UNC downs Devils for sweep

DURHAM -- Ivory Latta wouldn't have it any other way.

With North Carolina up by five with 1 minute, 17 seconds to go, Nikita Bell picked up a loose ball and dribbled up the court toward the wing. As Bell came to a stop, Latta rushed at her, literally screaming at Bell to put the ball in her hands as the clock drained closer to a UNC victory.

The No. 8 Tar Heels then proceeded to hit almost all of their free throws, sealing a dramatic 77-68 victory against the No. 3 Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

With the win, UNC (24-3, 12-2 in the ACC) earned a share of the ACC regular season title, the first time the Tar Heels won the crown since the 1996-97 campaign. They will enter this weekend's ACC Tournament as the top seed thanks to a regular-season sweep of Duke (26-3, 12-2).

"What a great way to end the regular season," said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell. "Two great teams, hard-fought battle all the way until the end. I was just proud of our team. I thought it was a great team effort."

Latta's insistence to hold the ball in the game's latter stages occurred for good reason -- in addition to leading the ACC in free throw percentage (.912), she had just hit a shot to quell Duke's growing home-court momentum.

With the score tied at 63 after Duke's Wanisha Smith scored on a 3-pointer from the corner, the teams traded possessions, leaving UNC with the ball. Latta then came across the top of the key around a screen set by Camille Little, and she drained a 3 from the wing as the shot clock neared zero.

"Coach was like, 'If they go under, take your shot,'" Latta said. "That's mostly what I was looking for. And unfortunately (for Duke), she went under, so I took my shot. I've been very confident in my shot lately, these last couple of games, so I just stepped up and took a big shot. And I felt very confident about it."

After Blue Devil guard Jessica Foley missed a 3-pointer, UNC guard La'Tangela Atkinson corralled the rebound and passed it to Latta, who was fouled by Smith.

The sophomore point guard calmly hit the two free throws, points 19 and 20 of her game-high 23, and Duke failed to cut the Tar Heels' lead to less than five again.

"She's leading the ACC in free throw percentage, and we like to get it to her," Hatchell said. "She's very confident out there and does a lot of good things. We told her at the end there, we tried to set up a few things to get her open because she's really been shooting the ball well lately."

But Latta received immense help from her teammates on this night, most notably from Bell. Playing in her final regular season game, the senior tallied 14 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high nine steals, just one takeaway shy of North Carolina's first-ever triple-double.

Bell sparked UNC's pressure defense, which frustrated Duke just as it did in the teams' first meeting last month. In that contest, on Jan. 26, the Tar Heels nabbed 19 steals in a 56-51 victory at the Smith Center, which snapped a 12-game losing streak to Duke.

On Sunday, Bell and her teammates accumulated 17 steals, 11 of which came in a first half that ended with UNC holding a 38-30 advantage after an early 9-4 deficit.

"Once again, their defense was very disruptive for us," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors. "They get in passing lanes, they get all over you, they pressure you, they anticipate very well. They trap anytime the ball gets into the post."

But Duke forward Mistie Williams drained a mid-range jumper to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the second half with 6:27 remaining. And then Monique Currie, who finished with a team-high 22 points along with eight turnovers, hit her third 3 of the game to extend the advantage to four.

But on the next possession, UNC forward Erlana Larkins converted a 3-point play to close the gap, and two Little free throws less than a half-minute later gave UNC a lead it would not surrender.

The win snapped Duke's record of 33 straight conference wins at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was the Tar Heels' first win there since January 18, 1997 -- and it will more than likely secure at least a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"It was one of those humps we wanted to get over, and we did," Bell said.

"We realize that we can't stop right there. We've got two more seasons to go counting ACCs and NCAAs, so we're looking forward to that now."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.