SFA excited for ‘great opportunity’ against UNC women’s basketball in NCAA tournament
In the opening round of the NCAA women’s tournament, the North Carolina Tar Heels are favored over Western Athletic Conference champion Stephen F. Austin in the dreaded 5-12 matchup of the Greensboro bracket.
No. 12 Stephen F. Austin (28-4) comes out of the WAC, a conference in which it played for the first time this season, having won no national titles (but plenty of games this year). The No. 5 Tar Heels (23-6) have a ring, and a handful of NCAA tournament appearances under their belts.
Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart knows exactly how Stephen F. Austin’s players feel ahead of Saturday’s game. Banghart led Princeton to the NCAA tournament eight times in 12 seasons, each time as an underdog.
“First of all, it’s a team — I’ve been the mid-major coach that comes, you finally get a chance to play against the Power Five,” Banghart said. “So you’re playing with that kind of, ‘Oh, my gosh, we finally have a chance. We finally get to go take kind of a giant brand down.’ And there’s an incredible amount of comfort and eagerness that that brings.”
Earlier this season, the Ladyjacks played at Texas A&M, losing by seven. That was the only Power 5 basketball program on their schedule. SFA went 17-1 in conference play and at one point was on an 18-game win streak. They won 19 of their final 21 games. But because they aren’t a major program in one of the major conferences, it went mostly unnoticed.
Because the Ladyjacks are traditionally a strong program, the bigger schools know they have the ability to come into their gym and play spoiler. That makes it tough to schedule those games.
Banghart knows all about it.
When she was at Princeton, the Tigers beat Michigan twice, and after that the calls stopped coming from bigger schools. She knows the Ladyjacks will use the NCAA tournament as their rare chance to play spoiler.
UNC youth
That UNC starts four sophomores in its starting lineup shouldn’t be a concern this late in the season. On the contrary, the Ladyjacks have four seniors and a junior in the starting five. North Carolina spent most of the year ranked in the AP top 25. Now isn’t the time for the team to get caught up in the bright lights and big stage.
“It’s a special thing here. We’re all really excited. It’s a great opportunity for us,” All-ACC guard Deja Kelly said. “But not worrying about any of the other stuff that’s going on. We’re just worried about getting on the court, getting our shots up, just mentally preparing and locking in for what we’ve got to do (Saturday).”
Carlie Littlefield, the Tar Heels’ grad transfer from Princeton, has the most NCAA tournament experience, having played three times. She uses the slight against UNC’s experience as motivation.
“I wouldn’t say that’s disrespectful, but just hearing doubt, I think, is when it’s (extra edge) needed,” Littefield said. “So kind of bring everybody along, being, like, no, we’re here for a reason. We’re full hard workers. I think that’s the time when it’s needed.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 8:39 PM with the headline "SFA excited for ‘great opportunity’ against UNC women’s basketball in NCAA tournament."
