By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina suffered through its worst game of the season and is left searching for answers after a dismal afternoon in South Bend.
The No. 22 Tar Heels’ two leading scorers — Ciera Toomey and Indya Nivar — combined for only four points as Notre Dame dominated UNC 73–50 on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion.
Coach Courtney Banghart said her team didn’t meet the moment, noting that “we didn’t have enough guys play well” and “we didn’t have enough guys play with enough physicality and toughness.”
UNC (13–5, 2–3 ACC), now 1–7 in Quad 1 games, looked disjointed offensively, struggled on the boards (outrebounded 40–32) and unraveled with a season-high 22 turnovers while shooting a season-worst 34.5% from the floor.
“[Notre Dame] played with an incredible amount of urgency and toughness, and showed itself in a lot of ways,” Banghart said.
Nivar, who fouled out with 3:58 remaining, didn’t score until her four points in the fourth quarter. Toomey, who Banghart said had no physical issues, played a season-low 12 minutes, missing all five shots and pulling down only two rebounds.
Nyla Harris led UNC with 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Lanie Grant added nine points on three 3-pointers.
Banghart was asked about the accountability for her and her staff after the collapse a week earlier in the loss to Stanford and the poor performance at Notre Dame.
“I think we do a good job as a staff and as a program of pointing inward,” Banghart said. “When we don’t perform well, I’m guilty and disappointed as everybody else. At the same time, the beauty of this game is it’s played by players, honestly, and that’s the beauty of it. … There’s not a whole lot I can do to help them rebound. That’s just not a lot I can do, just like free throws … I can’t really do that. But that’s just minimizing the importance that we all have to continue to get better. And, so, I take as much ownership and accountability as 10 [Reniya Kelly], which is why she’s sitting here with me. We both have to be better, and we have to find a way to make sure everybody else along with us does, too.”
Carolina went with a small lineup for the most part, but it did little to keep Hannah Hidalgo (31 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and six assists), Cassandra Prosper (17 points and 14 rebounds) and former Duke star Vanessa de Jesus (16 points and four 3-pointers) from tearing apart the Tar Heels’ defense.
Banghart said Hidalgo was disruptive, making it tough for Carolina to move the ball.
“We just really like to stay calm, be connected as a team,” said Kelly, who scored eight points. “I feel like this game, we didn’t do that. We kind of let her have her high, and we never let her go back down. And so we just have to find a calm with on the court, and I don’t think we did that well tonight.”
The Irish (12–4, 4–2) held UNC to its lowest point total of the season, well below the previous low in a 78–60 loss to UCLA.
Banghart pointed to a broader theme, saying this point in the season is about discovering “how good we can be in moments of adversity,” adding that “the physical game is clearly a bit much right now for our guys.”
Carolina missed its first nine shots before Kelly finally hit a jumper nearly 4½ minutes in. Notre Dame wasn’t much better early, making just one of its first six attempts and leading only 4–2. A Henderson layup punctuated a 7–3 UNC run that tied it at nine with 2:44 left in the first quarter. The Irish answered with a 6–0 burst to end the period ahead 15–9.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Prosper and de Jesus pushed the Irish lead to eight late in the second quarter, and Notre Dame carried a 33–27 advantage into halftime.
Banghart said Carolina’s early energy faded, explaining that when the game tightened later, “we turned the ball over too much” and “allowed too much easy offense for them, which makes everything feel heavier.”
The second half unraveled quickly.
UNC missed its first six shots after the break before an Elina Aarnisalo jumper finally ended a nearly five-minute drought in the middle of a 16–2 Notre Dame run. De Jesus buried three straight 3-pointers during that stretch.
The Irish led 55–33 after holding UNC to five third-quarter points, the fewest the Tar Heels have scored in any period this season.
Banghart didn’t mince words about the quarter, saying it was “not a great quarter across the board” and that “we just didn’t bring enough of a fighter spirit to that end.”
It hardly improved from there. Notre Dame opened the fourth with a 9–3 run to push the margin to 29.
Banghart made it clear that the group must respond the right way.
“All these things are really part of the maturation of the season, and we got to handle it the right way,” Banghart said.
Notes
— Carolina returns home at 7 p.m. Thursday (ACC Network Extra) to face Miami (11–6, 3–3). The Hurricanes beat Florida State in a Sunday home game 89–73.
— UNC’s five third-quarter points came after matching its previous low for a quarter with nine in the first quarter (also in the second quarter of the loss at Louisville).
—Carolina has lost back-to-back games for the first time since losing the last two games of the regular season last season (at Duke and vs. Virginia).
— The turnover total for UNC topped the 19 against Texas and N.C. Central. It was the Tar Heels’ most turnovers since committing 25 last season on Jan. 9 in a 53–46 overtime win against Duke.
— It was UNC’s lowest point total since the 47–38 Sweet 16 loss to Duke last season.
— One of the few bright spots was UNC shooting 8 of 11 from the free-throw line for 72.7%, tied for the fifth-best this season.
— UNC’s previous worst shooting game was 34.9% in the loss to UCLA.
—Laila Hull came out in the first quarter holding her hamstring.
—UNC’s sixth loss in seven visits to South Bend extended Notre Dame’s lead in the series to 12–5
Notre Dame 73, No. 22 UNC 50
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Louisville | 6–0 | 16–3 | 11 |
| Duke | 6–0 | 11–6 | 24 |
| Virginia | 5–1 | 13–4 | 37 |
| N.C. State | 4–1 | 11–5 | 28 |
| Syracuse | 4–2 | 14–3 | 47 |
| Notre Dame | 4–2 | 12–4 | 27 |
| Stanford | 3–2 | 14–4 | 33 |
| Virginia Tech | 3–3 | 13–5 | 51 |
| Clemson | 3–3 | 12–6 | 39 |
| Miami | 3–3 | 11–6 | 43 |
| Georgia Tech | 3–3 | 8–10 | 96 |
| No. 22 North Carolina | 2–3 | 13–5 | 20 |
| Wake Forest | 2–4 | 12–6 | 115 |
| California | 1–4 | 10–8 | 59 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–4 | 8–10 | 239 |
| SMU | 0–4 | 7–9 | 142 |
| Florida State | 0–5 | 5–12 | 107 |
| Boston College | 0–6 | 4–14 | 248 |
* — Through Thursday games
Sunday’s games
Notre Dame 73, No. 22 North Carolina 50
Virginia Tech 78, Boston College 56
No. 10 Louisville 86, Pittsburgh 46
Syracuse 79, Virginia 60
Miami 89, Florida State 73
Georgia Tech 58, Clemson 55
Duke 67, Stanford 60
California 61, Wake Forest 52
SMU at N.C. State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Thursday games
No. 10 Louisville at Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Florida State at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Boston College, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at No. 22 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Virginia at Duke, 8 p.m. ACC Network
Sunday games
California at Boston Colleges, noon, ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at Clemson, noon, ACC Network
No. 10 Louisville at N.C. State, 1 p.m., ESPN2
SMU at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., ACCN Extra
No. 22 North Carolina at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
Stanford at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 4 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 2 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 10 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–0 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–2 |
| 15 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Miami | ACCN Extra |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Florida State | The CW |
| 22 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 25 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | The CW |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 6 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN2 |
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ACCN |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Duke | ABC |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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