University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, January 27
Durham, N.C.
7 PM
North Carolina
at
Duke
The Tar Heels travel to Durham Thursday to take on Duke.
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Carolina Faces Off With Duke Thursday
January 26, 2022 | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina women's basketball team makes its shortest road trip of the season on Thursday evening to take on Duke at the Blue Devils' Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game will air on ACC Network Extra.
UNC (15-3 overall, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) comes into the game ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and is second among teams receiving votes in the Associated Press Poll. Duke is No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the coaches' poll. The last time the teams met with both teams nationally-ranked was March 1, 2015, in a game that host Duke (#16 AP/#17 coaches') won 81-80 over UNC (#15/#11).
The teams are meeting for the first time since the 2019-20 season, as Duke opted out of the majority of the 2020-21 season.
UNC vs. Duke
• The last time the teams met in Durham, on Feb. 6, 2020, Duke won 71-61. Then-senior Shayla Bennett led the Tar Heels with 19 points. Malu Tshitenge, then a freshman and currently a junior on the team, scored 12 points as the only other UNC player in double figures.
• Tshitenge is one of just two current Tar Heels to have played against Duke. The other is fifth-year senior Jaelynn Murray, who missed the 2019-20 season with a knee injury but played against the Blue Devils in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Scouting the Blue Devils
Duke is 13-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC play coming off a 57-48 homecourt win over Virginia on Sunday. The team has won its last two in a row, with the win over the Cavaliers following a 58-49 victory at Miami on Jan. 18.
• Freshman guard Shayeann Day-Wilson leads the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game. Just behind her is junior Celeste Taylor, who contributes 11.7 per game off the bench. Elizabeth Balogun is the third Blue Devil in double figures with 10.3 ppg. Taylor leads a balanced rebounding attack with 6.1 per game and three others average at least 4.7.
• The Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in blocks, with Balogun averaging a team-best 1.18, which is 12th in the ACC.
Up Next
After the quick trip to Duke, Carolina returns home to host NC State on Sunday at 4. The Tar Heels will welcome more than 50 former players back to Chapel Hill for Alumni Day.
UNC travels to play at Wake Forest on Feb. 3, then hosts Miami (Feb. 6) and Pitt (Feb. 10) for their first back-to-back home games since Syracuse on Dec. 30 and Clemson on Jan. 2.
• The Duke game kicks off a string of five consecutive games in the state of North Carolina. UNC won't leave the state again until traveling to Blacksburg, Va., for a matchup with Virginia Tech on Feb. 13.
UNC (15-3 overall, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) comes into the game ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and is second among teams receiving votes in the Associated Press Poll. Duke is No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the coaches' poll. The last time the teams met with both teams nationally-ranked was March 1, 2015, in a game that host Duke (#16 AP/#17 coaches') won 81-80 over UNC (#15/#11).
The teams are meeting for the first time since the 2019-20 season, as Duke opted out of the majority of the 2020-21 season.
UNC vs. Duke
• The last time the teams met in Durham, on Feb. 6, 2020, Duke won 71-61. Then-senior Shayla Bennett led the Tar Heels with 19 points. Malu Tshitenge, then a freshman and currently a junior on the team, scored 12 points as the only other UNC player in double figures.
• Tshitenge is one of just two current Tar Heels to have played against Duke. The other is fifth-year senior Jaelynn Murray, who missed the 2019-20 season with a knee injury but played against the Blue Devils in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Game Day Eve 𝑴𝑶𝑶𝑫 😤#GoHeels x #InPursuit pic.twitter.com/DrPmVHlUX4
— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 27, 2022
Scouting the Blue Devils
Duke is 13-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC play coming off a 57-48 homecourt win over Virginia on Sunday. The team has won its last two in a row, with the win over the Cavaliers following a 58-49 victory at Miami on Jan. 18.
• Freshman guard Shayeann Day-Wilson leads the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game. Just behind her is junior Celeste Taylor, who contributes 11.7 per game off the bench. Elizabeth Balogun is the third Blue Devil in double figures with 10.3 ppg. Taylor leads a balanced rebounding attack with 6.1 per game and three others average at least 4.7.
• The Blue Devils rank second in the ACC in blocks, with Balogun averaging a team-best 1.18, which is 12th in the ACC.
Up Next
After the quick trip to Duke, Carolina returns home to host NC State on Sunday at 4. The Tar Heels will welcome more than 50 former players back to Chapel Hill for Alumni Day.
UNC travels to play at Wake Forest on Feb. 3, then hosts Miami (Feb. 6) and Pitt (Feb. 10) for their first back-to-back home games since Syracuse on Dec. 30 and Clemson on Jan. 2.
• The Duke game kicks off a string of five consecutive games in the state of North Carolina. UNC won't leave the state again until traveling to Blacksburg, Va., for a matchup with Virginia Tech on Feb. 13.
Players Mentioned
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