Devils edge Tar Heels

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

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DURHAM (AP) — Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points and Abby Waner hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 45.8 seconds remaining in overtime to lead No. 10 Duke past No. 9 North Carolina 81-79 on Sunday night.

Karima Christmas had 18 points, Carrem Gay added 15 points and 12 rebounds and Bridgette Mitchell finished with 13 points for the Blue Devils (24-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a four-game losing streak to their most hated rivals in dramatic fashion, won for the fifth time in six games and clinched the No. 3 seed in this week's ACC tournament.

Rashanda McCants had 24 points to lead the Tar Heels (25-5, 10-4). They shot 45 percent but slipped to the No. 4 seed in the league tournament because they couldn't overcome 33 turnovers.

And Waner — who had missed 14 of her previous 15 shots during her final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium — cashed in on the most important one.

Joy Cheek stole Cetera DeGraffenreid's pass to the block and hustled upcourt before dishing off to Waner in the left corner, and the senior swished a 3 to put Duke up 78-76.

Thomas, who scored eight points in overtime, hit two free throws on Duke's next possession and Christmas added a foul shot to make it a five-point game with 10.8 seconds left, before McCants hit a 3 with 1.7 seconds left that ultimately was too little, too late.

Italee Lucas had 16 points, and Jessica Breland added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

For a while, it looked as though their offense had gotten just hot enough late to carry them to another come-from-behind victory over Duke. They used a 19-8 run midway through the second half to take a 67-61 lead on Chay Shegog's free throw with 2:01 remaining — a spurt reminiscent of the one they had during last month's 75-60 victory in Chapel Hill.

But Gay hit a jumper, the Blue Devils forced a tie-up on the inbounds pass and Mitchell hit a layup in traffic to make it 67-65. McCants' slicing layup through the lane spun out with about 45 seconds left, Christmas grabbed the rebound and Duke rushed upcourt before calling timeout with 35.5 seconds left.

Thomas drove down the lane and banked in a runner with 20 seconds left. North Carolina called timeout with 11.2 seconds left and put the ball in DeGraffenreid's hands, and the diminutive point guard dribbled off a screen and sliced in for a layup that bounced off the rim as time expired in regulation.

Waner wasn't the only Duke senior to struggle — at least, until late in overtime — in her finale at Cameron. Center Chante Black had seven points on 2-of-9 shooting, plus seven rebounds and four blocked shots before fouling out with 4:13 remaining.

Yet she helped the Blue Devils finish with a 54-42 rebounding advantage, and for the first time she played a part in a victory over the Tar Heels. Black sat out Duke's last two victories in the series — both in 2006-07 — because she was redshirting with a knee injury.

Once again, turnovers were a huge problem for North Carolina, which had 25 in the first 25 minutes of the game while falling behind by 10. It had 29 giveaways in the teams' previous meeting.

Despite that carelessness, the Tar Heels tightened things up after halftime by holding the Blue Devils to one field goal during the opening 6½ minutes of the second half. Lucas' 3-pointer in transition put them up 56-54 — their first lead since midway through the first half.

That came well after the Blue Devils seemed to have taken control by holding North Carolina without a field goal for about 5½ minutes.