University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Duke
Carolina Comes Up Short At Duke
January 24, 2016 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina (12-10, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) placed three in double figures, led by 16 points from Jamie Cherry. Freshman Stephanie Watts added 13 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double, while N'Dea Bryant registered her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Azura Stevens led Duke (15-6, 4-3) with a game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds.
Duke scored the first eight points of the third quarter to break open a one-possession game at the half. The Blue Devils extended the run to 13-2 and led 49-36. Carolina made only two field goals and scored a season-low six points in the third quarter, allowing Duke to take a 51-40 lead into the final set.
Watts scored Carolina's first five points of the fourth, but the Heels still trailed by double figures to the Blue Devils. Out of the media timeout, Destinee Walker scored five in a row to help get the Heels within 59-53, but Rebecca Greenwell's three-pointer with 1:49 left was too much for the Tar Heels to overcome.
In the first quarter, Bryant's third bucket of the stanza had UNC up 10-9, but the Blue Devils scored the next nine points to take an 18-10 lead after 10 minutes.
Balanced scoring brought Carolina back in the second quarter. An 11-2 run by the Heels garnered a 27-25 lead on a three-point play from Walker with 3:51 until halftime. Oderah Chidom capped an 8-0 Duke run to answer the Carolina come back, and a layup from Stevens put Duke up 36-34 at intermission.
Cherry led the Tar Heels with nine points in the first half, while Bryant and Watts had eight points each. Stevens led all scorers with 16 at the break.
Carolina faces NC State next Sunday at 2 p.m. in Raleigh at Broughton High School's Holliday Gymnasium.
