By: Ben McCormick
January 19, 2023
A battle between rivals. A battle between two teams on hot stretches. A battle of the blues. It's Duke/Carolina.
The No. 13 Duke women's basketball team is looking for its 12th consecutive win as it travels just down the road to Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, NC to take on the No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is 12-5 overall this season, and 3-3 in conference play. Those three conference wins were all notched over the last three games for the Tar Heels. The run started with a win over then No. 4 Notre Dame, then over Virginia, and finally over then No. 11 NC State, a win both the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have in common.
Despite a four game losing streak at the turn of the year, the Tar Heels are beginning to prove why they were ranked in the top-10 for much of the season. Still, the Blue Devils are certainly not without merits of their own.
Duke has not lost a game since it fell to No. 5 UConn on Nov. 25. Since then, the Blue Devils have captured 11 straight wins on their way to the No. 13 ranking in the AP Poll. Duke is 16-1 overall, and 6-0 in ACC play, the only unbeaten team left. ESPN tabbed the Blue Devils at No. 8 in this week's power rankings, and Duke is placed anywhere from a No. 2 seed to a No. 3 seed in tournament projections right now. Kara Lawson's group is cooking, and they are putting Duke women's basketball back on the national forefront.
The Blue Devils are winning through their defense. Duke ranks third nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 50.4 PPG from its opponents. The only two teams better are No. 1 South Carolina (45.6 PPG) and Norfolk State (50.2). In fact, UConn is the only team all season to break 60 points against Duke, a miraculous accomplishment considering Duke's strength of schedule.
With some streaky shooting lately, UNC has found its success defensively as well. This game will likely come down to who hits more shots. I know that sounds simple, but it's true. UNC's Deja Kelly heads up the Tar Heels three-headed offensive weapon. She leads the team in scoring with 15.9 PPG and recently crossed the 1,000 career point threshold. Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby both average over 13 PPG, and Ustby grabs over 9 boards a game as well. The Tar Heels can be a formidable force offensively, but if Duke can limit them similarly to how it has limited its past opponents, victory should be in sight.
Last season, the Tar Heels swept the Blue Devils, and those losses are likely in the minds of Duke's returnees and head coach Kara Lawson. Projected first round pick in the WNBA draft Celeste Taylor has been fantastic on both ends as of late. Taylor leads Duke in scoring with 12.9 PPG and 2.3 SPG. Although her scoring average is not too high, do not be fooled, Taylor can fill it up. Not only that, coach Lawson called her one of the best two-way players in the nation recently, praise that Taylor has earned for her exemplary play on defense.
Duke also looks to draw scoring opportunities from Elizabeth Balogun, who has been a walking double-double as of late. Balogun averages just south of 11 PPG and 6 RPG. She and 6'6' center Kennedy Brown will look to provide looks inside for Duke, as well as limit Ustby's looks for UNC.
Shayeann Day-Wilson is Duke's point guard. The reigning ACC Rookie of the Year has really begun to come back into her own as a scorer after a slow start to the season. Day-Wilson is averaging 7.5 PPG.
But perhaps the biggest strengths Duke possesses offensively is its ball movement and depth. Duke assists on nearly half its buckets, and Lawson typically goes at least 10 deep each game (a shortened rotation when compared to the 13 earlier this season).
The matchup in Chapel Hill should be one of the best this rivalry has had to offer in a while, and I'll be right there in Carmichael Arena watching it all go down.
@Duke_Wisdom
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