Duke Muscles Through a Defensive Slog Against UNC

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — I would like to say the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels delivered a game for the ages in their first women’s NCAA tournament matchup, but I watched it. Duke built a 47–38 lead when somebody pointed out that they had actually played all four quarters already, so that would have to be that.

The 85 total points were the lowest for a game in the Sweet 16 or later. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels shot 30% from the field; 23% from three-point range; and, somehow, 46% from the free-throw line. It was a difficult game, and yes, I am still talking about watching it.

“Those that like defense, you should watch it again,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said.

I like defense and will pass, but I see her point: “These are two of the best defenses that have played in the last five years,” Banghart said. “Add familiarity … and physicality …”

This happens sometimes: Two good basketball teams produce a bad basketball game. You see it at the end of a playoff series, when opponents know each other so well that almost every play is well-defended. And this, for all intents and purposes, was the end of a playoff series. It was the third Duke-UNC tilt of the season, and every game in this rivalry feels like the postseason.

Duke coach Kara Lawson said this was “exactly how we expected the game to go,” and she also had a point. When they played in Chapel Hill in January, Duke and UNC combined for 80 points in the first four quarters. The Tar Heels won, 53–46, in overtime.

So yes, this was just a case of two excellent defensive teams intimately familiar with each other. Simple as that. Nothing else to see here.

So great defense made them miss free throws?

O.K., fine: This was not just a great defensive performance. It was the kind of game where everything seemed harder than it needed to be. Banghart pointed to Duke’s total of 47 points and said, “It’s not really a game you should lose. We really didn’t shoot the ball well enough.” Her team had two fast-break points and six assists. I am quite sure nobody keeps records for “fewest assists plus fast-break points in a 40-minute game,” but eight might be it.

Incredibly, the Tar Heels led 11–0 early. Lawson said afterward that, “I was a little worried, down 11–0, if we would ever score at all in the game. Wasn’t our best night offensively, that’s for sure. But man, did we dig down deep defensively.”

There were some extenuating circumstances. Duke’s leading scorer, Toby Fournier, missed the team’s last game with an illness and missed all eight of her shots in this one. North Carolina’s leading scorer, Maria Gakdeng, fouled out of this game in just 17 minutes. She scored four points.

“Duke is pretty disciplined,” North Carolina guard Alyssa Ustby said. “They’re on rotations. They know how to double. You have to find other ways to score, and I felt like we just weren’t as connected in that aspect today.”

The temptation after a game like this is to say that the winner will get crushed in its next game. That certainly could be the case, especially since Duke will play South Carolina. But it is also possible that Duke’s stifling defense will create another low-scoring game, which would seem to favor the team that just won a low-scoring game.

That is a question for another day. The question Friday was … well, I’m still not really sure. But Duke had the answer. Whatever it was.