No. 18 WBB Sweeps Duke With 74-46 Senior Day Win

Sunday, February 27

Chapel Hill

4 PM

North Carolina

23-5,13-5ACC

Duke

16-12,7-11ACC

OT 1

Duke

North Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 27, 2022 | Women's Basketball

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – What's the perfect Senior Day gift? For UNC graduate students Carlie Littlefield and Jaelynn Murray, it was a win over Duke. The No. 18 Tar Heels led from the opening minutes on Sunday and rolled to a 74-46 win over the Blue Devils at Carmichael Arena to earn Carolina's first sweep of its Tobacco Road rival since 2013-14.

Combine that with a rowdy crowd of more than 5,200 and, as Littlefield put it, "There's nothing more I could ask for on my Senior Day."

UNC wrapped up the regular season at 23-5 overall and 13-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Duke fell to 16-12 (7-11). The 28-point margin of victory marked the largest in the series since the Blue Devils won by 36 in Chapel Hill in 2016.

A big team effort and an even bigger win on Senior Day! 🙌 Highlights from today's game vs Duke ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QCuoXx9xGU
— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) February 28, 2022

Four Carolina players scored in double figures led by sophomores Anya Poole and Alyssa Ustby with 15 points each. Kennedy Todd-Williams, also a sophomore, chipped in 14. But the loudest cheers came for the night's honorees as both had standout games. Littlefield, part of the starting lineup for all 28 regular-season games as the Tar Heels maintained the same first five, finished with a double-double, including a career-high 10 rebounds. With her 10 points, it was her first double-double of her sole season at Carolina. Murray came off the bench for a season-high seven points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field.

Carolina's 78-62 win over Duke in Durham last month ended a string of five consecutive wins by the Blue Devils in the series, which was tied at 51-51 all-time heading into Sunday's matchup.

After Duke scored first on a three from Celeste Taylor 29 seconds into the action, the Tar Heels reeled off 13 straight to lead 13-3 midway through the first quarter. They also jumped out to an early lead on the boards – 11-2 – that they'd hold onto throughout, finishing with a 51-35 advantage.

The Tar Heels led 16-8 at the end of the first period, marking the 12^th time this season they've held an opponent to single digits in the first quarter.

After Ustby started the second period with a lay-up to give Carolina a 10-point lead, the Tar Heels went cold, missing their next seven shots. Duke used a 6-0 run to pull within four, 18-14, before Todd-Williams hit the Tar Heels' first three of the day on the team's 12^th attempt.

Carolina then went just over four minutes before scoring again, on a layup by Ustby, but the Blue Devils never got closer than six, 22-16. Ustby's basket kicked off a 12-0 Carolina run into halftime and gave UNC a 34-16 lead at the break.

The Tar Heels continued to increase their lead in the second half. Poole had 10 of her points in the third quarter as the Tar Heels held a 22-10 scoring advantage. The fourth-quarter margin was never closer than 27. The Tar Heels saved their best shooting quarter of the day for last, hitting 46.7 percent of their shots (7-15) in the fourth period to finish at 38.7 percent for the day.

Littlefield and Murray came out for the final time with just over three minutes to play, to hugs from coaches and teammates and cheers from the crowd. They were honored along with team managers Nazhiyah Hayes and Rachel Kapiko and athletic trainer Camille King in ceremonies following the game.

The Tar Heels now turn their attention to the ACC Tournament, which starts on Wednesday in Greensboro. As the No. 4 seed, UNC earns a double bye and will open play on Friday at 11 a.m. For the full bracket, click here.

• Battling on the boards: The Tar Heels finished with 51 rebounds to Duke's 35, including a 20-6 margin on the offensive glass. It marked the seventh time this season that UNC has topped 50 rebounds in a game and the eighth game in a row that the Tar Heels have outrebounded their opponent.

• Taking care of the ball: UNC committed just seven turnovers, its second lowest total of the year with the lowest – 6 – in the win over Duke in Durham last month. It's the fourth time this season the Tar Heels have finished a game with single-digit turnovers.