No. 3 Notre Dame whips North Carolina 88-54

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 16 points, Marina Mabrey added 14 and Brianna Turner had 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots to lead No. 3 Notre Dame to an 88-54 victory over North Carolina on Sunday.

The Fighting Irish (15-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had little trouble in winning their eighth in a row, outscoring the Tar Heels 50-14 in the paint and outshooting them 51 percent to 30 percent. The Irish also forced North Carolina, which had won six straight, into 23 turnovers and blocked seven shots.

Destinee Walker led the Tar Heels (12-6, 2-1) with 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting and Jamie Cherry scored 10 points.

Turner, playing for the fifth time after missing six games with an injury to her right shoulder, scored all her baskets inside, Ogunbowale repeatedly drove inside on North Carolina for layups and Mabrey and Madison Cable, who added 12, scored from inside and outside.

The Irish used a 9-0 run late in the first quarter and a 13-0 run early in the second quarter to open a 36-17 lead. The Irish did most of their damage on the inside, outscoring the Tar Heels 24-6 in the paint in the first half.

On the other end, the Tar Heels were held to 25 percent shooting in the first half as Turner had three blocked shots and Cable brought the crowd to its feet when she hustled and stretched to block a shot by Stephanie Watts. The Irish extended the lead to 72-41 on a 3-pointer by Michaela Mabrey early in the fourth quarter. The 31-point deficit was the largest for the Tar Heels this season.

The Irish eventually extended the lead to 88-52 on a late basket by Ogunbowale.

TIP-INS

North Carolina: Coach Sylvia Hatchell, who earned her 700th win at UNC on Jan. 3, briefly held up a placard with the No. 800 on it before the game in honor of Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, who notched her 800th career victory last week. Hatchell's career record is 973-345. ... The fewest points UNC had scored previously this season was in a 66-63 loss to Pacific on Nov. 25. ... The most points the Tar Heels had previously allowed was in an 85-72 loss to Northwestern on Dec. 2. The Tar Heels fell to 1-5 against the Irish.

Notre Dame: McGraw was recognized before the game for her 800th career victory, which occurred Jan. 3 over Pittsburgh. The win Sunday was victory No. 802. Her record at Notre Dame is 714-222. ... The crowd booed when the announcer said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma is among the coaches who have 800 career wins. ... The Irish are 35-1 in three seasons against ACC opponents and have won 20 straight league games.

UP NEXT

North Carolina travels to Georgia Tech on Thursday.

Notre Dame travels to Boston College on Thursday.