Duke women’s basketball avenges regular-season losses, ousts UNC in ACC quarterfinal
In a tense, hard-fought rivalry battle where the teams combined for just three made shots in the fourth quarter, No. 13 Duke finally solved No. 18 North Carolina to advance in the ACC women’s basketball tournament.
Elizabeth Balogun’s free throws with just under two minutes to play put Duke up for good and the Blue Devils held on to beat UNC, 44-40, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at Greensboro Coliseum.
After losing twice to the Tar Heels in the regular season, the Blue Devils (25-5) won despite hitting just one field goal in the fourth quarter. UNC hit only 2 of 16 shots in the final stanza, including missed 3-point attempts by Deja Kelly with 45 seconds left and Eva Hodgson with 39 seconds left that would have put UNC in front.
After Shayeann Day-Wilson split two free throws with 31.6 seconds left to put Duke up 43-40, Kelly missed two jumpers before Reigan Richardson blocked Kennedy Todd-Williams’ 3-point attempt with four seconds left.
Day-Wilson was fouled with four seconds left and hit a free throw to put the game out of reach.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said, “but we were able to figure out a way to get it done, which is all you need to do in a tournament like this. And now, to be in the semifinals is a great feeling for us.”
The No. 2-seeded Blue Devils advance to Saturday’s ACC tournament semifinals where they will play No. 3 seed Virginia Tech. The No. 8-ranked Hokies slammed Miami, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, 68-42, on in the tournament’s final quarterfinal game Friday night.
Earlier Friday, No. 1 seed Notre Dame beat No. 8 seed N.C. State, 66-60, while No. 4 seed Louisville ousted No. 12 seed Wake Forest, 74-48. Louisville (22-10) and No. 10-ranked Notre Dame (25-4) play at noon on Saturday with Duke vs. Virginia Tech to follow.
The seventh-seeded Tar Heels (21-10), who shot 24.2% on Friday night, head back to Chapel Hill to await their NCAA tournament fate.
“I like a lot of the looks that we had, and we just weren’t able to finish them,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “Two really good teams, and a great basketball game today. You never want to be the one that loses. It’s not really fair someone has got to lose these games.”
Balogun scored 11 points to lead Duke while Richardson scored 10. The Blue Devils won despite shooting 32% and hitting just 4 of 18 3-pointers. They turned the ball over 19 times, but only six of them came in the second half when they rallied from a nine-point deficit.
While Duke endured 4:30 of scoreless play in the fourth quarter, UNC grabbed a 40-38 lead as Anya Poole scored a pair of baskets. Then the Tar Heels hit a scoreless stretch.
Richardson tied the game with a jump shot at 2:40 and Balogun’s two free throws with 1:58 left gave Duke a 42-40 lead.
UNC had a chance to take the lead when Hodgson stole the ball from Balogun with 49 seconds to play. But Kelly and Hodgson missed 3-pointers and Duke regained possession with 31.6 seconds to play.
The teams combined to score just 14 points in the fourth quarter but Duke tallied 10 of them to cap off a win in a physical game.
“It’s a rivalry game,” Duke’s Celeste Taylor said. “We just have to keep fighting. We know we are going to get pushed around. We’re very physical, too. We’re going to fight back and not let teams push us around.”
A pair of Hodgson 3-pointers early in the third quarter helped UNC open a 30-21 lead. But Duke responded with seven consecutive points, including a Balogun 3-pointer.
Duke trailed 34-31 when Taylor went to the free throw line with 1:05 left in the quarter. She made her first free throw. She missed the second, but Mia Heide rebounded and scored tying the game at 34.
Alyssa Ustby’s shot in the lane gave the Tar Heels a 36-34 lead after three quarters.
As difficult as the teams had putting the ball in the basket last Sunday when UNC won 45-41, it was equally as vexing five days later. Duke finished the first half with 13 turnovers, and eight made baskets, to trail UNC, 24-19.
“I didn’t think it would be as low scoring as it was the last time we played them, but it actually was,” Banghart said. “It was actually less scoring. You’re seeing two of the very best defensive teams in the country go at it in our state. How cool.”
The Tar Heels hit only 8 of 27 shots in the first half. But after Duke led 9-8 after the first quarter, UNC hit two of its first three shots in the second quarter to take a 13-11 lead on Ustby’s 3-pointer.
Taylor sank a 3-pointer with 5:14 left in the half, tying the score at 14.
But UNC put together a 10-2 run, fueled by Kelly, to open an eight-point lead.
Kelly scored on a baseline jumper before adding a jump shot from the lane. After Richardson took a pass in the lane from Taylor and scored, Kelly answered by hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner while drawing a foul. Her free throw with 2:05 left until halftime gave UNC a 22-16 lead.
Duke turned the ball over on its next two possessions and Todd-Williams made two free throws giving the Tar Heels a 24-16 lead with 1:10 until halftime.
Balogun’s 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left in the half allowed UNC to lead 24-19 at halftime.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Duke women’s basketball avenges regular-season losses, ousts UNC in ACC quarterfinal."