Sunday afternoon, No.3 notre dame fighting irish Head south to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and confront Route 17. north carolina tar heels. This is the first game in a week for either team, and the final week of the 2024 calendar will give both sides time to rest and relax.
This matchup doesn't have a long history like Notre Dame vs. Notre Dame. university university Or the North Carolina vs. Duke game, which features two teams in the group that are primed for late postseason play.
Here are three things to pay close attention to when predictions for both teams air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Olivia Miles History
Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles missed the entire 2023-24 season with an ACL injury, but she picked up where she left off this year before the senior returned. Against the Tar Heels, it could mean a historic moment of individual accomplishment coupled with Miles' ability to earn a triple-double.
Miles already has six career triple-doubles, tied for sixth in college basketball history, and enters his second straight Sunday. If Miles accomplishes that in three consecutive games, she will become the second player in NCAA Division I basketball to accomplish this feat, and the first since 2019.
In 2019, Lamar Cardinals guard Chastadi Birds, now an assistant coach in Charleston, did it for the third year in a row, the first of which was a near-quadruple double. In Lamar's game in New Orleans, the Birds had 17 points, 12 steals, 10 rebounds and nine assists. The guard had a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists in the next two games.
The Birds scored nine points in four seasons in NCAA basketball, ranking third all-time, but Iowa's Caitlin Clark scored 11 times and Sabrina Ionescu recorded an incredible 26 triple-doubles. They achieved this and were not far behind the first and second place on the list. Her career at Oregon State.
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Miles won't reach Ionescu's record, but a third straight championship would add to an already impressive career for the Notre Dame star.
Miles has scored a career-high 16.7 points per game this season, finding success alongside sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo in one of the best backcourts in basketball.
border threat
The matchup between UNC and ND features deep shooting threats on both sides. For the Tar Heels, that is guard Lexi Donarski, who leads the Tar Heels with 31 3-pointers this season.
Donarski is a good representation of North Carolina's offensive program, which emphasizes moving the ball and finding open shots. As opposed to putting the ball in someone else's hands and letting that person take over the attack.
Head coach Courtney Bangert's team is unselfish with the ball and values open looks, whether it's hitting or missing the ball. Donarski leads the team in shooting from beyond the arc, with at least five players scoring at least 8.5 points per game.
That doesn't sound like much, but UNC is a team that prides itself on the defensive side of the court, and their work when they don't have the ball is tops in the ACC. North Carolina State leads the conference and ranks 10th nationally in defense, allowing 52.7 points per game.
But UNC faces the difficult task of stopping the shooting of the Irish. Hidalgo ranks second in the nation with 26 points per game and leads a ND team that not only takes more shots, but shoots more efficiently. The Fighting Irish are shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from deep, which is better than any other program in Division I college basketball.
UNC can't keep going shot-for-shot and needs to shut down shooters like Hidalgo, who isn't afraid to pull up from deep on fast breaks.
UNC post play
The Tar Heels have one advantage over the NDs and that is height and presence in the paint. Irish center Kate Koval has size at 6-foot-5, but she's still a freshman adjusting to the top level of college basketball. North Carolina has experienced senior bigs in Maria Gakden and Alyssa Usby.
For Gakdeng, the 6-foot-3 forward leads UNC in the post, using his size and movement to get past defenders and score. Gakuden leads the Tar Heels with 11.4 points per game and shoots 71.4 percent from the field, which would lead the conference if he doesn't miss four games this season due to injury.
Usby is basically positionless, showing the qualities of both a guard and a forward. In the paint, Usby tracks opposing players well and effectively times his blocks. The senior leads the team with 9.1 rebounds per game.
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The fifth-year Tar Heel also plays guard, finding open teammates, leading the team with 3.6 assists per game, and using his speed to drive to the basket or make mid-range shots.
In North Carolina State's last game, a 69-60 win over the Miami Hurricanes, the two post threats combined for 40 points and 15 rebounds, with Ustby adding four steals and four assists. Ta.
Usby and Gakuden will need to get going early to free up UNC on the perimeter. When this duo takes control of the game early, it means more distribution to players outside the paint like Donarski.
Notre Dame is not an easy team to score points on. Hidalgo uses his quick hands on defense to rack up steals and not allow opposing teams to simply dribble down the court and attack.
UNC will still have to contend with ND graduate senior Riatu King if North Carolina starts consistently making playsets in the paint and flourishing on the wing. King's defensive prowess, which transferred from Pitt in the offseason, makes her a potential candidate for ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Through 12 games, King leads the Irish with a fielding percentage of 73.6, which means opponents average that many points per 100 possessions against King, which ranks third in the ACC. It becomes. This means King will be relentless and force UNC into more passing situations, potentially leading to more turnovers for King and Hidalgo, who are averaging 6.6 steals per game combined.
