No. 20 Notre Dame Fights Off UNC Women's Basketball in Close Contest

The UNC women’s basketball team suffered their second straight road loss Sunday afternoon, as No. 20 Notre Dame used big second and third quarters to fend off the Tar Heels, 70-65.

Final from South Bend ⤵️

Back in action on Thursday evening at home vs. Virginia. Tip-off at Carmichael is 6 PM 🏀#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/t6RyisBuc4

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 16, 2022

Carolina jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, using an 8-2 run to lead 22-15 after 10 minutes. A four-point play from sophomore guard Deja Kelly as the buzzer sounded capped off the flurry. UNC led by as many as nine points in the second quarter at 30-21, but the Irish closed on a 13-4 run over the final five minutes, cutting Carolina’s halftime lead to just a single point.

Notre Dame carried its momentum into the second half, outscoring the Tar Heels 17-5 in the first five minutes to open an 11-point lead at 50-39. Carolina responded with a 9-0 run of its own, with another three-pointer from Kelly in the mix, and sliced the lead down to as little as one point early in the fourth quarter. But Notre Dame was able to pull away late and fend off a last-ditch charge from Kelly, sending Carolina to its second loss in ACC play.

UNC played with a reduced rotation against the Irish, as junior guard Eva Hodgson missed the game due to COVID protocols. Hodgson was coming off a season-high 19 points against Virginia Tech last weekend. In her absence, head coach Courtney Banghart played just eight players Sunday.

“Obviously not having Eva forced us to play a little bit different,” Banghart said. “We weren’t able to generate as many turnovers as we typically do because we had to conserve bodies and fouls and play more zone. We got a good opportunity to get our zone better, which will help us down the line.”

Kelly led the way with 22 points, but she was one of only three Tar Heels in double figures, along with Alyssa Ustby and Kennedy Todd-Williams. Kelly has now scored at least 20 points in three of her last four games, and still leads the team with 17.9 points per game. She’s reached double figures in every game this season.

“We’ve got a bunch of fighters,” said Banghart. “We might be young, but when you look at people like [Ustby] and [Kelly], you see in their eyes, ‘It doesn’t matter, we’re going.’ You’ve got to start with who you are, and who we are is a team that’s full of toughness, full of grit and really connected, so that gives you a chance every night. We know this was a winnable game so our kids are disappointed. So am I.”

Carolina, now 14-2 on the season and 4-2 in conference play, is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the year. After a home matchup with Virginia on Thursday, the Tar Heels will play three straight games against ranked opponents, two of which come on the road. UNC will visit No. 15 Georgia Tech next Sunday before taking a trip down Tobacco Road to No. 16 Duke on Thursday, January 27. No. 4 NC State then visits Carmichael Arena the following Sunday.

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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No. 20 Notre Dame Fights Off UNC Women’s Basketball in Close Contest

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