CHAPEL HILL - It's probably safe to say the Blue Devils would much rather see Nikki Teasley in street clothes than in a basketball uniform.
One month after watching Duke humiliate her team by 43 points in Cameron, Teasley, who returned to the team three weeks ago following a personal leave, smoothly directed the Tar Heels' attack in the return engagement in Carmichael Auditorium.
And just how much did Teasley mean to her team? Try 52 points and some sweet redemption.
Although Teasley's numbers, 16 points, six assists and five turnovers, were modest rather than eyepopping, her impact on the game can not be understated.
"They play with much more confidence now that Nikki is back, there's no comparison in their level of confidence," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors.
Teasley set the tone on the game's very first play, putting a stutter-step fake on Georgia Schweitzer before hitting a fade-away 16-foot jumper. Never one to be shy about shooting or driving, Teasley posed a constant offensive threat when she had the ball.
In the first 10 minutes alone, Teasley found LaQuanda Barksdale wide-open underneath for an easy layup, set up Leah Sharp for a three-pointer from the right wing, hit another tough runner in the lane and brought Carmichael to its feet with a spectacular, swooping one-handed lay-up on a drive from the right baseline.
Last month, by comparison, the Blue Devils didn't have any reason to put a defender in the same zip code as Teasley's replacement, Cherie Lea.
"There's no comparison [between Teasley and Lea]," Goestenkors said. "When we played the first time, we didn't guard Cherie. She scored 15 points, but we felt we'd rather have her score than everybody else. We were able to double team and get some help in other areas.
"With Nikki at the point, we have to go defend her and keep the ball out of her hands. We didn't do a very good job of it, but it really extended our defense."
Even when Teasley wasn't knocking down her shots or assisting for baskets, she made her presence felt in other ways.
Early in the second half, Teasley put on a wicked cross-over move at the top of the key that caused defender Sheana Mosch to lose her balance and fall to the floor. A few minutes later, Teasley received the ball in transition and flipped a fancy, no-look pass to Jacki Higgins that brought a few "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd. Although Higgins' layup was swatted by Rochelle Parent, Teasley made it known to Duke that this was a different Carolina team than the one it had kicked to the side of the road earlier.
"She gives them a great deal of confidence," Duke forward Lauren Rice said. "She handles the ball for them. She sets up everything. She's a junior now-so she knows the system really well. I think that's the biggest thing I've noticed about this team-they feed off her. With the ball in her hands, they're a good team, they're a confident team."
And that confidence grows immeasurably when the notorious erratic shooter begin knocking down open shots. Teasley gave the Tar Heels their biggest lead of the game up until that point at 46-41 with a long three-pointer from the right wing with 7:37 left, capping a 7-0 UNC run.
With under six minutes to go, Teasley briefly left the court with a cramp, but returned to the game two minutes later to finish off Duke. With her team up 53-50, Teasley spotted wide-open Juana Brown, who delivered the game's knockout punch with a three-pointer.
"We wanted some payback, and it was oh-so-sweet today," Brown said. "Duke is a really great team, so this was just the confidence boost we wanted going into the ACC tournament."
Brown is mistaken. Her team got the confidence boost it needed when Teasley traded in her black skirt for a pair of white shorts.
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