Women's basketball falls to Duke 81-80, enters ACC tournament as No. 6 seed

DURHAM — Coach Sylvia Hatchell knew it was coming.

Sitting in the locker room at halftime, the North Carolina women’s basketball team grasping to a 40-29 lead, Hatchell warned her players of the counterpunch the Duke Blue Devils would throw as soon as the second round began.

But when the No. 15 Tar Heels reentered the ring at Cameron Indoor Stadium, they left their boxing gloves behind — exposing themselves to the Blue Devils’ blows.

UNC would fend off the punches for as long as it could, but behind a 52-point outburst No. 16 Duke walked away from the bout between the two ACC heavyweights with an 81-80 decision.

“I’d rather be a point or two behind at halftime, then you come out with an edge instead of being ahead,” Hatchell said. “But they came out and came after us hard, heavy and physical.”

The Tar Heels (23-7, 10-6 ACC) and Blue Devils (20-9, 11-5 ACC) opened the match trading punches before UNC delivered a sequence of jabs to end the first period.

With the score tied at 19, senior guard Latifah Coleman buried a 3-pointer with 8:59 left in the half — igniting a 21-10 run heading into halftime.

UNC extended its lead to 12 points — its largest of the game — but with Duke on the ropes of a fourth-straight loss, the Blue Devils countered.

Duke manufactured a 32-5 run, relentlessly attacking the heart of the UNC defense and taking advantage of its height en route to a 63-48 lead.

After shooting only six free throws in the first half, the Blue Devils shot 21 free throws after the break and forced UNC to commit 16 fouls.

“We were in the bonus with 13 minutes left in the second half, so I think we did a good job of really attacking from the beginning,” said Duke senior center Elizabeth Williams.

But the onslaught hadn’t knocked UNC out.

Behind sophomore guard Jessica Washington, who scored 11 second-half points, UNC cut Duke’s lead to 78-77 with 34 seconds left.

The Tar Heels had a chance to tie the game at 79 and send it into overtime as guard Allisha Gray drove for a layup. As she released the ball, Gray plunged to the floor. The ball tipped off the front of the rim before falling into Stevens’ hands.

Gray slowly got back up on her feet, sticking her head into her jersey. She and the Tar Heels were defeated. The Blue Devils delivered their final haymaker as Stevens knocked down two free throws.

“I just thought there were a lot of fight and resolve and attitude,” Coach Joanne McCallie said.

With the loss, UNC enters the ACC tournament as a No. 6 seed and will play either Georgia Tech or Clemson on Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum.

Duke outscored UNC 40-20 in the paint during the contest, and Hatchell said the team needs to be able to handle the physicality Duke displayed.

“Between now and the time we go to Greensboro we are going to take boxing lessons, we need to get tougher if we want to battle inside and hold our own,” Hatchell said.

sports@dailytarheel.com