On Selection Monday, the UTM Skyhawks were eager to find out who would be their opponent for their first round game for the NCAA tournament.
After making the tournament for the previous three years, the Skyhawks (24-7, 15-1 OVC) were looking for a higher seed after getting two 15 seeds and a 16 seed.
“You just hope in the women’s game that you can be a 13 or a 12 [seed],” said head coach Kevin McMillan, after defeating Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Game. “There just are no upsets at 14, 15, and 16 [seeds].”
McMillan got his wish when his Skyhawks drew a 13 seed.
Starting Sunday, he will have the opportunity to win his first NCAA tournament game in his five year tenure at UTM.
The only thing that stands in the way of that is the fourth seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels come into the first round game coming off of an 24-9 record and a 10-6 record in ACC play.
Although the Tar Heels swept their regular season meetings with the Duke Blue Devils, the Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 66-61 in the ACC tourney semifinals.
The Skyhawks, coming into Sunday’s game, finished the year as OVC regular season and tournament champions.
Led by senior point guards Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome, the Skyhawks are the more experienced team, with the Tar Heels are only returning two starters from last year’s team and do not have a senior on the squad.
What the Tar Heels lack in experience, however, they make up with in size. The Tar Heels have an average height of 6-0 to 6-1, while the Skyhawks only have two players taller than 6 feet.
“We’ve played big teams each year and we’re always the smallest,” said Butler. “It kind of doesn’t really faze me or my teammates this year at all because we’re kind of used to it and it’s kind of more of a challenge … and we like challenges.”
Another challenge for the Skyhawks will be trying to shut down the Tar Heels’ 6-1 guard Diamond DeShields, who this year was named ACC and espnW Freshman of the Year, and was the only freshman named a Wooden Award Finalist. Deshields has averaged 18 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game.
“Obviously we know she is going to get the ball and she is going to make plays,” said Butler “But we just have to contest her shot every time, make her shoot tough shots and that what we’ve been trying to tell ourselves.”
The Skyhawks and the Tar Heels also match up very evenly. Both teams bring in very high-powered offenses, with UTM averaging 84.6 points per game and UNC averaging 80.7 points per game.
“I think we just have to control the game, play our style and make them play our style,” said Newsome. “If we try to play their style, I don’t think we have a good chance of winning.”
The Skyhawks will look to upset the Tar Heels on their own home court, with the winner of that game to play the winner of the Hampton/Michigan St. game later the same day. Tipoff between the Skyhawks and the Tar Heels will be Sunday, March 23rd at 2 p.m. CST from the Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, NC. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Feature photo: Bradley Stringfield
