UNC women stun Duke with fourth-quarter comeback on final day of ACC regular season
A stunning late rally by No. 22 North Carolina had its fans rejoicing while Duke star Celeste Taylor walked off the Cameron Indoor Stadium court in tears on Sunday.
The Tar Heels erased rival Duke’s seven-point, fourth-quarter lead to beat the No. 11 Blue Devils 45-41 in ACC women’s basketball before a sold-out crowd of 9,314.
Duke’s second loss of the season to the rival Tar Heels left the Blue Devils (24-5, 14-4 ACC) one win short of winning their first ACC regular-season championship since 2013. Duke entered Sunday needing either a win or a Notre Dame loss.
Instead, UNC pulled off its late rally while No. 10 Notre Dame beat Louisville, 68-65, giving the Irish first place and the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament in Greensboro. Duke will be the No. 2 seed.
“Certainly part of our (game) plan was that, if they beat us, then they’re going to cut down the nets while we’re here,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “So we were going to be a part of that.”
The Tar Heels made sure they weren’t, using a 14-2 fourth-quarter run to flip the game their way.
“I can’t wax poetic about it,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “It’s disappointing. It stinks, right? Not playing as well as we could have, I think, is probably one of the things that’s disappointing.”
Lawson’s Blue Devils shot 30.2% and turned the ball over 25 times.
UNC (20-9, 11-7 ACC), which will be the No. 7 seed at the ACC tournament, not only completed a season sweep of the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels became the first team to beat either Duke’s men’s or women’s teams at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season.
“I think we all know how much it means,” Banghart said. “It means a lot. It’s definitely, obviously, great to beat them on their home floor and also sweep them in the regular season. So it means a lot.”
UNC guard Deja Kelly, one of three Tar Heels to score nine points to lead the team against Duke, celebrated by bowing to the Duke student section.
“Ha ha,” Kelly said later, explaining feelings in that moment.
UNC’s fans broke into an a cappella version of the school’s fight song after seeing their team win despite shooting 34.1% and committing 21 turnovers.
After playing Duke even for three quarters, UNC hit only one shot over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. That allowed Duke to build a 36-29 lead before the Blue Devils endured a six-minute scoring drought.
The Tar Heels cut in to the Duke lead when freshman Paulina Paris sank four free throws, cutting Duke’s lead to 36-35 with 3:08 to play.
Kennedy Brown’s rebound basket gave Duke a 38-35 lead with 2:44 to play. But Kennedy Todd-Williams tied the game with a 3-pointer and, after a Blue Devils turnover, drew a foul and hit two free throws giving UNC a 40-38 lead with 1:59 to play.
Kelly scored inside while drawing a foul with 1:16 to play. Her free throw gave UNC a 43-38 lead.
Shayeann Day-Wilson responded for Duke by drilling a jumper with 1:10 left leaving the Tar Heels up 43-40.
Kelly committed an offensive foul with 45 seconds left before Brown was fouled with 37.2 seconds left. She hit one of two free throws leaving UNC up 43-41.
But Kelly drew a foul with 13 seconds to play and hit both free throws to clinch UNC’s win.
Elizabeth Balogun scored 12 points for Duke and was the only player in the game who scored in double figures.
After Duke led by four points at halftime, Balogun sank a 3-pointer to start the second-half scoring and give Duke a 23-16 lead with 8:42 left in the third quarter.
But the Blue Devils offense sputtered for the next five minutes, going scoreless on eight consecutive possessions with six turnovers.
UNC took advantage, scoring nine consecutive points to briefly move in front.
Alyssa Ustby scored the first five points of the run with a basket inside, a free throw then another basket. Anya Poole scored UNC”s next two baskets inside, including one with 4:41 left in the third quarter that gave the Tar Heels a 25-23 lead.
Vanessa de Jesus sank a baseline jumper at 3:29 to end Duke’s scoring drought and tie the game at 25.
Duke took a 20-16 halftime lead as neither team found much flow on offense.
The team’s each committed 13 turnovers while combining to make just 15 field goals. Duke shot 26.7% (8 of 30) while the Tar Heels made 30.4% (7 of 23)
The Blue Devils managed a 14-8 lead after the first quarter before taking a 20-16 halftime lead.
This story was originally published February 26, 2023 at 2:29 PM with the headline "UNC women stun Duke with fourth-quarter comeback on final day of ACC regular season."