Freshmen lead UNC past Blue Devils in women's basketball

Somewhere in the midst of North Carolina’s 64-60 win against Duke, somewhere in the midst of Sunday afternoon’s somersaulting regular-season finale at Carmichael Arena and in this women’s basketball season, four Tar Heels shed their titles.

They are freshmen by distinction, but outsize contributors by trade. When No. 14 UNC most needs a block, a basket or a tourniquet, Diamond DeShields, Allisha Gray, Stephanie Mavunga and Jessica Washington play with the verve of upperclassmen.

Three days removed from its second straight loss, and facing a squandered 19-point second-half lead, UNC again turned to its freshman quartet.

Mavunga scored 12 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Gray added 12 second-half points after a scoreless first half. DeShields, amid an uncharacteristically poor shooting day, found other ways to pitch in. And Washington, who came off the bench in the first half, jump-started UNC’s listless offense.

Together they propelled No. 14 UNC (22-8, 10-6 ACC) to another win, vanquishing No. 7 Duke (25-5, 12-4 ACC) to sweep its first season series with the Blue Devils since 2007-08.

“We don’t like to say they’re freshmen,” associate head coach Andrew Calder said.

“They’re definitely not freshmen now. They did a lot of great things on the floor today.”

An understatement, perhaps. The nucleus scored 49 of UNC’s 64 points, and entering Sunday had accounted for 58 percent of the team’s total points this season.

Mavunga, who now leads all ACC freshmen with 12 double-doubles, spearheaded UNC’s defense with a dogged effort against Duke forward Elizabeth Williams. Williams scored a career-high 28 points with Mavunga guarding her in Duke’s Feb. 10 loss to UNC. On Sunday, Williams scored 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting.

DeShields, meanwhile, couldn’t find her shot. She resorted to more workmanlike methods. With 2:45 remaining and UNC up by 3, DeShields barreled down the lane from the top of the arc to snag a rebound. She found Gray for a 3-pointer from the corner, effectively putting the game to rest.

“I just made an effort to be better at other things this game because that’s just what I needed to do,” DeShields said. “My shots weren’t falling, so I had to contribute elsewhere.”

Gray, UNC’s second-leading scorer, missed the only two shots she took in the first half.

In the second period, she hit three straight 3-pointers in a span of 2:18, highlighting a 20-0 North Carolina stretch

But the cascade soon ended for UNC and tilted toward the other end of the floor. With UNC mired in a 9:42 scoreless spell, Duke authored a 16-0 run and eventually cut its deficit to one with 4:17 remaining.

The freshmen, to little surprise, restored order. Gray picked off an inbounds pass and sprung Washington for a layup to end Duke’s 16-0 tear.

Mavunga added four points in the final four minutes, and DeShields extended UNC’s lead to nine with 1:09 remaining on a shot-clock-beating jumper.

“We never really got down on ourselves whenever they started making their run because we knew we can stick together and we can overcome this,” said Mavunga, UNC’s starting center in all but four of its games this year.

In word and deed, they shed their titles. With the regular season concluded, UNC, too, has shed unspectacular records in the conference and at home. UNC can beat anyone and stumble against anyone, Calder said.

“Right now, we think we’re getting to gel and we’re going to take off,” he said.

If UNC does, it will turn to four players for liftoff, freshmen or not.

sports@dailytarheel.com