Three Keys for UNC to finish strong in last three games

The Tar Heels have lost three of their last four games and have a chance to turn it around in the last three outings of the regular season.

The No. 19 North Carolina women's basketball team has had a rough February so far. 

For one, they've experienced two blows to their starting lineup. UNC lost redshirt senior Eva Hodgson to an upper body condition towards the end of January and junior Alyssa Ustby to a lower body injury after beating Virginia on Feb. 2. 

Then, as a consequence to those losses, the Tar Heels have gone 2-3 this month, losing three of their last four games. 

For most of Thursday night, it seemed as if UNC was starting to turn it around, considering the team played well coming off a huge win over Boston College. The Tar Heels led by seven going into the fourth quarter, but they collapsed in the final minutes and allowed N.C. State to split the season series in overtime, 77-66.

With three regular season games left against Wake Forest and very good teams in Virginia Tech and Duke, UNC can shake off this recent slump and head into the ACC tournament on a high note. Here's what it needs to do to make that happen. 

Get Ustby back on the court

Before Thursday's game UNC women's basketball play-by-play announcer Matt Krause reported Hodgson's timetable as 3-4 weeks from Feb. 2 and Ustby's as day-to-day. 

Thus, the Tar Heels likely won't see Hodgson for the rest of the regular season, but there's a chance Ustby can suit up before it's over. 

Getting her on the court should be the priority for head coach Courtney Banghart as Ustby's interior defense and offensive versatility have been greatly missed. 

Even in her absence, Ustby is still the team's third leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game. She's been crucial in spacing the floor and opening up looks for the guards on the perimeter, and she's been a key asset in transition as a bigger player that can handle the ball. 

Those parts of Ustby's game were missing on Thursday night as N.C. State outscored UNC in the paint, 38-30, and in transition, 32-7. Her ability to take the ball away and facilitate the fast break as well as her ability to contest close-up shots would have been useful down the stretch when N.C. State took advantage of the Tar Heels' mistakes and climbed back. 

Ustby's role as another offensive option could've helped in games where UNC struggled from the field, like the loss to Louisville on Feb. 5. The Tar Heels shot 33 percent from the floor, their second-worst shooting night of the season, and only lost by seven. Ustby has the second highest field goal percentage on the team (52.4 percent), and just a few more baskets from her could've made the difference in the game. 

UNC needs to shoot better from three

Despite being down two starters, the Tar Heels' have been in striking distance in all of their last three losses, losing by less than 10 in two and losing in overtime on Thursday. 

Yes, being healthy would make a huge difference, but injury isn't the only thing holding UNC back. A major issue with the team has been shooting, especially from three. 

In their last three defeats to Louisville, Syracuse and N.C. State, the Tar Heels have shot 8.3, 24 and 16 percent from deep, respectively. This has been their worst stretch of three-point shooting all season, and on Thursday, it made a significant impact on the game when they shot 0-5 from beyond the arc in overtime. 

UNC has shot less than 33 percent from three in all but one of its losses (Indiana, Dec. 1), and with the top two defenses in the ACC coming up (Duke and Virginia Tech), the Tar Heels can't afford to shoot that poorly again. 

Young players need to grow from experience

Freshman Paulina Paris and redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson have played significantly more minutes with the absence of Ustby and Hodgson. 

They've played exceptionally well, especially McPherson who has averaged 11.2 points and 3.3 assists on 45 percent shooting in her first six games as a Tar Heel. They just need to become more mature in the big moments. 

In the loss to N.C. State, Paris made a crucial mistake in the fourth quarter when she tried to jump a pass in transition and missed, leaving her assignment wide open for a three that brought the Wolfpack within one with 29 seconds to go. Twelve seconds later, McPherson missed one of her two free throws that could've put UNC up by three instead of just two. 

Those two plays were the difference in the last minute. Although they hurt the team in the short run, that experience is crucial for Paris and McPherson's development, especially in high pressure situations when the team is counting on them. 

With two starters being out and two tough opponents in the horizon, the young players will likely be in that situation again. Learning from those mistakes can help the team achieve a better finish to the regular season as they'll be better prepared to make plays when the team needs it most.