UNC Basketball: Tar Heels fall to Boston College in Chestnut Hill

It was another tough weekend for the UNC basketball program, as both the men’s and women’s teams drop games in consecutive days.

Taylor Soule scored a game-high 29 points, and Boston College beat North Carolina by a final score of 93-75 in Chestnut Hill on Sunday afternoon.

Soule scorched the nets with an 11-for-13 shooting performance to go along with 7-of-10 made free throws. She also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, and turned the ball over just one time. Marnelle Garraud added 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and 4-of-7 from the three-point line. She dished out a game-high seven assists to just two turnovers, while senior forward Emma Guy scored 14.

Boston College shot 54.8 percent from the floor for the game, and 43.8 percent from three-point range. The Eagles missed nine free throws, but won the rebounding battle, assisted on 17 of their 35 made buckets, and had just 12 turnovers to the Tar Heels’ 16. They also committed six less fouls, sending North Carolina to the charity stripe seven fewer times. The win improves Boston College to 15-10 overall, and 8-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

North Carolina was led by Shayla Bennett, who scored 17 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Madinah Muhammad had 16 points and eight rebounds before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter. Taylor Koenen added 15 points on a 7-for-14 shooting performance, and junior center Janelle Bailey scored 10 points while playing banged up. She turned the ball over five times on the afternoon, and fouled out in the final period. Leah Church was a bright spot off the UNC bench on Sunday, scoring 11 points on a 4-for-6 shooting performance, and 3-of-5 from long-range.

As a whole, the Tar Heels shot better than 44 percent from the floor, and connected on 15-of-18 shots from the charity stripe. They hit just 6-of-22 attempts from beyond the arc, though, while committing 16 turnovers and 24 fouls. The loss drops North Carolina to 16-10 on the season, and 7-8 in conference play. They’ve now been on the losing end of four straight games dating back to a 71-61 loss at Duke on February 6. They hadn’t lost consecutive games all season until their current streak.

The Tar Heels will be back in action on Sunday, February 23 when they take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC women’s basketball program.