Charlotte women’s basketball ‘up and down’ on intensity

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte women's basketball coach Tomekia Reed is challenging the 49ers to bring the energy they've played with on the road to Halton Arena after a 79-58 loss Saturday to Tulane

Charlotte women’s basketball was one of the AAC’s most challenged teams in nonconference play.

The 49ers (5-9, 0-3 AAC), who faced Power Four foes such as Wake Forest, Miami and Ohio State, are looking for consistency in the conference schedule after Saturday’s 79-58 loss to Tulane (9-5, 2-1) in which the Green Wave scored at least 20 points in each quarter compared to Charlotte’s one. The 49ers’ prior game was a one-point loss to South Florida, one of the AAC’s top four teams.

Charlotte coach Tomekia Reed believes the battle is getting the 49ers to understand they have to play with the same intensity, no matter the opponent.

“This team is up and down,” she said. “We see bright spots and then we see spots where we can be better. We have games where we execute great and then games where we fall back. We played [South Florida] so well and we changed the starting lineup. I was so excited moving forward. My concern all year has been, why aren’t we playing hard at home, in front of our home crowd? We play really hard when we go away, so that is my concern and that is what is happening right now. We’re just not bringing our best effort.”

To Reed’s point, the 49ers picked up wins at Mercer and UNC Asheville with a tough loss at Miami despite leading at halftime. Reed says Charlotte is mature and can play well, but finding the mental switches that need to be flipped will lead to more consistency.

“[The players] are going to have to believe in themselves more,” Reed said. “I asked them the question in the locker room just now, ‘How do we play USF so hard, arguably the best team in the conference, who just took down a top 10 team… How do we play them so hard?’ And they said they knew they had to play like that because [USF] was so good. But that goes back to consistency.

“You play every game like that, and so I just have to figure out how to get them to just believe in refusing to lose, regardless of who it is. It could be the 13th team [in the conference], or the number one team. You have to play hard every game.”

The 49ers shot 35.3% from three-point range against South Florida and just 20.8% against Tulane – one of many points of inconsistency. Reed admits the challenge has been difficult.

“I've never had a team like this in the beginning,” she said. “This team is experienced, this team is skilled, and this team can play basketball, so for me, it is digging deeper into the mental because being consistent is something that starts in the mind.

“You have to tell yourself that ‘this is what I’m going to do regardless. I’m going to be great regardless. I'm going to play hard regardless,’ and that's where it starts. And so, I’ve got to figure out how to get the girls mentally tough and consistent to match their skill set, because they can play basketball.”

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