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#UNC coach Courtney Banghart after the Tar Heels senior day loss to Virginia
Mar 2, 2025
#UNC coach Courtney Banghart after the Tar Heels senior day loss to Virginia
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0:00
um well give U Virginia a lot of credit
0:04
they they just kept going you know they
0:05
shot the ball really well from three
0:07
they made 11 threes on us um you know
0:09
not something that they do that well um
0:12
you know that's kind of what you have
0:13
when you're playing with house money
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right you're sort of like you're going
0:16
to make the ACC tournament you're
0:17
probably not going to make the NCA
0:18
tournament so you're kind of playing for
0:19
fun um and they played that way so a lot
0:22
of credit to them uh we ran out of gas I
0:24
thought um and just you know really
0:27
couldn't get out of playing tired uh in
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that second half so
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um we'll we'll get him as rested as we
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can and get as healthy as we can and get
0:34
right back to
0:35
it me you guys had that h-point lead
0:38
about five minutes left as you said you
0:40
know maybe you know the bti start to
0:42
wear on but I guess from a offensive
0:43
standpoint what do you think kind of
0:45
trailed all you know those last well we
0:47
didn't make shots you know we shot six
0:49
for 29 from three you know that's a
0:51
that's tough to win that way um and and
0:54
then we also turn the ball over you know
0:56
uncharacteristically especially late in
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that uh late in that fourth quarter so
1:00
the combination isn't great what issues
1:02
did their Zone present to you I think it
1:04
slowed us down and it forced us to you
1:06
know Maria still had a career night you
1:08
know um but it gave us open shots and
1:12
and when you've got you know Laney who's
1:13
a really good shooter going one for
1:15
eight and Trey who's a really good
1:16
shooter going over for five I mean we
1:17
just you know even Lexi is a really good
1:19
shooter four for 10 for her is actually
1:21
not great she's such a good shooter you
1:22
know um so we just didn't shoot well
1:24
enough and it slowed us down a little
1:25
bit Courtney you mentioned resting up
1:27
and getting healthy you guys do have a
1:29
double by going into the ACC tournament
1:31
what is the main thing strategically
1:33
that you're going to look at um going
1:35
into the game um where you will probably
1:38
see the little yeah well you just kind
1:39
you look at who you're going to play and
1:40
then you game plan accordingly you know
1:42
um so and you that gives you another
1:45
whole what is it five days to get
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healthier right and so every day matters
1:50
you know um we're you know we think
1:53
we'll be healthier by then and that will
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help because then now you get some just
1:56
more minutes that you can ex spread
1:57
across and more options when when guy
2:00
goes one for eight we can't absorb that
2:02
as well as we uh as well as we could
2:04
have with our depth in the past anything
2:06
clear on on the status of Alysa or or
2:09
Ria for Friday's game is it I I don't I
2:12
don't have any updated you know um I
2:14
don't have any updated you know they're
2:17
they're now warming they're now
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practicing a bit and stuff like that so
2:19
they're getting closer coach Maria
2:21
didn't you know had a career highday she
2:24
her last shot today was about seven
2:26
minutes left in the game were there
2:27
issues going to her down the stretch
2:30
yeah I mean we absolutely I mean they
2:31
were really physical with her and and
2:33
pushing her way off the block and and
2:35
really helping and daring us to make
2:36
threes from the perimeter right and um
2:39
you know we took them and and and didn't
2:40
make them um and they're good shots you
2:42
know I think we'll like a lot of the
2:43
shots it just you know it comes down to
2:46
you have to generate good looks and then
2:47
you have to knock them down it's kind of
2:48
both of those things have to happen how
2:50
did the second half of game compared to
2:52
some of the other close
2:53
gam I think in the past we've been you
2:56
know we've had more energy right we're
2:57
deeper right you're losing two guys that
2:59
have a ton of toughness but they also
3:00
play almost 30 minutes a game so that's
3:02
60 Minutes that you're adding to other
