Behind a red-hot shooting performance, the No. 3-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish avenged a loss from a season ago by defeating the UNC women's basketball program in Chapel Hill on Sunday afternoon.
Overall, the Fighting Irish shot a staggering 48.3% from the field, knocking down an insane 61.9% of their attempts from beyond-the-arc. While the Tar Heels defense put in the effort to slow down the visiting Fighting Irish, the duo of Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles proved to be too much to handle.
Hidalgo led all scorers with 24 points while Miles added 19 points of her own. Combined, the duo finished the afternoon with 43 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while draining 10 of Notre Dame's 13 three-pointers.
North Carolina battled and hung tough, staying in the game by forcing 21 turnovers. This is very uncharacteristic of Notre Dame, as they have a identity of being a team that takes care of the basketball extremely well.
Unfortunately, the Tar Heels didn't shoot the ball well from deep, connecting on just six of their 21 attempts. They started off the game 2-2 from beyond the arc but struggled to connect from that point on.
Maria Gakdeng put together another strong outing, finishing with a team-high 16 points. Lexi Donarski knocked down three triples en route to a 13-point outing, while Alyssa Ustby recorded yet another double-double performance (12 points, 11 rebounds).
While the outcome isn't what Courtney Banghart's team had hoped for, the good news is that the UNC women's basketball program has another prime opportunity this week at home. On Thursday night, the Tar Heels will host rival Duke, another battle of top 25 ranked teams.
The key following this game is to take it as a learning experience, put the work in this week to improve and bounce back on Thursday night against your bitter rival.