STANFORD — The No. 4 seed North Carolina women’s basketball team will face No. 1 seed South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 on Sunday. Here are some notes heading into the matchup:
1. Two different teams
The last time the Tar Heels and the Gamecocks matched up was Dec. 18 in Myrtle Beach, where the then-No. 14 Tar Heels took the game from No. 10 South Carolina 74-66. But as conference play has now come to a close and the teams are hoping to make deep tournament runs, both squads know that the other has matured, and that the contest that ensued the week before Christmas can’t be read into too deeply.
South Carolina coach and SEC coach of the year Dawn Staley said that her team very briefly looked at the film from the first game, but that to get a better gauge on North Carolina, it’s been watching more recent games. To find more success this time around, she said her team has to have a more prominent post presence.
“We’re not a 3-point shooting team. If we can be efficient out there I think it will help our ball club,” she said.
“(But) what is most important is probably our post players being 15 for 23. We’re going to try to use our post players a lot more than we used them Dec. 18th.”
North Carolina associate head coach Andrew Calder anticipates that being the case Sunday.
“South Carolina is a much-improved team in my mind. Since then, I think they’ve changed their identity a little bit,” he said.
“I think they’re making more of an emphasis to get the ball inside — playing inside-outside basketball.”
But his team’s game plan, however, hasn’t changed much. The focus is still on a fast tempo in transition.
“That’s our style and coach (Sylvia) Hatchell’s style forever,” he said.
“We want to take advantage of the hopefully easy opportunities we might have.”
And though the Tar Heels are technically the underdogs — UNC is a No. 4 seed, while South Carolina is a No. 1 — that mentality certainly hasn’t made its way into the locker room.
“They are a No. 1 seed,” sophomore forward Xylina McDaniel said.
“But they are beatable.”
2. Hatchell still involved
It’s been five months since North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell publicly announced that she’d be sidelined indefinitely due to a leukemia diagnosis, but she assured the public that she’d still be involved as much as possible as the leader of this North Carolina team, and that’s just what she’s done.
“It was obviously very difficult in the beginning. We were dealt a lightning bolt there. They have so much love and respect for coach Hatchell,” Calder said.
“For her not to be their head coach this year was difficult at the beginning, but they have adjusted. They are working extremely hard, not only for themselves, but for her also. She continues to be so much involved with everything to do with this team.”
During the season, Hatchell has watched as many games and practices as her health and schedule has allowed for and has been in constant communication with Calder. Calder said the two of them spoke for 20 minutes Saturday about Sunday’s game plan, and Thursday Hatchell told reporters that she would likely be back on the sidelines in Nashville if her team made it to the Final Four next weekend.
“What happened with coach Hatchell, it hurt us a lot, especially in the beginning,” McDaniel said.
“Right now, she’s still not able to be with us, so we’re still using it as motivation ... the only thing that’s different is that she’s not physically with us. But we’re using her as motivation every single day.”
3. Zipping up Coates
In Diamond DeShields and Alaina Coates, Sunday’s matchup will feature both the ACC’s and SEC’s rookie of the year. DeShields is also espnW’s national freshman of the year and scored 17 points in 21 minutes the last time the two teams met. Coates, who averages 12 points per game — good for third best on her team — played for nine scoreless minutes.
“Mentally, I wasn’t ready for the game,” she said.
“We prepared but I wasn’t necessarily there with my team, and I wasn’t able to contribute, unfortunately. But over the course of time, I’ve been able to develop, and this time I should be able to help my teammates in every way possible.”
DeShields said that stopping Coates again is certainly doable.
“Alaina is a strong presence down low and I feel like Xylina (McDaniel) and her have played against each other a couple times before,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s more about what we can do, it’s more about what Xylina can do, and I think she’s going to get the job done.”
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