Duke earns win over UNC women's basketball with control of interior

DURHAM — With 5:34 remaining, 5-foot-7 Duke guard Chloe Wells tangled with No. 15 North Carolina 6-foot-6 center Waltiea Rolle for a rebound, which resulted in Rolle’s fifth and final foul.

The play encapsulated No. 5 Duke’s 65-58 win, in which the Blue Devils completed the series sweep by challenging the Tar Heels in the post and converting at the free-throw line.

“The smallest player on the floor going after the biggest player on the floor and coming out with that,” Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “Rolle’s a very, very good player and no doubt about it getting her in foul trouble changes the nature of the game for what she can do.”

Senior point guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, who made just five of her 23 field goal attempts, said losing Rolle hurt the Tar Heels’ confidence on defense.

“You don’t want to get beat, but if you do get beat, you know you have (Rolle) there, and she could possibly block a shot,” Ruffin-Pratt said.

Ruffin-Pratt’s counterpart — Duke freshman point guard Alexis Jones — made the Tar Heels pay, scoring a career-high 22 points.

Jones found room to drive past the Tar Heel defense, drawing fouls and getting to the line, where she made 11 of 12 attempts — two more than the Tar Heels made on 21 attempts.

She took over for junior All-American Chelsea Gray at point guard after Gray dislocated her right knee cap Feb. 17.

“(Jones) did an incredible job managing when she could go (to the rim) and when she couldn’t go and getting to the line and creating there,” McCallie said.

The game bore little resemblance to the teams’ Feb. 3 meeting when Duke jumped out to a 50-19 halftime lead on 7-of-9 three-point shooting.

On defense, the Blue Devils committed to defending the rim, giving UNC the choice to take contested shots from inside or lean on its inconsistent outside shooting.

“They played a lot of zone,” Ruffin-Pratt said. “So it was kind of closed in on those shots you usually get on the elbow, stuff like that, because they sagged in so much.”

Rolle’s partner in the paint, freshman forward Xylina McDaniel, had her share of frustration too, recording just three points and six turnovers.

Senior forward Krista Gross, who led the Tar Heels with 12 rebounds, said she told McDaniel after the game to not linger on the loss.

“I told her, ‘We put a lot of pressure on you as a freshman,’” Gross said. “‘And I know it’s tough when we’re expecting you to step up in big games. But you are still a freshman, and we have to remember that.’”

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