Duke Defeats Carolina 69-63; Readies For ACC Tourney
(Photo: Gerry Broome/AP)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke traveled to Chapel Hill to face Carolina in game two of the this years rivalry. Carolina lost the first meeting with Duke, 96-56, in Durham. Duke, on the other hand, won the ACC regular season title and clinched the #1 seed for The ACC Tournament, by virtue of their 74-64 victory over Miami a few days ago. Motivation coupled with playing on their home court, seemed to favor Carolina-at least on paper.
Coach Joanne P. McCallie and her Duke team must not read the papers. Duke led Carolina 44-30 at the end of the first twenty minutes. The Tar Heels regrouped and played a determined 2nd half. Duke withstood a furious rally in the closing minutes of the game, to sweep the season series with The University of North Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell said it best, “You know, if we had played the first half like we did the second half, we’d be a lot happier right now.”
Tricia Liston (15 points), Elizabeth Williams ((13 points), Chelsea Gray (12 points), and Allison Vernerey (10 points) led Duke in scoring. What’s interesting is, Liston and Verenerey, scored their points off the bench. Duke’s bench became very important in the game when starter Haley Peters was inadvertently elbowed by Carolina’s Chay Shegog, and knocked to the floor. Peters mouth was flowing with blood from the contact. She was led to the locker room where the doctors stitched both the inside and outside of her mouth. Coach McCallie commented on her teams fortitude, “ It was a great basketball game. It was sort of a season in a game, relative to some of the adversity. I didn’t think we could get more adversity, but we did and I think the team handled the game very, very well.” Peters returned to the game in the 2nd half and was a key contributor down the stretch.
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