Notre Dame Loses Another Fourth Quarter Lead, Falls To North Carolina
Notre Dame (8-6) saw its three-game win streak come to an end, as the Irish let yet another fourth quarter lead slip away as the North Carolina Tar Heels rallied for a 78-73 victory.
Both teams struggled from the field early, with both going 7-17 in the first ten minutes, with North Carolina grabbing an early 17-16 lead. Notre Dame's offense was fueled early by sophomore forward Sam Brunelle, who scored eight of the team's first 16 points.
North Carolina heated up in the second quarter while the Fighting Irish offense went ice cold. Notre Dame struggled with the North Carolina pressure, which resulted in seven first half turnovers, little ball movement and rushed shots.
The inside-out combination of Janelle Bailey (12 points) and Petra Holesinska (11 points) sparked a 19-6 run that put them up 36-22 with 3:34 left in the first half. Notre Dame went almost 10 minutes with just one made field goal, but the Irish chipped away using a pair of late runs.
Six made free throws, a pair of buckets by Anaya Peoples and a triple from Dara Mabrey combined with UNC going cold from the field to allow the Irish to cut the lead down to 39-35 as they went into halftime.
Notre Dame turned it up defensively in the third quarter, forcing five UNC turnovers, which it turned into nine points. The Irish also limited the touches for Bailey in the post, holding her to just one shot in the third. North Carolina made just 5-15 shots in the third and the Irish offense finally got going.
Notre Dame hit the glass hard in the third, grabbing six offensive boards, which it turned into seven second chance points as the Irish outscored UNC 23-15 in the third to take a 58-54 lead into the final quarter.
The Irish seemed to be on the verge of pulling away in the fourth, with a Mikayla Vaughn basket putting the Irish up 70-63 with just over four minutes left in the game. North Carolina rallied, and a triple basket from Holesinska put the Heels up 73-72 with under two minutes left.
A People free throw tied the game, but a foul on Destinee Walker away from the basket sent Holesinska to the line, where she knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Heels back on top.
Notre Dame got a chance to tie it, but a turnover by freshman standout Maddy Westbeld right under the rim gave the Heels the ball back.
Notre Dame had two more shots at the rim to tie the game, but both Peoples and Westbeld missed baskets in the paint. North Carolina put the game away from the free throw line.
Mabrey led the Irish with 23 points on 7-15 shots, including 5-10 from deep. The rest of the Irish team made just 19-51 shots (37.3%) and 2-12 from behind the arc. Notre Dame's perimeter defense also faltered in the second half, as Holesinska and fellow guard Stephanie Watts scored 24 and 25 points, respectively.
Notre Dame gets a week to rest and get back on track, and its next game is next Sunday when it travels to #23 Syracuse (7-2).
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