UNC Women's Basketball Snaps 4-Game Losing Streak With Win Over No. 4 Notre Dame

If the early part of the season hasn’t gone exactly to plan for the UNC women’s basketball team, Sunday afternoon did a lot to right the proverbial ship. The Tar Heels snapped their four-game losing streak and got their first conference win in style, taking down No. 4 Notre Dame 60-50 in Carmichael Arena. It’s Carolina’s third straight home win over the Fighting Irish, two of which have come with Notre Dame ranked in the Top 5.

Final from Carmichael ⤵️🎉#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/dYjptq0gaq

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 8, 2023

“It’s not often you get one Top 5 win in a year,” head coach Courtney Banghart said afterward. “When you get two and it’s only January, that means something. Just really happy for them. They’ve leaned into losing some close games late, but not losing faith.”

Though UNC’s struggles shooting the ball continued, the Irish’s offense was even worse. Notre Dame entered Sunday scoring 84 points per game (ninth in the country), but shot just 16-57 (28 percent) against the Tar Heels. Included in that metric was a 2-22 mark on three-pointers. UNC shot a much more efficient 7-16 from downtown.

Freshman Paulina Paris led all scorers with a career-high 16 points. Eleven of Paris’ points came in a fourth quarter which saw Carolina score 21 points, its most of any period in the game. UNC outscored the Fighting Irish 38-25 in the second half after trailing by three points at halftime.

“We trust her,” Banghart said of Paris. “She doesn’t go out there to just do her own thing. She goes out there and has a high level of communication with me throughout the game. She has a high understanding of what we’re trying to do… this is a kid that believes in herself.”

Carolina made each of its first four shots of the afternoon and led 9-2 early, but proceeded to miss 10 of its next 11. Fortunately, the Irish were just as cold, shooting just 3-17 in the first quarter. The Irish appeared to take control in the second period, outscoring Carolina 19-8 to take the aforementioned three-point halftime lead. That lead ballooned to eight points at 30-22 early in the third, but Carolina answered with an 11-1 run — punctuated by a Paris layup — to take a 33-31 lead. Notre Dame wouldn’t see the lead for the rest of the game.

The Tar Heels didn’t make a field goal for the final 5:42 of the game, but stayed in front thanks to free throws from Destiny Adams, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby. Carolina finished 11-14 (79 percent) on its free throws after coming in to the game averaging just 66.8 percent at the line.

The win marks the first time Carolina has defeated multiple Top 5 opponents in a single season since the 2008-09 season. It also marks the third straight season in which the Tar Heels have beaten a Top 5 team in Carmichael Arena. The crowd on hand to see Sunday’s game was by far the liveliest of the season so far.

“The crowd was helpful,” Banghart said. “They weren’t just watching the game. These guys were into it. I thought there were times where they willed us to victory.”

Large crowds will likely be on-hand for Carolina’s next two home games, which come against NC State and Duke on January 15 and 19. Before that, though, the Tar Heels will make another difficult road trip up to Charlottesville to take on Virginia. It will be Carolina’s fourth game in the last six which has come away from Chapel Hill. Tip-off with the Cavaliers is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Featured image via UNCWBB on Twitter

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UNC Women’s Basketball Snaps 4-Game Losing Streak With Win Over No. 4 Notre Dame

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