NCAAW: Hidalgo, Notre Dame host North Carolina in Sunday matinee

The No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels (13-4; 2-2 ACC) travel to South Bend this Sunday to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-4; 3-2 ACC) in a crucial conference matchup. The game will be broadcast nationally via ESPN, with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

While North Carolina has gotten off to a lukewarm start to its ACC schedule, the Tar Heels could easily be 4-0 against their conference rivals instead of 2-2. Both of those losses came in overtime, including their most recent game against the Stanford Cardinal; North Carolina was leading the Cardinal at the half, but subpar shooting percentages on free throws (18-for-30; 60 percent) and 3-pointers (3-for-14; 21.4 percent) allowed Stanford to hang around, force overtime and ultimately upset the Tar Heels on their home court.

Granted, North Carolina’s poor free throw shooting has been an issue all season (62.6 percent as a team), and it could be argued that the Tar Heels’ tendency to leave easy points at the line make them more susceptible to losing close games. Back in December, they dropped another home game to Louisville, making only 7-of-12 free throws (58.3 percent) and failing to score a single point in the extra period.

The Tar Heels will get a chance to redeem themselves on Sunday against a Notre Dame team that has been uncharacteristically inconsistent this season—at least by the program’s lofty standards. After back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and Duke, the Irish have already lost as many ACC games as they did all of last season, when they went 16-2. They’ve also completely dropped out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2021. Wins against lesser competition such as Boston College won’t be enough to sway voters; if the Irish are going to regain their national respect, they’ll have beat one or two of the ACC’s better teams.

Sunday’s game, then, is an opportunity for both Notre Dame and North Carolina to get back on track.

It should go without saying that the Tar Heels will need to be more efficient than they were against Stanford if they’re going to win. On the season, they’ve actually been a strong offensive team; strong, physical forwards like Ciera Toomey and Nyla Harris give North Carolina a formidable paint presence, and while the 3-pointer isn’t a huge part of the Tar Heels’ game, they’re usually able to knock it down at an effective enough clip to keep opponents honest. Their offensive rating of 109.7 points scored per 100 possessions (Her Hoop Stats) may still be inflated from non-conference play, but the Tar Heels can nonetheless score well enough to lean on their physical advantages on defense and on the boards.

The Irish, meanwhile, don’t want a slow, physical game—they want to get out and run. Led by the boundless energy of guard Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame thrives at turning defense into offense. The Irish currently rank No. 5 among Division I teams in steals per game (15.5), with Hidalgo racking up 5.9 of them on her own.

There’s no denying Hidalgo’s individual brilliance. She’s putting up monumental numbers, averaging 24.7 points and 5.5 assists per game to go with her gaudy defensive statistics. The question for the Irish will be who else steps up; senior forward Cassandre Prosper has taken a huge leap, averaging 17.1 points per game on 55.3 percent shooting, but after that it’s mostly been a by-committee approach, with five Irish averaging between 8 and 11 points.

Having more depth isn’t a bad thing, of course, and it’s quite possible that the Irish’s best basketball is still in front of them. If they force the Tar Heels out of their halfcourt comfort zone and dictate Sunday’s game with their defense, they’ll have a good chance at defending home court against their ranked opponent.