Senior guard Wanisha Smith can recall the one overarching memory from Duke's 93-76 loss to North Carolina Feb. 4.
"They kicked our butts," she said.
But Smith also remembers Duke's last game, Sunday's 78-70 win over Virginia that clinched third place in the ACC. She knows Duke overcame a nine-point second-half deficit with a swarming array of multiple defenses and a penchant for hitting clutch shots when they mattered most.
Most of all, Smith believes that No. 12 Duke (21-7, 10-3 in the ACC) is finally putting the pieces together for a postseason run and that the team has a certain confidence that just might enable them to upset No. 2 North Carolina (26-2, 13-0) Sunday in Carmichael Auditorium.
"There is definitely a swagger, just within our team and realizing the things we've been getting better at," said Smith, playing in her last regular-season game. "We've learned a lot from the teams that we've lost to, which has helped us gain the swagger that we've had."
Since losing to the Tar Heels, Duke has won five of six, the only blemish being a 76-69 loss to No. 4 Maryland in which the Blue Devils had plenty of opportunities to capitalize on momentum and upset the Terrapins.
The team's defense-especially its trapping matchup zones that also function as full- and quarter-court presses-has gelled recently. The Blue Devils surrendered 56.2 points per game in that six-game stretch and forced more than 20 turnovers in five of the contests.
Duke's two best shooters, Smith and junior Abby Waner, also have seemed to rediscover their outside touch. Despite shooting 29.3 percent from 3-point range-paltry in comparison to her 36.2 percent clip last year-Waner has connected on 35.9 percent of her long balls since going 0-for-5 against the Tar Heels. Smith posted 16 points against the Cavaliers, one short of her season-high-she dropped 17 on both North Carolina and Maryland Jan. 17.
Smith hopes that the progress on both ends of the floor will allow the Blue Devils to improve their record against top-five teams this season.
"[Beating a top-five team] would be great for us," she said. "It will add on to our confidence that we can play with any of the top teams in the nation. We're learning from when we play those teams...it will be a good thing to win one of these big games."
In its five losses to quality foes, the Blue Devils fell behind early and were forced to claw back throughout. In the defeat to North Carolina, though, Duke never got within 12 in the last 10 minutes. The Tar Heels raced out to a 10-point halftime lead and never looked back, to the dismay of the sellout crowd inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After that game, Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie reiterated her team's rebounding deficiencies, which have plagued the Blue Devils in games against elite opponents. Duke was outrebounded in all six of its matchups with top-five teams, beating only Rutgers Dec. 6 despite losing the battle on the glass.
In the first North Carolina game, the Tar Heels' Erlana Larkins and LaToya Pringle combined for 31 points and 17 rebounds. The frontcourt duo helped North Carolina score eight more second-chance points than the home team.
Duke's own frontcourt star, center Chante Black, managed only five rebounds, her second-least in conference play.
Smith, a player more comfortable on the perimeter than in the paint, took down a team-high eight rebounds-further demonstrating the Tar Heels' dominance down low.
"They played harder," Smith said of the last meeting. "They got a lot of hustle plays and rebounding was a huge thing for them. When you're getting boards and second-chance points, the margin at the end adds up."
And despite Duke's relative futility against the nation's best teams, the Blue Devils know from experience that regular-season success means nothing in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. In 2006, Duke beat Maryland twice in ACC play before falling to the Terrapins in the ACC Tournament and National Championship. Last year, the Blue Devils capped an undefeated regular season with a home win over North Carolina before losing early in both postseason tournaments-as the Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four.
All of the evidence leads Smith to the obvious conclusion.
"Better late than never," she said. "This is the perfect time to put everything together."
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