Women's basketball head coach Gail Goestenkors hates it when her team is outhustled on the floor.
So when the No. 12 Blue Devils (23-5, 12-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) entered halftime down 36-27 to archrival North Carolina, their head coach told them how she felt about playing without intensity. Goestenkors' message inspired the Blue Devils for the second half, as Duke relied on a 19-4 run to erase a 13-point deficit to take a 55-51 lead with 4:27 left in the game.
Yet the Tar Heels (13-13, 8-8 in the ACC) still weren't done. Tracy Sadler nailed a three-pointer to give UNC a one-point advantage. Duke freshman Payton Black answered Sadler's clutch shot with a layup to give the Blue Devils back a lead they would not surrender. That lead was never out of reach until junior guard Kira Orr swished two free throws on a one-and-one situation with 10 seconds left to give Duke a 61-56 advantage. Only then did Orr, her teammates and the 6,500 fans packed into Cameron Indoor Stadium know for sure the Blue Devils had sealed its first regular-season sweep of North Carolina since 1991.
"I felt like they were playing harder than we were [in the first half], and that was something that I couldn't stand for," Goestenkors said. "We never gave up. I always felt like we were going to come back-I just kept waiting and waiting. We have a lot of faith in each other and sooner or later we were going to make that run, because we believe in one another. I'm just glad that we made the run before the game ended.
"I feel very, very fortunate to win this basketball game."
For the first nine minutes, the two teams battled back and forth, with the biggest lead coming at the 13:25 mark with Duke up 18-13. The Tar Heels then went on a 24-8 run to close out the half, relying on a combination of a slashing layups and long three-pointers. Carolina also beat Duke on the boards, as UNC held a 28-15 rebound advantage in the first half. Goestenkors said for the first 20 minutes that the Tar Heels owned the game, outhustling the Blue Devils on loose balls while playing smarter basketball.
Tracy Reid led the Tar Heel attack with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half. She was also the most emotional player on the court, often gesturing to the Cameron crowd after making a bucket.
"Tracy Reid-she basically took the game over," Goestenkors said. "I have always been impressed with her, but she has recently raised her game to another level."
On the other end of the court, the Blue Devil offense was lifeless. The Tar Heels' swarming defense prevented Duke guards from getting the ball into the post, while the Blue Devils' outside game was nonexistant. Orr said the Duke offense was out-of-sync numerous times.
"They were doing a good job switching guard-to-guard and we were setting too many guard-to-guard screens, so it didn't seem like anyone was open," Orr said. "And once no one was open, we kind of just stopped and watched."
The Blue Devils knew they would have to get on some sort of run to win the ballgame. But for the first five minutes of the second half, that run never began. Duke would get two baskets in a row, but then UNC would answer with two of its own. Nearly midway through the second half, Duke was still down by 12.
A Black short jump shot started the Blue Devils' 14-0 run, but the more important confidence booster came one play later when senior center Alison Day drove to the basket, made her shot and was fouled. Even though Day missed the follow-up free throw, the play gave Duke-and its home crowd-an added boost. The Blue Devils relied on their inside game in the second half, with Day scoring nine and Black notching 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
"I thought Payton Black went in there and she really hurt us," UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I tried two or three people defensively on her, and we didn't do a good job on her. She really uses her body and holds you off, and for a freshman she does that as good as anybody."
With 7:04 left in the game, Orr went to the free-throw line for her second consecutive one-and-one situation. Her last two free throws tied the game at 49, and her next two gave Duke its first lead in over 20 minutes. Orr's four points from the line were the first Duke points not made by a post player in the half.
As the game winded down, it was the more experienced Blue Devils who were able to maintain the lead. Reid said one of the Tar Heels' problems throughout the year has been maintaining a high intensity level. By the time Duke took its first lead, Carolina looked drained and tired.
"We can go out and play our butts off for 30 minutes, but the other 10 minutes we have mental lapses,' Reid said. "We weren't scoring, and we weren't stopping them on defense."
Hatchell also said her team took numerous bad shots down the stretch that prevented North Carolina from ever taking a late lead. She pointed out on the stats sheet that the Tar Heels led the Blue Devils in rebounds and turnovers, but it was the poor shooting that cost them down the stretch. A lot of the Tar Heels' offensive lapses were caused by the Duke defense, though, which stepped up its game tremendously in the final minutes. After an Orr jump shot gave Duke a three-point lead with 44 seconds left, the Tar Heels had one last chance to tie the game. But the Blue Devils, accompanied by a very loud crowd, forced UNC to commit a 35-second shot clock violation. Orr was then fouled and sunk her two free throws.
The 6,500 fans that jammed Cameron were the most ever to watch a Duke women's basketball game. The previous record was last year's Duke-UNC game in Cameron, when over 5,000 fans witnessed Day sink a last-second shot.
"For the first time ever, it was like we were at a men's game," Day said. "That was a great feeling."
And for the first time ever in school history, Duke finished second in the ACC. And just as important for Day, it's the first time she has won two straight games against Carolina.
"In the ACC, there are a lot of rivalries, but every time these two teams play we have great basketball games," Day said. "It means a lot to me to be able to get both those wins in my last year here. It's a nice reward for all the hard work."
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