound cost the team numerous second-chance points and even overshadowed the impressive performances from Watts and versatile guard Paris Kea.
