On February 15th, then-#21 UNC went to Durham and outplayed then-#11 Duke, to that point undefeated in ACC play, for about 37 out of 40 game minutes, but those 3 minutes, a 13-0 Duke run to end the first half, proved to be too much to overcome in a game where the Heels didn’t shoot a single free throw. The only solace at the time was that Courtney Banghart and her team would get another shot at the Blue Devils, on Senior Night in Carmichael. On Sunday afternoon, that opportunity came. The situation
wasn’t all that different; UNC was still #21 and Duke is now #12 and had one conference loss, a stunner at Clemson. Still looking for their first ranked win of what was already a pretty good season, the Heels took full advantage of this last chance, making enough plays down the stretch of a back-and-forth game to come out on top of their regular season finale, 74-69. It was Duke’s fifth straight loss in Chapel Hill and kept them from being able to claim the outright ACC regular season title, while UNC wrapped up the #3 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
As has been the norm for these two teams over the past several years, the first half was marked by defensive dominance. Duke got a couple of transition buckets early off UNC turnovers and got out to an early lead, but that was quickly erased by a few finishes at the rim by Nyla Harris off weakside pick-and-rolls. Elina Aarnisalo, raising her game against Duke for the second time this season, finished the quarter with a buzzer-beating midrange jumper that set the score at 14-13.
UNC took its first lead in the second quarter thanks to back-to-back jump shots by Nyla Brooks and Laila Hull, both of whom have been among UNC’s best threats from deep of late, but were unable to keep it — an offensive cold streak let Duke come back and build a lead that grew to as much as 6 before the UNC defense responded by holding Duke to just 1 point in the last 3 minutes of the half to keep them within reach, as the first half ended with the score Duke 31, UNC 29. To that point, it looked like a pretty typical game between Banghart and Kara Lawson’s teams, with both teams unable to find offensive consistency against good defenses, with each three-pointer feeling like a two-possession shift. To that end, UNC was just 2/9 from deep in the first half, while Duke was 4/7.
That changed quickly in the third quarter. Lanie Grant and Ciera Toomey opened the half with three-pointers and Aarnisalo nailed a deep one a few minutes later as part of a 10-3 run that gave the Heels a five-point lead. That ended up setting the tone for UNC in the second half, where they shot 6/14 from three-point range to buoy their offense. Their 23 points in the third quarter was the game-high for either team and ended up being the difference, especially with another Aarnisalo buzzer-beater to end it — this time, from three-point range, where she was 4/5 for the evening.
Duke did punch back in the 4th. They scored 4 straight to started the 4th before UNC with 4 straight to get their lead back to 5, then went on a 7-0 run to take a brief lead (helped by a questionable out-of-bounds call off a missed free throw that gave the Blue Devils an extra possession) before Aarnisalo answered with a 3 and a pair of free throws that gave her team a lead with under 4 minutes left that they would not relinquish. First unintentionally and then on purpose, Duke made it a free throws game from there, and a UNC team that started the season absolutely hopeless from the line got a chance to prove that their improvement in conference play (after shooting 62% in nonconference, they ended up shooting 74% against the ACC, and 77% in their last 10) could hold up in the biggest moment of their season. The Heels made 8 trips to the line in those last 4 minutes and went 13/16, with all of those misses coming with a make so that none of those trips ended up as empty possessions. That, plus some stout defense, was enough to stiff-arm the Blue Devils and bring the lead up to as much as 8 before a meaningless Duke three at the buzzer gave us our final score.
Aarnisalo and Harris were the stars for UNC. Aarnisalo set a career high in scoring against Duke, with her 22 points eclipsing her previous career high of 20 that was set in the first Duke game. Even as somebody who’s been here just one season, her raising her game like this against this Duke team gives her huge Tar Heel bona fides. She chipped in 7 boards and 4 assists (and also 4 turnovers) as well. Harris scored 19 on just 7 field goal attempts, getting big and drawing fouls against Duke’s formidable front line before paying it off with a 9/10 performance from the charity stripe. She also secured 7 rebounds and played phenomenal post defense, helping limit Duke’s star Toby Fournier to 12 points on 5/11 shooting — and only 3 of those came in the 2nd half. Lanie Grant joined them in double figures with 10 points on a couple of timely buckets, while the impact of Indya Nivar’s 7 rebounds and 5 steals was felt as much as any scoring could be.
The Heels now look forward to the ACC Tournament in Duluth, Georgia, where they’ll be the 3rd seed. After getting to enjoy the first two rounds off, they’ll face either Georgia Tech, Florida State, or Virginia Tech. This win also gives them an outside shot at a top-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament with an excellent showing in the ACCT, so there’s still quite a bit to play for. We’ll have a deeper tournament preview for you soon.
