The North Carolina women's basketball team fell to No. 5 Louisville by a score of 74-67 on Sunday at Carmichael Arena after a sloppy first half in which the Tar Heels gave up 12 turnovers.
What happened?
The Tar Heels opened the game with a shaky start. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals had scored 14 points off of UNC turnovers and had amassed a 13-point lead. The Cardinal lead would stay in double digits until late in the fourth quarter.
UNC had a stronger showing in the second quarter, only being outscored 18-15 by the Cardinals. The Tar Heels also cleaned up their play, only giving up two points off turnovers to Louisville. Heading into halftime, UNC was trailing by a score of 45-29.
The Tar Heels started the third quarter on a promising note. An early 3-pointer by redshirt senior Madinah Muhammad injected energy into the Tar Heel players and fans. The Cardinals held their ground, however, and UNC would head into the fourth quarter with a 17-point deficit.
In the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels came alive, starting the quarter with an 8-4 run to cut the Cardinals' lead to 12. UNC then made it a nine-point game when junior Leah Church drained a 3-pointer. Muhammad then scored a layup off a steal to cut Louisville's lead to just seven points with 4:31 remaining in the game.
Senior Taylor Koenen then stepped up with a 3-pointer with 1:22 to go to make it 71-67, the closest the game had been since early in the first quarter.
But Louisville was able to shut out the Tar Heels in the final seconds of the game, getting the stops needed while adding three free throws to close out UNC, 74-67.
