By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — The number was astounding, and Coach Courtney Banghart carefully danced around it so that she didn’t draw a fine. But she clearly was unhappy with it.
The number was zero.
That’s how many times that No. 11 North Carolina got to the free throw line in its 72–68 loss Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium to Duke, only the third time this century that an ACC team never got to the line.
“Obviously, when you out-rebound, and the 3-point line and the turnover lines are about the same,” she said, “there’s one category that’s not the same. You guys know as well as I do. Please don’t get me fined.”
The path to victory for the Tar Heels (21–5, 10–4 ACC) was clearly to go inside and possibly get Duke’s bigs in foul trouble in the process.
The first part worked as UNC, whose eight-game win streak ended, outscored the Blue Devils 46–22 in the paint, scoring on drives, layups, follow shots and more.
The last part, not so much: Duke (19–6, 14–0) committed only nine fouls, tied for its fourth fewest this season, and stayed unbeaten in ACC play and extended its win streak to 16.
“I have no choice but to process it,” Banghart said of the foul disparity after her team got whistled for 21 fouls. “I know Lanie [Grant] landed on her ass when she took a 3-point shot. I know Ciera [Toomey] will probably be out [Monday because of the physical toll].
“I’ve been doing this so long, it’s almost embarrassing,” Banghart said. “I’ve just never seen it. So, it’s fascinating. You guys got to see a treasure.”
Duke coach Kara Lawson dodged the question when asked about the foul situation, but she contended it wasn’t a case of disciplined defense as much as it was missed assignments.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think our defense was that good,” Lawson said. “They were getting layups, and there were none of our players near them. So, there wasn’t really a foul to be called because we were doing such a bad job. We weren’t contesting anything. If you aren’t contesting anything, there’s no foul.”
The game seemed to flip with 4:41 left when frustration boiled over.
Indya Nivar was called for an offensive foul and then spiked the ball in anger, drawing a technical foul. Ashlon Jackson hit two free throws for a six-point Duke lead, and UNC never got closer than three the rest of the way.
“She spiked the ball, and it went 12 feet,” Banghart said. “A technical foul for that in this type of environment feels a little aggressive. But whatever. I’m sure she was frustrated.”
Ciera Toomey (14 points, 6 rebounds) led four Tar Heels in double figures, followed by Indya Nivar (12 points, 6 rebounds, Nyla Brooks (10 points) and Nyla Harris (10 points, team-high rebounds).
Junior guard Reniya Kelly, who Banghart says is “week-to-week,” missed her third consecutive game. It was her second consecutive season missing the game at Duke. But while last season’s game was a 68–57 loss, with Alyssa Ustby also out, the Tar Heels were in this one until the final minute.
“I think our guards did a really good job of drawing a defender and then dump off passes,” said Toomey, pointing out that she, Harris and Taissa Queiroz were among the beneficiaries. “We were finishing, and we knew that they were going to be big. We knew they were shot-blockers, so we just were really diligent about how we were finishing and how we were getting those shots.”
Banghart said attacking the paint was intentional, given Duke’s perimeter pressure.
“When they’re going to guard the perimeter the way they are, they are giving you one-v-one, and they’re trusting their bigs to guard that,” said Banghart, again circling back to the unusual math of 46 paint points and no free throws, adding that posts are the strength of her team.
“Other teams are going to play us differently, and they’re going to really try to take away the post with double-teams, in which case we’re [going to] let our guards play,” Banghart said.
That could have factored into Grant sitting on the bench for all but seven seconds of the final 5½ minutes. That came after Grant’s 3-pointer, her last shot of the game, with 7:36 left, cut Duke’s deficit to three.
When asked about her not being on the floor with the game on the line, Banghart pointed out that Grant, who was 2 of 6 for six points, her lowest output in eight games, had played 32 minutes.
The Duke trio of Taina Mair (14 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), Jackson (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Riley Nelson (13 points, 3 rebounds) did most of the damage for the Blue Devils.
Lawson called it a “typical Duke-Carolina game,” one where “both teams competed hard” and Duke “found a way to make a couple more plays there late.”
She credited her veteran guards for steadying the Blue Devils down the stretch.
“Having two seniors in the backcourt gives me a lot of comfort when we’re playing in these types of games because they’ve seen it,” Lawson said of Jackson and Mair.
UNC had an early 8–7 lead, but Duke answered with an 8–3 run and led 19–18 after the first quarter. A Nivar 3 sparked a second-quarter surge that put the Tar Heels up six, but Duke closed the half on a 13–0 run, fueled by three Jordan Wood 3-pointers, to lead 41–33 at halftime.
Carolina went scoreless for more than six minutes, and Duke’s lead was 10 early in the second half before Elina Aarnisalo’s jumper with 6:56 left in the third quarter and a Harris layup cut the deficit to six.
