CHAPEL HILL - This game was supposed to show who had the edge in the conference race at the halfway point.
Instead, the first sellout crowd for a women's game in the history of UNC's Carmichael Auditorium walked out Friday night forced to deal with something else.
There is no race right now.
Michele VanGorp matched a career high with 28 points as No. 11 Duke (16-4, 8-0 in the ACC) jumped out of the gate quickly and buried seventh-ranked North Carolina (19-4, 6-3) 93-71 to close out the first half of its ACC season with a perfect record. It was Duke's largest-ever margin of victory over the Tar Heels.
"Tonight was by far our best game for 40 minutes," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I thought we did a great job against a great team. It's one thing to play a great game against a lesser opponent, but Carolina's an exceptional team.
"We caught them on a good night when their shots didn't fall as much as they usually do, and we took advantage of it."
VanGorp set the tone early on, scoring six of the Blue Devils' first nine points and forcing the Tar Heels' defense to focus on the 6-foot-6 senior. And while UNC tried unsuccessfully to stop VanGorp, Duke worked the ball around to its outside shooters, with Georgia Schweitzer knocking down two early three-pointers and Nicole Erickson another.
By the time Erickson fired the fall 50 feet to a wide open Payton Black for a lay-in just 7:44 into the game, the Blue Devils had already opened a 27-11 lead.
"We lost here last year so it feels great to win here this time," VanGorp said. "I knew we were the better team, and I thought it was going to be all the more better to do it in front of a full house."
While VanGorp hit 7-of-9 shots in the first half, UNC's leading scorer, guard Nikki Teasley, struggled mightily. She made just 1-of-10 during the first 20 minutes, missed all eight three-point attempts and finished 6-of-21 for the game.
Teasley's ineffective shooting night spread to her teammates, who missed a variety of layups early, when Duke was putting the game away. North Carolina shot 35 percent in both halves, including 1-of-17 on three pointers, and couldn't capitalize on the Blue Devils' 26 turnovers, the most Duke has had since its season-opening loss to Connecticut.
"Before the game, I knew we were too psyched," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I tried to talk to them about putting their game faces on, but I knew the players were just too up."
But UNC's emotions couldn't explain Duke's dominance on the glass. The Blue Devils forged a 57-38 advantage for the game, including 11 from Peppi Browne and 15 from Schweitzer, nearly doubling the 6-foot guard's previous career high.
"I think the biggest difference was the rebounding," Hatchell said. "When you dominate on the boards like that, that's major."
In the second half, VanGorp continued to dominate inside, scoring six of Duke's first nine points and appearing to rattle the Tar Heels on both ends of the court. By the second official timeout at 11:49, UNC's Jessica Gaspar had already erupted for a technical foul, the Blue Devils led 64-39 and some of the 10,000 fans in attendance slowly sauntered toward the exits.
UNC made a brief 8-0 run right after the timeout, but on Duke's next possession, VanGorp drew a double team and kicked the ball out to Naz Medhanie, who knocked down the three-pointer and knocked out the Tar Heels.
At that point, the 500 or so Duke fans sitting behind the team's bench took over the airwaves at Carmichael and the game slowly wound down. The Blue Devils' largest lead was 28, when VanGorp's 12th and final basket off a pass from Medhanie spread the margin to 82-54.
"Usually when I turned around to look at the basket, there really wasn't anyone there below or behind me," VanGorp said. "It felt really good."
And in Goestenkors' 200th game as head coach, there was no doubt as both teams walked off the court who maintained supremacy in the ACC with half of the conference season down the drain.
Notes: The win was Duke's 11 straight.... UNC's loss ended the nation's fifth-longest home winning streak at 19 games.... Rochelle Parent missed her third-straight game with an ankle sprain.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.