CHAPEL HILL, NC – When the West Virgnia women’s basketball team (25-6) takes the floor inside Carmichael Arena at the University of North Carolina on Monday night, the sixth-seeded Mountaineers will be out to make history.
The third-seeded Tar Heels (28-7) stand in the way with a team that not only attacks its opponents with balanced scoring but also presents a challenge in the frontcourt that WVU is more than familiar with. Mountaineer head coach Mark Kellogg says for his team to become the second in program history to reach the Sweet Sixteen, they’ll need a complete performance on both ends of the floor.
“This is what happens when you get into these round-of-32 type games, Sweet 16-type games. You’re getting quality teams that are very well coached. They spread you around sand, like I said, and do it in a lot of different ways. Really good on the offensive end and elite defensively,” he said.
North Carolina followed West Virginia’s victory over Columbia on Saturday by knocking off 14-seed Oregon State, 70-49. The Tar Heels led by just two at halftime but a 30-9 scoring margin in the third quarter turned the tide for the host team.
Kellogg noted that the effort put on by UNC in the second half underscores just how important it is to play a complete game when March arrives.
“You do need to play 40 minutes, without question, and you need to sustain it. Yeah, these games seem like they take forever. You hang onto every possession. The intensity is ratcheted up several notches than throughout the regular season,” he said, “They just have a different feel. And you really truly hang on to each possession, one at a time.”
Three Tar Heels average better than ten points per game, led by 6-3 forward Maria Gakdeng at 11.3 per contest. North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart believes there could be opportunities for her leading scorer to impact the game based on how West Virginia defends.
“We call Maria “the problem” because she’s a real problem 1-v-1 so playing on a double-team means you’re leaving other guys open, right? Also, if you’re going to be really aggressive in passing lanes, you’re not in gaps. Those passing lanes into the post should be easier. They weren’t as easy against Oregon State because they played more of a sagging defense, right? So there was a crowd in there. They want to crowd the perimeter and make it really difficult. That means there’s going to be space in the interior, and so that’s kind of a little bit of the gamesmanship,” she said.
With 6-3 senior Kylee Blacksten the only Mountaineer starter over 5-10, eyes might be drawn to how West Virginia could match up with a UNC lineup that only has one player under 5-10. Kellogg has heard that line before and he’s more than prepared to put a game plan together to combat that height.
“We go into every game and we don’t have a size advantage so that’s not new for us. We do have to game plan for that. So I’m not trying to downplay it because Gakdeng is having a really good year, and I’ve coached against her when she was at BC,” he said.
For North Carolina, Banghart is well aware of the defensive challenge that awaits her guards. WVU’s backcourt tandem of JJ Quinerly and Jordan Harrison combined for 50 of the Mountaineers’ 78 points in the win over Columbia on Saturday.
Banghart is hoping that the guards her team faced in conference play will have them prepared for taking on what West Virginia has to offer.
“You just thank your ACC counterparts, right? Try guarding (Florida State’s) Ta’Niya Latson and O’Mariah Gordon. Try that out for size, right? And then try to guard (Notre Dame’s) Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo. Try that, right? And then go try to guard (North Carolina State’s) Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers and Zoe Brooks, right? These are, I just named ten first-round draft picks, right? It isn’t that different, honestly. You have really good guard play in March. You have really good guard play on ranked teams and so they’re hard to guard,” she said.
UNC junior guard Indya Nivar was quick to note that, despite both being listed under 5-9, Quinerly and Harrison excel at racking up points close to the basket. She says the key to stopping the duo will be making sure they don’t get many one-on-one opportunities.
“They hunt paint touches, and they’re very crafty as well with the ball, so making sure we’re crowding them, putting them in a crowd I think is the best thing for us to do in this game, putting them in a crowd, making sure that our players are not on islands,” she said.
For West Virginia, focus will certainly be put on stopping the variety of offensive options that Banghart can throw at the Mountaineers. All five UNC starters average better than eight points per game with seniors Lexi Donarski and Alyssa Ustby joining Gakdeng in double figures on Saturday and for the season.
“We’ve definitely got to rev up the pressure for sure,” Quinerly said, “They have a lot of girls that can do a lot of things — shoot, drive — so we have to stay locked in and pressure them, try to make them make mistakes.”
Not only will West Virginia have to combat a deep team of Tar Heels, the Mountaineers also face the task of dealing with an expected raucous crowd in Chapel Hill. More than 5300 fans packed Carmichael Arena for UNC’s win over Oregon State, most dressed head to toe in Carolina blue.
North Carolina’s junior point guard Reniya Kelly says they’re focused on giving their seniors a win in their final game in front of a home crowd.
“I think because the game is at 7 pm now, it’s actually going to be a really, really good crowd [Monday]. And also it means a lot, obviously. We want to do this for the seniors, I think Alyssa (Ustby), Lexi (Donarski), Kayla (McPherson), Maria (Gakdeng), Grace (Townsend), we want to do this for them so the fact that they can play here their last game at our home gym is amazing,” she said.
The Mountaineers appear unfazed by the crowd headed into the primetime matchup. Harrison says that after facing Caitlin Clark and Iowa in last year’s tournament, there aren’t many home court advantages that will affect her team.
“I think it’s going to be kind of hard to beat what we saw last year. I’m glad that we were in that situation. So now when this situation presents itself we’re prepared and we know what to expect,” she said, “But honestly, we’re just going to control what we can control on the court. If they’re not scoring then the crowd can’t really get into it, that’s what we’re going to stick to.”
West Virginia takes the court in hopes of reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1992 on Monday night with tipoff against North Carolina set for 7pm on ESPN2.