Olluchi Okananwa had 12 points and 12 returns from the bench and second-seeded Duke used a suffocating defense to dampen third seeds North Carolina 47-38 in Sweet 16 in Women’s NCAA tournament in Birmingham 2 region on Friday afternoon.
Ashlon Jackson scored 10 points for Duke, who won even though I shot 31 percent from the field and went 5-for-24 on 3-points.
Blue Devils (29-7), which has won nine in a row, will meet the winner between Maryland and South Carolina in Sunday’s regional final.
North Carolina (29-8) shot 28.3 percent for the game and 3-for-11 on 3-score. Takes Heels, who committed 15 sales, also suffered at the free throw line and went 5-for-10.
Alyssa Ustby’s nine points and 10 returns and Indya Nivar’s eight points went North Carolina.
Duke scored the first seven points in the fourth quarter to build a lead of 44-32. It takes Heels almost five minutes to score in the fourth, and they only had two field goals during that quarter – one of those who came in the last seconds.
It was a fantastic turn from the first quarter, when North Carolina led 11-0 until Jordan Wood got Duke on the board six minutes into the match on a free throw, followed by a jumper.
Duke’s reserves gave a 26-6 point advantage in bench points.
Duke’s Toby Fournier, beginner of the year in the Atlantic coast conference, was back after an absence on a game due to illness. She got three points, all on a free throw.
At half-time Duke led 28-20 because Okananwa had 10 points. North Carolina shot 29.6 percent from the field during the first half of the year before it got even worse for the tar heels in the second (20 percent).
It marked the first meeting in the NCAA tournament game between the long adjacent rivals. North Carolina and Duke shared two regular seasonal meetings, each one won at home.
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