University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday, January 21
Chapel Hill, N.C.
2:30 p.m.
North Carolina
14-6, 4-3ACC
92
vs
86
Duke
15-5, 4-3ACC
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Duke
20
21
14
17
14
86
North Carolina
11
22
21
18
20
92
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Kea Scores 36 To Sink Duke in Overtime, 92-86
January 21, 2018 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL - Paris Kea picked a perfect time to score a career-high 36 points on Sunday afternoon against No. 15 Duke. Her last second three-pointer sent the game to overtime and North Carolina overcame a 19-point deficit to grab a thrilling 92-86 victory over the Blue Devils.
The UNC athletic department held a ceremony before the game to honor head coach Sylvia Hatchell's 1000th career victory that came back on Dec. 19 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hatchell was presented with a Tar Heel jersey with the number 1000 across the chest and back, a custom shoe box from Nike with a pair of Jordan Brand basketball shoes signed by Michael Jordan and her players gave her a commemorative basketball representing the 79-63 win over Grambling State last month.
The script wasn't going quite to plan in the first half with North Carolina (14-6, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) falling behind by as many as 19 points midway through the second quarter. Lexie Brown, the ACC's leading scorer got going early with 10 points in the first quarter alone, but it was a bucket from Haley Gorecki that gave Duke a 37-18 edge.
The Tar Heels climbed back into the game with a bevy of three-pointers late in the second period. Leah Church knocked down the first and Kea followed with a pair from distance that allowed Carolina to get within 41-33 at halftime.
UNC scored the first seven points of the third quarter to make it 41-40 Blue Devils. Church's three-pointer put an exclamation point on a 20-2 run for the Tar Heels. Duke (15-5, 4-3) never relinquished its lead in the third period, however, a last second three-pointer from Jamie Cherry got UNC again within a single point, 55-54, with the fourth quarter to play.
Carolina finally took its first lead of the game, 57-56, on another three-pointer from Kea with 7 minutes, 27 seconds to play. Momentum appeared to finally swing to the home team, but the Tar Heels promptly suffered what appeared at the time to be a critical scoring drought of nearly five minutes that saw Duke go back ahead by nine, 66-57.
Duke turned it over a season-high 26 times on Sunday. Perhaps the most back breaking was Gorecki's with 23 seconds left in the fourth and Duke up 71-67. Kea would score the next time down the floor, and after Rebecca Greenwell made 1-of-2 free throws, Kea rose and fired from beyond the arc to send the game into an extra session.
Despite trailing for nearly the entire game, it was Carolina that had another gear in overtime. The Tar Heels drilled four of its 13 triples in extra time to pick up its first win in the series since 2014.
Kea was not the only UNC player to notch career highs numbers. Church scored 19 points, 11 more than her previous high, and Cherry dished out a career-best 13 assists to go with her 22 points.
Gorecki finished with a career-high 29 points, one more than the 28 she had on Thursday at Virginia Tech. Brown had 19 points, Erin Mathias added 13 and Greenwell offered up 10.
UNC visits Virginia on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The UNC athletic department held a ceremony before the game to honor head coach Sylvia Hatchell's 1000th career victory that came back on Dec. 19 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Hatchell was presented with a Tar Heel jersey with the number 1000 across the chest and back, a custom shoe box from Nike with a pair of Jordan Brand basketball shoes signed by Michael Jordan and her players gave her a commemorative basketball representing the 79-63 win over Grambling State last month.
The script wasn't going quite to plan in the first half with North Carolina (14-6, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) falling behind by as many as 19 points midway through the second quarter. Lexie Brown, the ACC's leading scorer got going early with 10 points in the first quarter alone, but it was a bucket from Haley Gorecki that gave Duke a 37-18 edge.
The Tar Heels climbed back into the game with a bevy of three-pointers late in the second period. Leah Church knocked down the first and Kea followed with a pair from distance that allowed Carolina to get within 41-33 at halftime.
UNC scored the first seven points of the third quarter to make it 41-40 Blue Devils. Church's three-pointer put an exclamation point on a 20-2 run for the Tar Heels. Duke (15-5, 4-3) never relinquished its lead in the third period, however, a last second three-pointer from Jamie Cherry got UNC again within a single point, 55-54, with the fourth quarter to play.
Carolina finally took its first lead of the game, 57-56, on another three-pointer from Kea with 7 minutes, 27 seconds to play. Momentum appeared to finally swing to the home team, but the Tar Heels promptly suffered what appeared at the time to be a critical scoring drought of nearly five minutes that saw Duke go back ahead by nine, 66-57.
Duke turned it over a season-high 26 times on Sunday. Perhaps the most back breaking was Gorecki's with 23 seconds left in the fourth and Duke up 71-67. Kea would score the next time down the floor, and after Rebecca Greenwell made 1-of-2 free throws, Kea rose and fired from beyond the arc to send the game into an extra session.
Despite trailing for nearly the entire game, it was Carolina that had another gear in overtime. The Tar Heels drilled four of its 13 triples in extra time to pick up its first win in the series since 2014.
Kea was not the only UNC player to notch career highs numbers. Church scored 19 points, 11 more than her previous high, and Cherry dished out a career-best 13 assists to go with her 22 points.
Gorecki finished with a career-high 29 points, one more than the 28 she had on Thursday at Virginia Tech. Brown had 19 points, Erin Mathias added 13 and Greenwell offered up 10.
UNC visits Virginia on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
DU
NC
FG%
.526
.446
3FG%
.423
.382
FT%
.652
.929
RB
41
27
TO
26
15
STL
10
12
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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