3:04
people's plates right and so you know
3:06
Maria played you know really hard I mean
3:09
look at Laney played 36 minutes Lexi
3:11
played 38 that's a lot of minutes at the
3:12
pace that we want to play at um so
3:14
you've just you know we weren't able to
3:16
do some of the things that we do over
3:18
longer periods of time given our our
3:20
fatigue in that final 30 seconds you
3:22
guys had three fouls I mean one was
3:24
intentional put them at the line at the
3:25
end um but can you just talk about that
3:27
lack of discipline maybe in the fin I
3:30
thought we chessed it up really well um
3:32
I think when we watch that back we might
3:34
we might have some some questions um I
3:37
thought we chessed it up well and you
3:39
know they and then Lexi chested up and
3:40
then she drove well and I thought she
3:42
drew the similar contact you know I
3:44
think there were some inconsistencies
3:45
that um you know that maybe didn't go in
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our favor today how much the plays that
3:50
you run change when you don't have
3:53
Ria um you know she's she's shooting the
3:55
ball in League Play really well um and
3:58
so she's also our second you know we got
4:00
two of our top three leading scorers um
4:02
that are out and so that's not only
4:05
experience it's offense it's toughness
4:06
it's minutes it's a lot of things right
4:08
and so you know you've got two not just
4:10
two starters but two really significant
4:12
contributors um to what we do um you
4:15
know and so it just puts some more load
4:17
on everybody else to go up that now you
4:19
mentioned you know trying to get you
4:21
know the others healthy you know R in
4:23
list a healthy last year you guys had to
4:24
go to thec tournament with a less than
4:27
100% last year and then obviously into
4:30
what I guess specifically are the the
4:32
challenges in that I know rotations is
4:33
part of it what's the the challenges in
4:36
kind of going into a postseason you know
4:38
without I mean we won't we'll they'll be
4:41
playing in the NCA tournament right so
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I'm I'm not I'm not going to sit here
4:44
and and complain about um you know this
4:46
stretch it's hard when they're not but I
4:48
don't think that's the reality we're
4:49
going to have to play with and and so
4:51
therefore I hope it helps us right
4:52
because now they'll have a little more
4:54
energy and everybody else will have had
4:56
more minutes um under their belt and
4:58
more critical minutes under their Bel
5:00
but um but yeah we we we were fatigued
5:05
today right and that's that's on us um
5:07
you know and and weren't able to make
5:08
shots
5:10
fatigued any other questions yeah what
5:13
the discussions like about state
5:17
today uh you know on on days like to
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this on nights like this it's it's big
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picture and that is what these seniors
5:24
have been and meant to our program right
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so everything else is kind of a detail
5:28
otherwise we prepare in much the same
5:30
way we always do right um and you know
5:34
you're they've done enough body of work
5:36
you know um to have categorized
5:39
themselves as a really good basketball
5:40
team that's that's going to have to get
5:42
healthy and um and I'm confident they
5:44
will you know by the time that we need
5:46
it so it really wasn't about if this
5:48
then that you know we've kind of said
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all year if you stack if you stack good
5:52
days in a lifetime you're going to like
5:54
where you are at the end of it so if you
5:56
stack good days uh as a team you're
5:58
going to like where you are at the end
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of it right so we're just we're a stack
6:01
possession stack days kind of kind of
6:03
team um and I think this this particular
6:06
um this particular setback there's
6:08
reasons for it you know we didn't shoot
6:10
very well as I told you we we were
6:12
undermanned a little bit so there was
6:14
more fatigue that set in um but when you
6:16
get into the postseason it's it's a
6:18
survive and advance so there's you know
6:20
there's they've played to have a lot of
6:21
Life still left um but now you're
6:24
entering that time of year where no one
6:25
has any life left right except for what
6:27
you do in that in that 40-minute stretch
6:28
and and that's what makes it so fine
6:30
it's it's that madness part of it just
6:32
to confirm you suggested that Rai and
6:35
will definitely play in the in they'll
6:37
