Metaphors constantly pervade the consciousness of sports rivalries. In the women's basketball Duke-UNC matchup, not even the most extreme comparisons are withheld.
"It's going to be a war out there," Duke senior Alana Beard said. "They're going to bring it to the court just like we're going to bring it to the court."
While the women's team used the most extreme rhetoric in predicting the intensity of its game against No. 15 North Carolina (18-4, 8-3 in the ACC) Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Dean Dome, the Blue Devils' pre-eminence in the series is analogous to the United States' dominance in world military affairs. The Duke seniors are a perfect 9-0 against their natural rivals, winning their last game 79-57 in Cameron January 11.
Despite being the clear owner of Triangle women's hoops hegemony, Duke can hardly consider Saturday's matchup an easy win. For one, the women's psychological dominance no longer flows with the same inertia after the Blue Devils fell to Florida State 80-74 February 4 in Tallahassee, ending Duke's 51-game ACC winning streak. While the Blue Devils responded to the loss with two wins over Georgia Tech and Wake Forest by an average of 32.5 points, it is now obvious that No. 4 Duke (19-3, 10-1) can be defeated.
Another reason the Blue Devils cannot take the Tar Heels lightly is that North Carolina is led by two freshman who are developing into superstars. Camille Little and Ivory Latta lead the Tar Heels with 14.2 points and 13.6 points per game, respectively. In the blow-out loss to the Blue Devils, Little and Latta shot only 11-for-35 from the field in performances one would expect from wide-eyed first-year players, not the transcendent scorers the two have been for most of the season.
"I just think we gave up at the end," Latta said after the game in January. "From now on, we just need to play the whole 40 minutes instead of playing 34 or 35 minutes, because that's not going to help us out at all."
Adding fuel to its fire, North Carolina is coming off a loss to its other rival, North Carolina State. The defeat ended the Tar Heels' 18-game home winning streak. The Blue Devils expect North Carolina to be hungry to start a new streak.
"We still have many tough games to play," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said.
To defeat the Tar Heels, Goestenkors expects a tough rebounding battle with the physical North Carolina post players.
"I know Carolina has been working on their rebounding, too, because they were outrebounded in their last game," Goestenkors said.
"I'm sure it's going to be an all-out war on the boards."
Little leads North Carolina with 8.3 rebounds per game.
Iciss Tillis, who sat out the game against Georgia Tech because of a concussion, returned last night against Wake Forest to score 22 points and grab seven rebounds. At 6-foot-5, Tillis should be able to help the Blue Devils like Goestenkors desires.
"You never know how much you're going to miss the game until you can't play," Tillis said about her return.
Though Duke is not underestimating its foe, the Blue Devils feel they are in command.
"We're in control of our own destiny," Goestenkors said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.