No. 11 Duke used a 13-0 run to take a 41-33 lead into halftime Sunday in Durham, and UNC couldn’t quite dig out of that hole in a 72-68 loss. The defeat snaps Carolina’s eight-game winning streak.
Prior to the Blue Devil run, the Tar Heels had led by as many as six points midway through the second quarter after baskets from Indya Nivar, Nyla Brooks and Taissa Queiroz. The Carolina advantage was five at 33-28 on a Ciera Toomey layup with 3:13 remaining, but that would be UNC’s last make of the half. Duke’s Jordan Wood made three three-pointers in the final three minutes to ignite the Blue Devil run, with her last coming in the final seconds.
Duke scored the first points of the third quarter to take its largest lead at 43-33, but Carolina methodically whittled that advantage down to two points by the final minute of the period. The Tar Heels shot 10-16 (62.5 percent) in the third quarter, but still trailed by four points entering the final 10 minutes.
Carolina cut the lead back to two points at multiple junctures in the fourth quarter, but was never able to completely erase the Duke lead. A steal and layup from the Blue Devils’ Taina Mair pushed the lead to six points at 69-63 with 2:19 to go, and another basket from Duke’s Delaney Thomas with 30 seconds remaining restored the six-point edge. Brooks drained a three-pointer on UNC’s next possession, but Ashlon Jackson split a pair of free throws to give Duke the critical four-point lead in the final seconds. UNC wouldn’t score again.
Ciera Toomey led the Tar Heels with 14 points, with Nivar adding 12 and Brooks and Nyla Harris each scoring 10. Nivar fouled out late and was whistled for a key technical foul after slamming the ball to the court in frustration in the fourth quarter. UNC did not attempt a free throw all game, while Duke made 17 of its 21 attempts. It’s only the third time this century an ACC team has not attempted a free throw for a whole game.
Saturday’s loss drops UNC to 21-6 overall and 10-4 in ACC play. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they visit Virginia Tech Thursday at 6 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter
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