DURHAM, N.C. — It was another great day of basketball in North Carolina between Durham and Chapel Hill, as No. 3 Duke and No. 4 North Carolina took down Baylor and Maryland, respectively. Here are the main takeaways from each game as the Blue Devils and Tar Heels each advance to the Sweet 16.
North Carolina’s backcourt explosion
For the Tar Heels, the story of the day against No. 5 Maryland was the big-time performance their guards provided. Sophomores Lanie Grant and Elina Aarnisalo, each starting for head coach Courtney Banghart’s squad, put on a show. The pair combined for 41 points and shot with efficiency from the field. Notably, very little of this production came from beyond the arc. North Carolina attempted just 11 3-pointers in the afternoon, and Grant and Aarnisalo only made one each.
While they scored 44 of their 74 points in the paint, the Tar Heels also stayed relatively small. Starting forward Ciera Toomey, who often guards opposing centers, played just 12 minutes today. Instead, guard Nyla Brooks came off the bench and gave North Carolina 29 minutes on the floor. Against a Terrapin squad that was defending tight against the perimeter, the Tar Heels went with a lineup that could space the floor and keep the pain less crowded, allowing their guards to drive inside.
“A lot of teams that play us are worried about our inside game. [The Terrapins] were willing to give up the inside game and not deal with our threes, so they hugged the arc,” Banghart said after the game. “… We tried to implore [the Tar Heel guards] to beat the guy in front of them. And I kept telling them, ‘If there’s help, pass. But there’s not going to be.’ They just couldn’t believe it. Then we got three straight layups for [Aarnisalo] to start the game and they started to believe it.”
It’s no secret that Aarnisalo and Grant are already two of the ACC’s highest upside guards. As of late though, they’ve been on a tear. In Aarnisalo’s last six games, she’s averaged 17.5 points. Grant has been similarly hot, scoring no less than double-digits since a Feb. 22 matchup with Pittsburgh. While the Tar Heels have a potent talent down low in the form of Nyla Harris, much of their postseason production thus far has come from the backcourt. They will need more of that as they advance to the Sweet 16.
Duke makes a statement in return to form
Down the road in Durham’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, the word of the day was defense. In a rematch of each team’s season-opener in Paris, Duke got revenge against No. 6 Baylor. The Bears didn’t make a single three in 14 attempts, and scored just 8 points in each of the first two quarters — not even getting on the board until after the five-minute media timeout in the first period. After giving up 64 points to Charleston Friday, head coach Kara Lawson’s squad made a statement with its showing on Sunday. The Bears looked lost for much of the game, turning the ball over often (to a final tally of 23) and frequently chucking up ugly shots at the end of the clock.
“One of our better defensive efforts of the season,” Lawson said afterwards. “When you look at it in total, I thought we started the game with the appropriate level of force, physicality, attention to detail, and really just locked in on that end.”
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Duke forwards Toby Fournier and Delaney Thomas continued their dominance from the first-round game against the Cougars, but the backcourt’s turnaround was arguably more impressive. While Duke’s guards had a generally subpar outing against Charleston, they got it right on Sunday. Taina Mair had eight assists and four steals, while Ashlon Jackson tacked on four assists, three steals and a block.
Broadly, the Blue Devil attack looked much-improved on Sunday. Lawson’s team shared the ball well, dominated the glass on both ends and appeared much more cohesive in their halfcourt offensive sets. Duke’s improvement is made especially clear when comparing Sunday’s performance to how they fared against the same opponent in a 58-52 loss at the start of the season.
“I think we were super raw back in November,” Mair said. “We were a brand-new team coming together, and it was our first game of the season. Throughout the course of the season, we just continued to get better and better on the defensive end, and I think today kind of showed it.”
The road ahead
Both teams certainly had strong showings Sunday, but that won’t make their Sweet 16 games any easier. Each squad is likely to run into some very talented opponents in the third round of the tournament. On Friday, Duke will face LSU in Sacramento, Calif., while North Carolina will head further south to play the winner of UConn and Syracuse in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Blue Devils’ game will mark yet another familiar opponent, since Duke played the Tigers in early December. Then, they fell big-time after starting hot and struggling to stay in control down the stretch. In the rematch, LSU will likely provide the biggest challenge to Lawson’s famously tough defense, as the Tigers will be fresh off laying a mind-boggling 101-47 beatdown of Texas Tech in the second round. With elite scorers at every position and plenty of talent coming off the bench, Duke will probably have a tough time keeping head coach Kim Mulkey’s away from the basket.
While North Carolina’s opponent remains unknown, the Huskies are the favorites to advance. Assuming they do, Banghart’s group will be tasked with guarding superstar Sarah Strong along with a supporting cast of players capable of ruining anybody’s night. Suffice to say that neither of these games will be easy wins for the teams from the Triangle.
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Still, each coach expressed pride in their groups’ resilience to make it this far. Lawson spoke fondly of her senior pair — Jackson and Mair — who each played their last game in Durham on Sunday.
“I think the whole year has been meaningful with them. When you start the year and you have two seniors who have impacted your program in every way, your wish and your hope as a coach is that they can have a year that is indicative of the impact they’ve had,” Lawson said. “… To start the way we started and to have it look pretty bleak in the beginning, to now those two have checked every box when you think about it so far. Won the ACC regular season outright, won the ACC Tournament and now they’re advancing to their third straight Sweet 16.”
Banghart had similar words to say about her pair of seniors — Harris and guard Indya Nivar — two transfers who stood out on a Tar Heel team that been forecasted a rebuilding year in the preseason.
“Those two seniors have found a way to get to a Sweet 16 in their senior year,” Banghart said. “That’s their leadership. They’re winners.”
Each team will look to continue winning come Friday — against a likely pairing of two very challenging foes.