UNC Basketball: Tar Heels fall to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium
UNC basketball takes a tough loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Tar Heels fall 71-61 to Blue Devils.
Haley Gorecki scored a game-high 25 points, and Duke beat North Carolina by a final score of 71-61 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday night.
Gorecki hit 7-of-12 shots for the game, 4-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. She also recorded team-highs in rebounds (12) and assists (8), but committed a game-high six turnovers on the night. Three other Blue Devils — Boykin, Odom and Williams — scored in double-figures.
The Blue Devils hit 47.5 percent of their shots, and 36.8 percent of their threes. They shot just 11 free throws on the game (8-for-11), compared to North Carolina’s 26. Despite committing 18 turnovers and 18 fouls, they made enough plays in the closing minutes to win the game. Duke improved to 12-10 on the season, and 6-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
North Carolina was led by senior guard Shayla Bennett, who scored a team-high 19 points on a difficult 5-for-18 shooting performance. She did connect on 2-of-5 three-point attempts, and 7-of-8 at the free throw line, while adding five steals, three assists and two rebounds.
Malu Tshitenge added a dozen points on a 5-for-8 night from the floor. Janelle Bailey had another difficult offensive night, hitting just two of her 11 shot attempts on the game. She pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, though, and hit 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.
The Tar Heels put together a putrid shooting performance that saw them hit just 19-of-70 shots overall, and 6-of-24 from long-range. They also missed nine of their 26 free throw attempts. Even though they won the rebounding battle by three, and had five fewer fouls and turnovers, they simply couldn’t overcome a horrible shooting night. They also made a slew of mistakes in the fourth quarter — particularly when they closed the Duke lead to just five points — that made their comeback attempt futile in the end.
The loss drops the Tar Heels to 16-7 overall, and 7-5 in conference play. They’ll be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Virginia Tech Hokies at Carmichael Arena.
Next. UNC to honor Joel Berry II at halftime of Duke game. dark
Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the North Carolina women’s hoops team, and everything UNC basketball.