Women’s basketball downs Air Force

After returning home from the hospital Thursday, North Carolina women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell went to Carmichael Arena to visit her team.

Fewer than 24 hours later, her team blew out Air Force 87-26 in UNC’s season opener. But she didn’t come to practice to talk strategy.

Like the No. 12 Tar Heels have done in many seasons past, every member of the team took a stick and decorated it with names, bible verses and drawings. Hatchell then pulled freshman Diamond DeShields and sophomore Xylina McDaniel to the front of the room.

The two starters snapped the depressors that represented the other. Hatchell asked the players what could possibly break the team.

“Getting in trouble, getting bad grades, not working hard, not being disciplined,” DeShields said. “She said we need to stay on top of things so that we do not break.”

Hatchell then took all of the sticks and bundled them together to represent the team. Neither McDaniel nor DeShields could break the stack.

“I never really thought about it like that,” DeShields said. “She just put things in perspective for me, personally.

“We have accolades but we’re nothing without the team. That’s really what I took away from it. “

The Tar Heels showed their strength as a team when they took away a win against Air Force Friday night.

UNC relied on the strength of their youth as freshman Stephanie Mavunga and DeShields both contributed a team-high 16 points

Mavunga displayed the discipline Hatchell called for in her team-building activity, recording her first official double-double of the season with 13 total rebounds and just one personal foul.

“We’re not learning how to foul in practice, so we go over that a lot,” Mavunga said. “Whenever I first came in, I think I used to hack a lot. So, I keep my hands up because I’m taller than a lot of my opponents.”

Fouls did affect the Tar Heels early in the second half, though. McDaniel quickly picked up her fourth personal foul 39 seconds into the second period.

“This was a perfect opportunity for her to learn,” coach Andrew Calder said. “When she picked up her second one in the first half, I said then, ‘No, you’re staying. You’re going to learn to play with two fouls in the first half.’ Players have to learn to play with two fouls in the first half. You have to be able to not pick up that next one, especially cheap fouls. I almost wanted to leave her in with the fourth so she’ll learn to play when she’s in foul trouble.”

Calder’s decision played out — McDaniel didn’t foul out and finished the game with nine points.

DeShields said Calder was a strong substitute for Hatchell, but Hatchell’s appearance Thursday greatly impacted the team.

“Coach Calder is doing a great job replacing her, but seeing her, seeing her smile was great,” DeShields said.

“She really just came in. She was positive. She said ‘You know, I’m going to get through this.’ So, she just kept positive energy for us and gave us something to feed off of.”

sports@dailytarheel.com