CHAPEL HILL - Duke outscored the highest-scoring team in the country Thursday night, but it was not because of the Blue Devils' offensive output. As Duke has done in each of its biggest games this season, the team won with defense.
Duke held North Carolina-which was averaging 89. 3 points per game before Thursday's contest-to just 53 points. The effort was the Tar Heels' worst of the season by 13 points.
Seniors Lindsey Harding and Alison Bales led the Blue Devils' staunch defense, which ranks second in the country in both average points against and field goal percentage allowed.
Bales dominated the paint all night, recording seven blocks and altering countless shots from the helpless Tar Heels. Erlana Larkins, who averages 13 points per game on the season, recorded just four points on 1-for-8 shooting.
"Offensively, she didn't score much, but defensively she was a monster," head coach Gail Goestenkors said of Bales. "I don't know how many blocks she had, but it doesn't matter because she changed so many shots, she made them think about the shots they were taking."
Bales added 12 defensive rebounds and four steals and helped force UNC to shoot just 39 percent in the paint.
Harding, last year's ACC Defensive Player of the Year, also did her part in shutting down the Tar Heels' run-and-gun offense. Sharing the effort of guarding Ivory Latta, Harding helped force the stand-out guard into one of her worst nights of the season.
"They're probably the two best point guards in the country," Goestenkors said. "I thought [Lindsey] did a great job defensively."
Latta, who was the media's pick as preseason ACC player of the year, shot just 3-for-20 and a dismal 0-for-11 from beyond the arc en route to posting nine points. Entering the game, Latta's 16.3 points per game led the Tar Heels, and she has posted as many as 32 points in a contest this season.
In one of the key plays of the game, Latta pushed the ball up the court after an Abby Waner baseline jump shot put the Blue Devils ahead by seven with a little over three minutes on the clock. But Harding was there to meet the speedy Latta, and sticking with her through the lane, Harding forced Latta to travel as she tried to get by for the quick layup.
The Tar Heels never had a chance to come back after Harding's crucial stop.
"I wanted to make her put it on the floor," Harding said. "Throughout the game we wanted to keep someone in her face the whole time."
In all, UNC shot 27.3 percent from the floor as the Blue Devils continued to rise to the occasion in big games. Against then-No. 1 Maryland, Duke took control of the game and held the talented Terrapins to just 62 points. Later, against then-No. 4 Tennessee, Duke's solid defense down the stretch pulled out the close match 74-70.
The outcome of the Blue Devils' matchup with UNC is more remarkable considering the Tar Heels' success against other top programs. In its games against Tennessee and Maryland, UNC posted 70 and 84 points, respectively.
"Carolina is an incredible basketball team," Goestenkors said. "They've got so many weapons, and their transition is incredible."
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