Carolina Set For 100th Battle With Blue Devils

UNC and Duke meet Thursday evening in Durham for the 100th time in a women's basketball rivalry that dates back to 1976. This is the first of two meetings over the next month, with the other set for March 3 in Chapel Hill.

Carolina comes into the game 16-6 overall, 7-4 in ACC play. Duke is 11-10 (5-5). Tipoff at Cameron Indoor Stadium is 6 p.m. For tickets, click here.

The Tar Heels are in the midst of six games in a row in the Triangle: at NC State on Jan. 26, home games against Virginia and Clemson last week, the Feb. 6 game at Duke and then two more home games against Virginia Tech and Syracuse. They then face the season's only stretch of three-straight road games before hosting Duke to close the regular season.

By the Numbers
• All five UNC starters are scoring in double figures, led by junior Janelle Bailey with 15.6 points per game.
• UNC leads the ACC in scoring offense (75.8 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.29), with 341 assists and a league-low 264 turnovers. The Tar Heels rank second in turnover margin (+2.82), and third in scoring margin (+13.95), free throw percentage (.736), three-point percentage (.354) and assists (15.5 per game).
• Tshitenge leads the league in offensive rebounding (4.32 per game) and Bennett leads in assist/turnover ratio (2.31). Bailey is second in rebounding (9.95 per game).
• UNC and Louisville are the only teams that rank in the top 10 in the ACC in every statistical category.
• UNC is the only team in the ACC with fewer than 300 turnovers this season (264).

Notables
• All five UNC starters have led the scoring effort in at least two games this season.
• UNC shot 50 percent from the field Sunday against Clemson, the first time the Tar Heels have hit or bettered that mark since a win over UNCW on Dec. 20 and just the second time all season. (The other was vs. Navy in the second game of the season.)
• UNC has lost only twice when shooting better than 40 percent from the field. The Tar Heels hit 46.2 percent of their shots in the loss to Louisville and then shot 40.7 in the loss at NC State.
• The NC State home game marked the largest UNC deficit in a win this season. The Tar Heels trailed by 14 in the second quarter before coming back to win, 66-60.
• Taylor Koenen is just the fifth player in program history to total 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. (The four players who previously reached those marks – Tonya Sampson, Erlana Larkins, Rashanda McCants and La'Tangela Atkinson – all went on to play professionally in the WNBA or ABL.) She's just the third who adds 100 three-pointers to those totals, with the others being Sampson and McCants.
• Against Miami, Shayla Bennett had seven assists and no turnovers.
• Janelle Bailey's 28 points vs. Miami marked the most by a Tar Heel this season. Her 17 rebounds in the home game against Virginia is a team high for boards.
• Taylor Koenen played the entirety of three games in a recent four-game span: 40 minutes against FSU and Louisville, and 45 at Georgia Tech. Bailey and Bennett also played all 45 minutes in the OT win against the Yellow Jackets.
• The game vs. Clemson marked the first time UNC has won when the opponent scores 70 points. (UNC 86, Clemson 72.) The Tar Heels have lost just once when scoring 70+ (83-77 at Alabama).
• UNC has hit at least 70 percent of its free throws in each of the past six games, averaging 80.2 percent over that span.
• Junior Janelle Bailey was named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds in wins over Virginia and Clemson.
• UNC signee Deja Kelly was one of 24 high school players named to the 2020 McDonald's All-American Game roster. She's the first Tar Heel picked for the prestigious event since Janelle Bailey in 2017.

UNC vs. Duke
Heading into the 100th meeting between the Tobacco Road rivals, the Tar Heels lead the series 50-49. The Blue Devils have won the last three and 10 of the past 11.
• Last season, Duke won both matchup: 85-69 on Feb. 7, 2019, in Chapel Hill and 62-44 in Durham on March 3.
• UNC's last win in the series was Jan. 21, 2018, in Chapel Hill, 92-86 in overtime. The Tar Heels were down 19 in the second quarter and trailed 41-33 at halftime but stormed back to tie the game at 72-72 at the end of regulation.
Current junior Leah Church, then a freshman, came off the bench to hit five three-pointers and score 19 points, then a career high.
• UNC last won at Cameron in the 2013-14 season. On Feb. 10, 2014, the 17th-ranked Tar Heels hit 12 three-pointers en route to an 89-78 win over No. 3 Duke. That was UNC's first win in Durham since 2008.

Scouting the Blue Devils
Duke is 11-10 overall and 5-5 in ACC play this season following a 63-60 homecourt loss to NC State on Sunday. Despite that defeat, the Blue Devils are 9-3 at home this season, including a 4-2 record in ACC play.
Haley Gorecki, a grad student guard, leads Duke in scoring with 18.0 points per game, a total that ranks third in the ACC. She's also the team's top rebounder with 6.3 boards per game. Senior forward Leaonna Odom is second in both categories with 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, and she ranks fourth in the ACC in field goal percentage at .537.
As a team, Duke averages 67.1 points per game. The Blue Devils lead the ACC in steals with 10.7 per game

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Players Mentioned

Janelle Bailey

Shayla Bennett

Leah Church

Taylor Koenen

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University of North Carolina Athletics