The Nutshell by Rob Clough & Orin DayDuke was prepared to try and rebound with the Heels, to try and force
turnovers, to try and work hard inside...but they couldn't have been ready to
see UNC bomb away from three with such uncharacteristic success while Blue Devil shot after shot rimmed out. The Heels have gotten erratic play from their
backcourt all season, but frosh Cetera DeGraffenreid smoked Duke from long
range, took its guards off the dribble with regularity, and in general played
with enormous poise. The Devils were not up for that challenge.
The Heels shot over 50% from the
floor, won the rebounding battle, and weren't damaged by their 20 turnovers.
Once again, Duke played a top-5 opponent and could never quite get over the
hump against them. Duke stayed close in the first half, even tying the game at
25, but got pounded by the Heels on second-chance points and made a couple of crucial defensive errors. One other problem in the first half came when Chante Black picked up 2 fouls and sat out for four crucial minutes. Without the rangy Black attacking the Heels inside, the Heels were able to dominate the post and stretch a 3-point lead to 10 in the last three minutes of the half , with the most glaring lapse coming when Heather Claytor was left open behind the arc. Early in the second half Duke cut the lead to eight on two occasions, but a Claytor three at the 18:21 mark boosted the Heels lead to 11, and it was a double digit UNC lead the rest of the way. Duke apppeared poised for a run after closing it to 10 with 11:26 left. But UNC answered with a 7-0 run in which every Heel scoring possession involved a trip to the line, and put the game out of reach. On this night Duke simply couldn't make up the deficit and their body language
betrayed their desperation.
This win puts UNC in the driver's seat for the ACC
and puts Duke in a position where they are scrambling for third place.
Perhaps the only consolation to the night was that Sylvia Hatchell was ticketed for littering after chucking a roll of toilet paper on Franklin Street, a traditional postgame celebration after a big win that the town of Chapel Hill wasn't on board with.
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