University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Tops Carolina Thursday Night
January 16, 2015 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina (15-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) received 13 points and 11 rebounds from Stephanie Mavunga and Jamie Cherry added 10 points off the bench.
Freshman Brianna Turner had 29 points and a season-high 18 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (16-2, 4-1 ACC), who rallied from 11 down in the first half then blew nearly all of a 14-point lead in the second before holding off the Tar Heels.
Carolina used a 10-0 run in the late stages of the first half to take a 34-23 lead with 5:28 left in the opening half.
Notre Dame responded with the next 11 points to tie it at 34-34, and would lead 42-39 at halftime.
Sophomore Lindsay Allen added a career-best 24 points, helping Notre Dame overcome a quiet game from leading scorer Jewell Loyd. She came in averaging 21.5 points but finished with just eight on 4-for-11 shooting.
The Fighting Irish led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but a 20-8 run got the Tar Heels to within 72-70 on a Jamie Cherry with 7:17 to go.
UNC rallied to within 78-77 on Mavunga's 3-pointer with 4:29 left, but Allen immediately scored in the paint to start a clinching 9-0 run for the visiting Irish.
Carolina will visit Clemson on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
