The North Carolina women’s basketball team was 700 miles away from Chapel Hill on Sunday, but they were right at home during their ACC opener at Boston College. The Tar Heels’ Granite State duo of head coach Courtney Banghart and junior guard Eva Hodgson drew a sectionful of supporters in Carolina blue, and the visitors rallied the crowd with a 15-point comeback and a 76-73 win.
“I have a no-quit group,” Banghart said after the game. “This team proved to be so resilient, and trusting, throughout a hard-fought battle. What a gritty win that was, and certainly a game we’ll learn a lot from. We didn’t play our best, but we found a way to win anyway. We’re thrilled to be headed home with an ACC victory.”
Sunday’s close-to-home game wasn’t exactly the homecoming the Hodgson family had hoped for back when the Carolina schedule came out, as the patriarch of the Rindge family, Greg, is in intensive care battling COVID-19. Hodgson said that while her father wasn’t able to attend the game, he was with her in spirit. On a typical gameday, he’d send her a text, something like “Let ‘er buck.”
“I heard that in my head the whole bus ride over,” Hodgson said. “Knowing he wouldn’t be able to make it, all I wanted to do was play the way that would make him proud – and I know I did.”
Hodgson and the undefeated Heels went up by as much as eight early in the game, but thanks to the hot three-point shooting of Marnelle Garnaud (4-7, 20 points) and Cameron Swartz (3-4, 20 points), the Eagles roared back in the second quarter and then extended their lead to as large as 15 to open the fourth.
A Hodgson jumper began the Tar Heel comeback; she’d record three assists, one steal, one rebound and seven points in the fourth quarter, and the Heels climbed back in it. Carlie Littlefield scored a quick 11 to make it a one-point game before Hodgson found Deja Kelly for the go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds left. On the ensuing play, Kelly turned over Makayla Dickens and then sank the game-clinching free throws.
Littlefield led the Heels with 22 points; Kelly had 19. North Carolina is now off to a 10-0 start for the ninth time in school history and is leading the ACC in scoring margin, rebounding margin, turnover margin and assist to turnover ratio.
Hodgson finished with 15 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds and came back out of the locker room to her adoring hometown fans.
“To be able to play for an incredible school and for a coach that cares about me in every aspect is a dream in itself,” Hodgson said. “Then you add the fact that I got to play in front of so many people that I love – it’s an unmatched feeling… Walking out to a small army of hugs was the biggest blessing during a time that’s been difficult on myself and my family!”