Cameron Indoor Stadium is not considered one of the world's greatest athletic facilities because of its size, nor for its design. The legendary Duke arena is famous because of the momentous games that have taken place inside its humble halls.
When the No. 1 women's basketball team hosts No. 13 North Carolina Sunday afternoon, another chapter will most certainly be added to Cameron's lore.
"It's going to be awesome," said Alana Beard, Duke's all-time leading scorer who has, coincidentally, never lost to the Tar Heels. "We always have a good turnout when we play a team like UNC. I think everyone's pretty excited about it, it's going to be a great game, it's always a great game against UNC."
The Blue Devils have enjoyed marvelous success against their Tobacco Road rivals in recent years, as Duke is an impressive 8-0 against UNC since the 2000-01 season. Still, the Tar Heels have come close a few times, as head coach Gail Goestenkors' squads have twice required overtime to stave off North Carolina.
UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell has perhaps her most athletic squad since the 1994 national championship team. Led in scoring by two of the nation's best freshmen, point guard Ivory Latta and forward Camille Little, the Tar Heels have the ability to put points on the board in a hurry. In addition, last year's ACC freshman of the year, La'Tangela Atkinson and preseason All-ACC pick Nikita Bell give Hatchell some experience to supplement UNC's youthful prowess.
But despite all this talent, the Tar Heels have been dragging their feet in recent games, as evidenced by last night's one-point victory over lowly N.C. State. Indeed, UNC needed a 9-2 run to close the game--and a last-second shot by Atkinson--in order to hold off the Wolfpack. But the Tar Heels have dropped just one game all season, that being to then-unranked Old Dominion.
UNC's most significant win of the season came in a dominating victory over then-No. 10 Penn State.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils have already squared off against several of the nation's top teams--No. 10 Purdue, No. 21 Auburn, No. 4 Connecticut and No. 3 Texas, the lone team that has defeated Duke this season. To be fair, the Blue Devils were riddled with injuries during the mid-November contest.
But despite the formidable schedule, Duke remains excited for the matchup with their archrivals.
"The thing that I always heard about before I came to Duke--and when I came to Duke--everyone's always asking me, 'How do you think you guys are going to do against UNC? Who do you think is going to win?'," freshman Brittany Hunter said. "I have some friends on [UNC's] team, so it's going to be a good experience."
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