The No. 12 North Carolina women’s basketball team knew the importance of playing No. 7 Notre Dame, especially at home.

It was the Tar Heels’ chance at cementing a spot atop the ACC, and it was a chance to win a statement game that would have sent a signal to the rest of the nation. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, that chance was missed.

In an emotional loss, Carolina fell to the Fighting Irish, 89-79, at home on Thursday, to drop to an even 2-2 mark in the ACC and 15-3 overall. Notre Dame improved to 16-2 and 4-1 in the conference.

With two very skilled teams, Thursday’s contest came down to a matter of toughness. The game included 11 ties and four lead changes, and Notre Dame fought hard to try to kick-start their next attempt at a 30-plus away game streak that was snapped earlier this month in a loss at Miami.

“Well, we’re extremely disappointed. So that’s about all I can say. Turner was tough. I thought we made a good run at them, and got it down to one point, but just didn’t have enough fire power, I guess. I guess that’s why she was the best player coming out last year because she was tough. [Lindsay] Allen was really tough up there, too. We’ll just regroup and move on,” UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell says.

UNC forward Stephanie Mavunga wasn’t her usual self offensively, finishing with 6 points and 7 rebounds, and with junior forward Xylina McDaniel out indefinitely, Carolina struggled defensively in the paint.

Notre Dame star Brianna Turner had a stat-stuffing night, finishing with career highs in points and rebounds, 29 and 18, and tying her career high in blocks with 7 swats.

Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame’s usual go-to scorer, hasn’t had a night where she scored under ten points in 60 games, but that was cut tonight as she finished with only 8 points in 36 minutes. Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw knew Loyd would was knocked off of her game by an illness, but says she was proud of how her team rallied without her.

Carolina’s largest lead came with less than five minutes to play in the first half. The Tar Heels were up eleven points, but three minutes later, the game had already been tied back up by the surging Fighting Irish.

Turner continued to dominate well into the second half, and guard Lindsay Allen made a great contribution to Notre Dame’s offense from the backcourt to finish with a career high 24 points and 9 assists.

UNC went on a run late in the game to close a 14 point deficit. Allisha Gray came alive for the Tar Heels in the second half, scoring 16 points to finish with 20. Just when Carolina came within one point, a string of unfavorable calls for the Tar Heels got Coach Hatchell riled up, and many players in foul trouble.

Jessica Washington and Latifah Coleman each got off a few last second three-point attempts, but none fell, and Notre Dame finished with a victory that left Carolina heartbroken.

Muffet McGraw is now 4-1 all time against Hatchell’s North Carolina team.

But Coach Hatchell vows to make amends soon.

“I thought the effort was good. We had trouble keeping people out there, but I thought we played hard. We just didn’t get it done enough. We’ll keep working. We’ll get them eventually. Trust me, we’ll get them eventually,” Coach Hatchell says.

Up next for the Tar Heels are two away games against Clemson and NC State, before returning to Carmichael in ten days to play rival Duke.

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