The eight-mile, Tobacco Road rivalry is arguably the biggest in basketball. Every season, whenever the Duke Blue Devils take on the North Carolina Tarheels, fans are pressured to pick their preference of blue.
UNC (14-6, 4-3)-a team known for being at the top of the rankings in the past, but has suffered due to extraneous university issues as of late-was able to slight 15th-ranked Duke (15-5, 4-3). The 92-86 Carolina victory came in overtime.
The Tarheels trailed the Blue Devils by 19 points in the later minutes of the first half, but Leah Church and Paris Kea were able to knock down some integral shots from range to shorten the deficit to only eight points. Duke was up 41-33 at the half.
Duke’s Lexie Brown provided her usual offensive efficiency and had ten points in the first quarter alone. The redshirt-senior guard finished with a double-double: 19 points and ten rebounds. Redshirt-sophomore guard Haley Gorecki was the Blue Devils’ leading scorer with 29 points.
North Carolina’s Kea competed against a strong Duke backcourt and finished the night with a career-high 36 points. Church was right by her side, as they both were key factors in the 20-2 Tarheel run.
Kea’s three-pointer in the fourth quarter gave Carolina the first lead of the game and she shot another to send the game into overtime. UNC was able to defeat Duke 92-86 in overtime.