The last time the Blue Devils faced their Tobacco Road Rival North Carolina, they needed a career performance from Elizabeth Williams. With Duke struggling coming into Sunday’s rematch, there may be no better time for a repeat in the last home game of the senior’s illustrious career.
The No. 16 Blue Devils will look to stop a three-game losing streak when they host No. 15 North Carolina Sunday at 3 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The first meeting between the teams was an instant classic that went to overtime, with Duke prevailing behind 33 points from its All-American center.
“You just evolve through the season and you’d love to win every game, but at the same time we’ve been ultimately challenged with our roster and injuries," Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “When you’ve been ultimately challenged, it’s even more important that you stay connected together and at times with losses people can step out the bubble a little bit.”
As if the Blue Devils needed any additional motivation when facing their cross-town rival, Sunday’s matchup also carries enormous postseason implications. Both teams are tied at 10-5 in ACC play and the winner will clinch an all-important first-round bye for the ACC tournament.
The game may also determine who will get the privilege of hosting the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. In a new rule change this year, the top four seeds in each region—the top 16 teams in the nation—will be designated as hosts.
“We need to stay within us," McCallie said. "There’s a lot of projection and people want to talk about this or that…. For us, we just want to get better as a team and grow. For us it's very simple—do what we do, play the way we do and stay focused as a group.”
Sunday’s matchup is a crucial one for a Duke team looking to regain its midseason form.
After going on a six-game winning streak that started with the win on the road in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils have hit a rough patch that has tested the team. Duke comes into the game having dropped its past three contests, with two losses coming against unranked opponents.
One thing that will certainly help the Blue Devils will be returning to the comfy confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke has only lost one game—a loss at the buzzer to then-No. 1 South Carolina—all season at home.
The Blue Devils will hope that returning to Durham and familiar rims after a four-game road swing fixes their recent struggles from long range. In Duke’s last three losses, the team has shot a combined 6-of-48 from beyond the arc. The inability of the Blue Devils to constantly hit shots from deep has allowed teams to clog the paint and make life extra difficult for Williams in the post.
On the other end, the team has struggled mightily defending on the perimeter and has given up an average of 9.7 triples per contest in that span. With North Carolina sporting capable three-point shooters in Brittany Rountree and Jessica Washington, the Blue Devils will need to replicate their perimeter defense from the first matchup—when they held the Tar Heels to 5-of-30 shooting from deep—to pull out the victory.
“It’s always a challenge because they’ve got great three-point shooters,” McCallie said. “They key is the defensive ball pressure, our communication and our work ethic to play great defense through the shot clock.”
The biggest advantage for Duke Sunday will be its size down low. In addition to Williams' dominance in the paint, a big reason why the Blue Devils were able to beat North Carolina the first time the teams played was because of a 61-47 rebounding advantage. Duke currently ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin, as opposed to the Tar Heels, who rank 169th. If the Blue Devils are able to once again control the boards, they stand a good chance of getting the all-important victory Sunday.
North Carolina comes into the game after winning on a last-second layup Thursday against Virginia. As has been customary to the Tar Heels' style of play all season, expect North Carolina guards Latifah Coleman and Allisha Gray to push the ball at every available opportunity. Stopping Gray—who leads the Tar Heels in scoring with 15.9 points per game—will especially be crucial for Duke.
“[This game] always comes down to transition defense and rebounding,” McCallie said.
After Sunday’s season finale, the Blue Devils will next take the court in Greensboro, N.C., in the ACC tournament, looking to reclaim the conference crown after falling in last year's title game to Notre Dame.
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