The No.17 North Carolina women’s basketball team (13-5, 4-3 ACC) defeated No. 13 Duke (16-2, 6-1 ACC) 61-56 on Thursday night at Carmichael Arena.
What happened?
The Tar Heels controlled the game early and stayed in that position for the entire first quarter, scoring 10 points before Duke could get on the board nearly eight minutes into the game. UNC’s defense helped facilitate this as the Blue Devils missed eight shots and turned the ball over six times.
However, North Carolina wasn’t strong offensively as the team went 3-for-10 from the field during this period. A scoring drought of over three minutes looked to carry over to the second quarter until junior guard Deja Kelly nailed a jumper with seven seconds left, bringing their lead to 12-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The shooting struggles continued into the second quarter for North Carolina. After junior forward Alyssa Ustby made a layup with 8:17 left in the quarter to bring the lead to 16-9, UNC went scoreless for over five minutes. During this time, Duke tied the game with sophomore guard Shayeann Day-Wilson scoring five straight points and causing UNC to turn the ball over five different times. After this, the Tar Heels found the bottom of the basket as Kelly scored five straight points, helping to put the score at 21 apiece going into halftime.
After the break, both teams came at each other with scoring bursts. Ustby scored four quick points to break the tie. Then, Duke responded, scoring seven consecutive points to take a three-point lead, before North Carolina scored six straight to take a three-point lead of their own.
Duke made a three-pointer with 4:44 left in the third quarter to tie the game up at 31, but the rest of the quarter, the Blue Devils missed all eight of their shot attempts and turned the ball over three times. The Tar Heels capitalized on their shooting misfortunes, going on a 9-0 run, with five of those coming from the Duke turnovers, making the lead 40-31 going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was a foul-laden one for North Carolina, picking up 10 teams fouls in under nine minutes, which helped keep Duke in the game. Although the Blue Devils made just six of their 10 free throws, they were able to keep within striking distance of the Tar Heels. Clutch shots from Kelly, who scored nine points on 3-for-3 shooting, and an 80 percent clip from the line helped fend off the Blue Devils and seal the game.