be they'll be back yep okay I how unique
6:39
was this senior day I guess the past
6:41
ones where it's like you had obviously
6:43
uh Kayla and Alysa who have been here
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forting five years you had Lexi started
6:47
off three years somewhere else and Maria
6:49
was half and a half Grace was four years
6:51
somewhere else like how I guess unique
6:52
was it seeing the the differences and
6:54
experience within you know this program
6:56
you know all being celebrated one time I
6:58
mean yeah we had a really nice uh night
7:00
last night celebrating their Journeys
7:02
and and that's the St that's the nature
7:04
of College athletics now right that that
7:06
you're not always celebrating a
7:07
four-year career at your institution
7:10
you're celebrating this at this this
7:12
this particular group um and and I you
7:17
know Maria's two years at Boston College
7:19
are a part of her story right and and
7:21
and uh and uh Alyssa's five years here
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is part of her story right and and
7:26
Lexi's three years in at Iowa State and
7:29
two years years here is part of her
7:30
story Grace playing four years at one
7:32
institution and then coming here for her
7:33
for her one year that's all part of
7:35
their stories right um and so I don't
7:37
know if it's different it's just their
7:39
stories now involve people besides just
7:41
me in their Collegiate their Collegiate
7:43
Journey but um it was it was a great
7:45
night celebrating them and um as a coach
7:48
when you hear them speak about their
7:50
Journey with magnitude um and growth um
7:54
and and truth right it it it makes some
7:58
of this quite honestly detailed
8:00
was it easy to convince Alyssa to go out
8:01
for a second time because I know she did
8:03
last year I guess what was that process
8:05
of you know having her do it a go
8:06
through it a
8:08
second I didn't I don't that's not
8:10
outside that's out out of my as you
8:13
could tell I just stood at the center
8:14
court and whoever walked up I hugged him
8:16
I didn't I didn't run the Senior atet
8:17
Day festivities um but Alyssa I mean
8:19
she'd walk again next year if she
8:21
happens to be in town right she's um
8:23
this place means a lot to her and and um
8:25
when you're celebrating your seniors you
8:27
know you're celebrating some that are
8:28
getting their undergraduate degree and
8:29
and some that're getting their graduate
8:31
degree you know no one has has been
8:32
celebrated here that that is just taking
8:34
classes to take class so she is
8:36
celebrating early her graduate degree
8:38
she still has to do her thesis but um
8:40
but uh everybody there uh that we
8:42
honored is getting a degree of value
8:43
from this institution and that's that's
8:45
a big deal perfect thanks everyone no
8:47
you can keep going it's our last day oh
8:48
I was just cued what you guys did last
8:49
night to celebrate oh was awesome so we
8:51
have our our seniors speak about their
8:53
experience and we have our underclassmen
8:55
or our Juniors um introduce them um and
8:58
so it's basically just just an
8:59
opportunity for for young people who've
9:02
been on a really um important and and
9:06
all-encompassing journey to talk about
9:08
it right and when you're forced to talk
9:10
about something of meaning real stuff
9:11
comes out right and so there was just a
9:13
lot of real stuff coming out and um you
9:15
know I'm I'm humbled to have been a part
9:17
of their journey and I was certainly
9:18
honored to be a part of listening to
9:20
them share it can you speak on talents
9:22
and yeah you know coming in now and
9:26
going into the tournament uh I think
9:28
she's really really doing a good job
9:30
solid yeah super solid yeah and you know
9:33
the hard part about transferring with
9:34
only one year is there is an adjustment
9:36
period that she has to accelerate right
9:37
think about how different Maria and Lexi
9:39
are this year to last year um and so her
9:42
um her acceleration is has been it's
9:44
quicker than everybody else's because he
9:45
doesn't have enough as much time and
9:47
then the person who handles the ball the
9:49
most on our team is with Rah out she's
9:51
had to handle it so much more um which
9:53
is fatiguing um but you know again
9:55
nobody like like nobody wants your team
10:00
your team to have any injuries but also
10:02
nobody cares like it's sort of like
10:04
you're just you know it's who you play
10:06
and who's next and and um you know we're
10:09
certainly glad that she's she's here and
10:11
can provide such value to us especially
10:13
of such a high need
10:15
position perfect thanks everyone thanks
10:17
for all your coverage guys appreciate