UNC Guard Paris Kea driving to the basket
Sports

Lady Tar Heels Exit the ACC Tournament to Notre Dame Despite Solid Numbers

Landon Bost

GREENSBORO, NC – Despite solid numbers in multiple statistical categories, the North Carolina Lady Tar Heels lost 95-77 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Carolina guards Paris Kea and Shayla Bennett and center Janelle Bailey all scored in double-figures and shot above 50 percent from the floor. Kea led the scoring charge with 27 points followed by Bailey with 19 and Bennett with 17.

Moreover, the team shot 49 percent from the floor, and 42 percent from the 3-point line. But one glaring statistics captures the story of this game: The Fighting Irish scored 54 points in the paint versus Carolina’s 30.

“We couldn’t stop their inside game,” said Carolina’s head coach Sylvia Hatchell. They’re big and strong, and really, really tough right around the basket. But the fact that as a team we only had 11 turnovers: that’s pretty good there. So, you look at all the positives.”

For the Fighting Irish guard Arike Ogunbowale shot 11-23 from the field, 5-9 3FG, for 28 points; and forward Brianna Turner had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Notre Dame’s junior guard Jackie Young missed the regular-season meeting between the teams. But today, she almost secured  a triple-double: 24 points, seven rebounds and nine assists to be exact.

“She’s an incredibly, complete basketball player,” said Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw. “She can defend, rebound, score and pass. She can do everything, and we put her in a lot of different spots … She’s probably the one common denominator that we like to have on the floor.”

What’s Next

The Fighting Irish plays tomorrow at noon in the semifinals against the Syracuse Orange; who set an ACC Tournament single-game record of 14 3-pointers earlier today against the Miami Hurricanes.

“I’d say the 3-point shooting,” said McGraw. “They’re so dangerous. But, really Mangakahia, she’s a terrific guard. And she’s a triple-double possibility every single game. She really can see the floor. She’s got tremendous vision. She can score. She can drive it. She makes everybody on their team better.”

For the first time since 2015, the Tar Heels await Selection Monday on the 18th to find out their first opponent in NCAA Tournament.

“I think they’re going to be a really tough out,” McGraw said. “I wouldn’t like to see them again. I think that they can score in a lot of different ways. They can defend. They can run the ball. They can slow it down. They’ve got an inside/outside presence. They’ve got terrific guards. And I think they’re going to be a really good team in the tournament.”

In the meantime, the Tar Heels plan on using the next couple weeks to recover.

“Next week is spring break,” said Hatchell, “but we’ll go Monday and Tuesday and I’m going to give them a little time off. I said, ‘This is our time to heal up, and get ready to come back, and have a few good practices and go play'”.