UNC vs. Miami - Player of the Game: Janelle Bailey

Let’s talk about the good basketball team currently plying their trade in Chapel Hill, shall we?

On Thursday night, North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball defeated Miami 78-58 to improve to 13-4 and 4-2 in the ACC. First year coach Courtney Banghart continues to do an excellent job in her first year as a Tar Heel, but at the center of Thursday’s win was Janelle Bailey.

The junior center put up a season high 28 points on 9-19 shooting, going 10-11 from the free throw line. In addition to that, she grabbed 15 rebounds, good for her ninth double double of the season. The game raised her season averages to 14.9 points and 10.0 rebounds.

As a team, the Tar Heels appear to be right around the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s women’s basketball Bracketology expert Charlie Creme currently has them as one of the first four teams out. At time of writing that had last been updated on January 13th, which was prior to the win over Miami and just after a road loss to a #13 Florida State team. The Hurricanes are listed as a #9 seed in the bracket projection, so Carolina’s win may have pushed them back into the field of 64 had it been updated after it.

UNC’s best win to this point came on January 9th when they took down previously unbeaten NC State. However, the Tar Heels will have a chance to better that today when #5 Louisville comes into Carmichael Arena, a game which you can watch on ESPN2 at 1 PM ET. Beyond that, they will have other important games against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech teams projected make the field of 64, another shot at NC State, and the always important Duke matchups.

The 11 am slot the day after a men’s game is usually when a player of the game post goes up. However, those are getting harder to do by the game, and there was no one deserving from the loss at Pitt. Instead, it felt more appropriate to highlight Bailey and what the women’s team has been doing this season.