No. 3 Notre Dame made 13 of its 21 three-point attempts to shoot its way past Carolina 76-66 at Carmichael Arena on Sunday. Star guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles combined for 43 points and 10 made threes.

The Fighting Irish’s 13 made threes were more than Carolina had allowed in its previous three games combined. For the season, no Tar Heel opponent had made more than seven in a game. It was the most prolific three-point outing allowed by UNC since December of 2022.

“It’s gonna be really hard, at any level, to win when the other team shoots 13-21 from three,” head coach Courtney Banghart said after the game. “That’s just the way it is.”

For Carolina, Maria Gakdeng led the way with 16 points, while Lexi Donarski scored 13 and Alyssa Ustby added 12. The Tar Heels couldn’t keep up from downtown, shooting just 6-21 on threes. The Fighting Irish also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Carolina 40-28 and scoring 20 second-chance points.

“That’s 20 points on top of the way they were shooting. That’s not good enough,” Banghart said. “For us to take another step forward, rebounding is one of those statistics that matters.”

Notre Dame led 42-28 at halftime and – despite a UNC push which cut the lead to 44-39 early in the third quarter – didn’t give up the lead for the entire second half. The Tar Heels were able to stay within arm’s reach for most of the game thanks to a flurry of Notre Dame turnovers. The Irish gave the ball away 21 times, which led to 25 UNC points.

“This particular team has continued to get better,” Banghart said. “This version of this particular team is better than it was a month ago, and I have full faith they’ll be better a month from now.”

Carolina falls to 13-3 overall and 1-2 in ACC play. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they host No. 14 Duke at Carmichael Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

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