UNC women’s basketball enters ACC Tournament on a roll after win over rival Duke

Louisville transfer Nyla Harris wasn’t part of the bruising battles UNC and Duke have played in recent years, but she brought plenty of physicality to Sunday’s matchup.

The senior forward scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter — battling in the post and on the boards — to help lift No. 21 North Carolina to a 74-69 win over No. 12 Duke on Senior Day at Carmichael Arena.

“I always talk about how, when you have heavyweight fights like this, it’s a rock fight — you’ve got to bring your rock,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “We kind of changed that to say, ‘You actually have to bring Indya (Nivar) and Nyla Harris.’ When you bring Indya and Nyla Harris to a rock fight, you got a good shot.”

Harris grabbed seven rebounds — one of four Tar Heels with seven or more boards — and has now tallied 21 games with scoring in double figures and 22 games with at least five rebounds. In ACC action, she has reached double figures in 14 of 18 conference games.

“She understands the battles and what it takes to succeed,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said of Harris. “And she did a great job making the free throws… they did a great job of shot-making when it mattered most.”

Sophomore guard Elina Aarnisalo scored a career-high 22 points, while redshirt junior forward Ciera Toomey led UNC with eight rebounds. With the win, North Carolina (25-6, 14-4 ACC) split the season series with its rival and earned its first victory over an AP-ranked team this year. Duke (21-8, 16-2 ACC) had already clinched the top seed in the ACC Tournament with an 80-52 win over Florida State on Thursday. UNC will enter as the No. 3 seed.

The Tar Heels fell behind by seven early but used a barrage of 3-pointers in the third quarter to pull ahead. Duke briefly regained the lead in the fourth on a corner trey by senior guard Ashlon Jackson, but UNC had several late advantages. Harris’ relentless work on the boards forced Duke junior Delaney Thomas to foul out with two and a half minutes left, followed shortly by the Blue Devils’ leading scorer, Toby Fournier.

After going without free throws in its loss to Duke earlier this season, UNC went 20-of-27 from the line Sunday, including 18 attempts in the fourth quarter. Many came from Duke intentionally fouling to try to regain possession, and UNC capitalized, making 15 free throws in the final period to secure the five-point win. Four Duke players reached double figures: Jackson had 17 points, redshirt sophomore Riley Nelson 13, and Thomas and Fournier each finished with 12.

“They made plays and executed, and we didn’t,” Lawson said. “In a game where the margin is slim, that’s the difference.”

Here are some takeaways from the game:

UNC flips switch from deep at halftime

UNC set a single-game 3-point record in its previous outing, draining 16 triples in an 82-70 road win over Virginia.

That touch didn’t translate on Sunday, at least not initially. Against Duke, the Tar Heels struggled early, making just two of their first nine 3-point attempts and shooting 22% from deep in the first half.

Compare that to the second half, which saw North Carolina come out of the gate firing. UNC scored two straight triples — one from sophomore guard Lanie Grant and one from Toomey — before Harris battled her way to the free throw line to put UNC up 36-31.

Duke briefly responded, but two 3-pointers from Aarnisalo — with a Grant layup in between — helped North Carolina go up 44-38 midway through the third quarter, marking the Tar Heels’ largest lead of the game at that point.

UNC shot a much-improved 42.9% from deep in the second half, making six of 14 attempts.

Aarnisalo playing with more aggression

Aarnisalo paced UNC in shot attempts (13), but made that high volume count.

The UCLA transfer led the Tar Heels in scoring through three quarters with 15 points — nine of those coming from a 3-of-4 performance from deep. By the end of the game, she’d totalled 22 points in 38 minutes.

She also added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The native of Helsinki, Finland, entered Sunday on the heels of a then-career-high 20-point outing at Virginia on Thursday. Her four triples against the Cavaliers were also a career high, which she tied again on Sunday.

“Her being aggressive is critical,” Banghart said. “She’s a nice kid, really nice kid from Finland. We’ve really tried to impart how aggressive she needs to be to help our team win... her maturation is partly why we’re getting better.”

Her timing mattered too. Aarnisalo beat the first-quarter buzzer with a pull-up jumper off a sweet spin move to pull UNC within one, then buried a pump-fake 3-pointer over Duke senior guard Taina Mair at the third-quarter horn to send the Tar Heels into the final period ahead 52-47.

“I thought she did a great job of making plays off of the ball screen, whether it was knocking down threes or whether it was getting into the paint,” Lawson said. “She played really well today... she definitely was a difference-maker with her shooting.”

Four players lead balanced Duke attack

Duke’s offense was powered by a balanced quartet. Fournier, who averages 18 points per game, was one of four Blue Devils to finish in double figures, joined by Jackson, Thomas and Nelson.

Each player contributed differently: Fournier attacked the rim and hunted putbacks, Jackson and Nelson combined for eight 3-pointers, and Thomas provided a third-quarter boost with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.

It’s this balance that’s allowed the Blue Devils to have great success with a seven-player rotation for most of the season. Duke has defeated three AP-ranked teams with its seven-player rotation — one of three teams to do so and the only one to post multiple AP top-25 wins — since losing guards Jadyn Donovan and Emilee Skinner because of season-ending lower-body injuries.

“You look around the league and there’s very few teams that are doing it with that short of a rotation,” Lawson said. “And when you look at our evolution through the season... that is something that I’m really proud of.”

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This story was originally published March 1, 2026 at 2:25 PM with the headline "UNC women’s basketball enters ACC Tournament on a roll after win over rival Duke."