By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Durham, N.C. — For two-plus quarters Thursday night, North Carolina matched every surge from the Duke women’s basketball team.

But the Blue Devils and senior Reigan Richardson kept coming. And the Tar Heels ran out of answers.

No. 16 Duke topped rival and eight-ranked North Carolina 68-53 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, earning a pivotal victory for seeding in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

The Blue Devils used an 11-0 run at the end of third quarter to finally shake the Tar Heels, who lost for the first time in 10 road games this season.

“We know that we can still move up,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. ‘So we made that a focus of ours.”

Duke (22-7, 13-4 in the ACC) and North Carolina (25-5, 13-4) were both No. 3 seeds in the NCAA women’s committee’s updated preliminary seeds released Thursday before the game, putting them in line to host first- and second-round games in the NCAA Tournament.

The teams are tied for third in the ACC standings.

Duke led by as many as eight in the first quarter behind freshman Toby Fournier’s 13 points and six rebounds.

“That really steadied us,” Lawson said of Fournier, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

UNC, however, erased that deficit in the second quarter and led 32-31 at the half with freshman Lanie Grant, making her first career start, leading the way with 10 points.

In the third quarter, Richardson went on a personal 8-0 run — a jumper and then back-to-back 3-pointers — as the Blue Devils retook the lead.

“I had opportunities to get an open three in the corner and ultimately I just let it fly,” said Richardson, who scored a game-high 23 points and hit 5-of-8 3-point attempts.

Duke’s Reigan Richardson reflects on senior night win vs. UNC

The Tar Heels, again, erased that deficit, pulling even at 41 on a lay-up by Grant with 3:49 left in the quarter.

UNC would not score again in the third. Duke scored 11 straight, including two 3-pointers by Ashlon Jackson and one by Richardson. Richardson had 13 points in the quarter for Duke, which made five 3s in the third — three by Richardson and two by Jackson.

It was Richardson’s top scoring game since she poured in 35 points against Oklahoma in late November. She scored in single digits 13 times since then, including a three-game stretch where she totaled just nine points earlier this month.

“Reigan, throughout the game, just made big play after big play after big play,” Lawson said. “It’s great to see her step up in that moment on senior night. You couldn’t write it any better if you were writing it, right? Your senior last full game against your rival to be able to take over the game and create separation. I’m just real proud of her and the performance she got tonight.”

The Tar Heels, winners of seven in a row, could not rally another time.

UNC turned the ball over 20 times, including 14 times in the second half. Duke had just eight turnovers. The Blue Devils also grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, six by Fournier.

“Those were sort of the statistics we were caring about: How can we take care of the ball in this environment and can we keep them off the glass?” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “And I thought we were okay, not good enough.”

UNC played without injured starters Alyssa Utsby and Reniya Kelly, its second- and third-leading scorers, respectively. Banghart said after that game that both players would return this season, describing Kelly as “minute-to-minute.” Banghart said the Tar Heels used their analytics and baseline testing to measure whether explosiveness, balance, strength and other physical characteristics are the same.

UNC’s Courtney Banghart gives updates on Alyssa Ustby, Reniya Kelly injuries

“And if they’re not that means fatigue has really set in and that doesn’t put them in the best position to be successful,” Banghart said. “It puts the at risk, right? And so you make decisions. These are young people that have a lot ahead.”

Grant had a team-high 17 points for UNC.

UNC won the first meeting 53-46 in overtime in Chapel Hill.

The ACC regular season concludes on Sunday. UNC hosts Virginia, while Duke plays at No. 24 Florida State.

“The cool thing about tonight and also Sunday and then the ACC Tournament is you can kind of control your own fate,” Lawson said. “You can kind of win your way to where you want to go, right? You control that.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com