Carolina made its last nine third-quarter shots and pulled within two when a Nivar bucket capped a 6–0 run.
Toomey said the Tar Heels’ rallies came when they played with more comfort and execution.
“Our quality of shots was just a lot better,” she said. “We were just executing the things that we do in practice.”
Duke took a 58–54 lead into the fourth quarter after a Jackson jumper with two seconds left in the third quarter.
After Jackson made the two technical free throws, Duke had multiple chances to score while possessing the ball for a minute but didn’t.
Quieroz beat the shot clock with a short baseline jumper, and scored on a layup a minute later to cut Duke’s lead to four with 1:55 left.
A Thomas layup with 30 seconds left pushed the lead to six but Nyla Brooks cut it to three, 71–68, on a 3-pointer with 15.3 seconds left.
Jackson put the game away by splitting two free throws with 8.1 seconds left. Aarnisalo missed a 3-point attempt with six seconds remaining.
For Banghart, the focus quickly turned forward, even if Sunday’s numbers were hard to comprehend.“There are a lot of good teams,” she said. “You just keep going. You just try to take one week at a time. This is one of the premier teams in our league, and so are we. We sort of expect this.”
Banghart praised the atmosphere first, calling it “a great environment for women’s basketball,” and noting she heard “a lot of loud Tar Heel chants” from the UNC fans who made the trip.
Notes
— The Tar Heels visit Virginia Tech (20–7, 10–5) at 6 p.m. Thursday (ACC Network). The Hokies, who won at Stanford 79–67 on Thursday, finished their Bay Area trip with a 68–58 victory at California on Sunday.
— It was the fewest free-throw attempts by UNC since going 3 of 4 at the line last season in its 70–49 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament over Oregon State. The previous low this season was when the Tar Heels went 4 of 5 at the line in the Nov. 23 94–48 home win over UNCG.
— It was the fewest free-throw attempts by a Duke opponent since Louisville went 2 of 2 in a 73–56 loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 1, 2023.
— After tying her season-high with 13 points in Thursday’s win over SMU, freshman Taliyah Henderson didn’t get into the game, the first time that’s happened since the Kansas State game in Cancun on Nov. 28.
— Carolina wore throwback early 1990s uniforms.
— Former Duke men’s star Cooper Flagg was at the game.
— There wasn’t a block of tickets reserved for the families of UNC players behind the Carolina bench as has been the traditional practice. A Duke spokeswoman said the number of tickets was the same, but the location was reconfigured. Some parents sat in the bleachers across the court from the bench.
— Carolina often practices at Cameron Indoor Stadium the day before the game, but it didn’t happen this time. Duke offered Carolina an early-morning time. A Duke spokeswoman said it was because of the men’s basketball game and other events at the arena.
No. 11 Duke 72, No. 21 UNC 68
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Duke | 14–0 | 19–6 | 9 |
| No. 9 Louisville | 13–1 | 23–4 | 8 |
| Syracuse | 11–4 | 21–5 | 38 |
| No. 21 North Carolina | 10–4 | 21–6 | 19 |
| N.C. State | 10–4 | 17–8 | 23 |
| Virginia | 10–5 | 18–8 | 37 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–5 | 20–7 | 44 |
| Clemson | 9–6 | 18–9 | 39 |
| Notre Dame | 8–6 | 16–9 | 29 |
| California | 7–7 | 16–11 | 51 |
| Georgia Tech | 6–8 | 11–15 | 86 |
| Stanford | 5–9 | 16–11 | 43 |
| Miami | 5–9 | 13–12 | 57 |
| Florida State | 4–9 | 9–16 | 106 |
| Wake Forest | 3–11 | 13–13 | 123 |
| SMU | 2–12 | 9–17 | 195 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–13 | 8–19 | 259 |
| Boston College | 0–15 | 4–23 | 252 |
* — Through Thursday games
Sunday’s games
No. 11 Duke 72, North Carolina 66
SMU 79, Pittsburgh 78
Miami 82, Boston College 70
Virginia 75, Stanford 69
Syracuse 68, Clemson 64
Notre Dame 79, N.C. State 67
Virginia Tech 68, California 58
Florida State at No. 6 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Thursday’s games
No. 21 North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at No. 11 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN
Boston College at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Stanford at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Sunday, Feb. 22, games
Virginia at Louisville, noon, The CW
Pittsburgh at No. 21 North Carolina, noon, ACC Network
Wake Forest at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
No. 11 Duke at Clemson, 2 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Miami, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Syracuse at N.C. State, 2 p.m., The CW
Notre Dame at SMU, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 9 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 11 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. No. 11 Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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