Duke vs North Carolina | ACC | 2.11.24

DURHAM – February 11th, 2024

| Written by GoDuke.com |

Duke freshman Delaney Thomas scored a career-high 19 points and pulled in seven rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a thrilling 68-60 overtime win over North Carolina in ACC women's basketball action in a sold-out Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Thomas knocked down 8-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe to lead the Blue Devils in the comeback effort. Duke (16-7, 8-4) outscored North Carolina (15-9, 7-5) 34-14 in the final 15 minutes to triumph over its rivals.

Taina Mair registered 13 points, four rebounds and three assists in her 30 minutes of action while Ashlon Jackson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, four rebounds and five assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The visitors jumped out to an early seven-point lead, but Duke battled back and used an 8-1 run to draw even at a dozen via a Camilla Emsbo layup off a nice drive and dish from Ashlon Jackson.
Duke held the Tar Heels without a field goal for the final 5:35 of the opening quarter with a late North Carolina free throw being the difference as the Tar Heels went into the first break holding a 13-12 lead.

Scoring was even in the second quarter with both teams putting up 13 points, leaving North Carolina with a one-point advantage at 26-25.
Thomas provided a spark off the bench with six points while sophomores Taina Mair (4) and Ashlon Jackson (3) rounded out the Duke attack.

North Carolina managed to push its lead to double digits, 46-34, as it finished the frame with a plus-11 scoring margin (20-9).

Duke turned the tables in the fourth quarter, outscoring the visitors 19-7 across the 10 minutes. A quick 6-0 run at the start cut the Duke deficit in half and forced the Tar Heels to burn a timeout.
The Blue Devils extended the run to 14-2 via a pull-up jumper from Jackson and an Okananwa triple from the far-right corner. Thomas capped the spurt with an old-fashioned three-point play to knot the score, 48-48, with 3:52 to go.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch with Okananwa' s perfect trip at the foul line tying the score, 53-53.

Each side had an opportunity to take the lead in the final minute but couldn't convert, as the game headed to overtime. The Tar Heels had the final look at the basket as a layup attempt came up just short, giving the fans inside Cameron Indoor Stadium five more minutes to watch.
Overtime started off back-and-forth until Kennedy Brown's put-back put the Blue Devils in front for good, 60-58.

Junior Reigan Richardson cashed in a jumper from the right elbow, Brown added two more free throws before Mair delivered the final dagger via a triple from the left corner for a 67-60 Blue Devil lead with 55 seconds left to play.


GAME NOTES

With the win, Duke improves to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the ACC. The Blue Devils also improve to 2-1 on the year in overtime games.
The Blue Devils have won two consecutive contests against North Carolina and pull within a game, 54-53, in the all-time series. When playing the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke is 29-16 overall.
Duke is 12-2 this season when playing at home with Sunday's victory marking the ninth straight win at Cameron.
For the game, Duke shot 40.7 percent from the field (24-of-59), 32 percent from distance (6-of-19) and 73.7 percent at the charity stripe (14-of-19).
Duke registered a season-low nine turnovers, besting the previous low of 11 turnovers committed at Stanford. The Blue Devils assisted on 54.2 percent of their field goals dropping 13 dimes on 24 made buckets.
On the defensive end, Duke totaled nine blocks – its fifth game this season with nine or more rejections, collected five steals and forced North Carolina into 14 miscues.
Duke rallied from a 14-point third-quarter deficit and outscored North Carolina 34-14 across the final 15 minutes of play to secure the win.
In the battle of the specialty stats Duke held the advantage in four of the five categories -- bench scoring (31-6), points in the paint (30-14), fastbreak buckets (7-2) and points off turnovers (10-7).
Duke had three players score in double figures – Delaney Thomas (19), Taina Mair (13) and Ashlon Jackson (10), while three Blue Devils collected five or more boards – Thomas (7), Kennedy Brown (6) and Oluchi Okananwa (5).
22 of Duke's 23 opponents this season have been held below their respective season scoring averages. North Carolina's 60 points was 9.8 points fewer than its average of 69.8.
Sunday's game marked the second sellout during Kara Lawson's tenure and the 21st Duke women's basketball sellout all-time.



UP NEXT

The Blue Devils are on the road for two of their next three, starting with a midweek trip to Blacksburg, Va., for a Thursday night showdown at No. 16 Virginia Tech. The game is slated for an 8 p.m., tip live on ACC Network.

To stay up to date with Duke women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWBB."