No. 16 Duke women’s basketball will take on No. 18 Cal in a key ranked matchup Thursday. The Blue Zone is here with an overview of the Golden Bears and three keys to a Blue Devil victory.

The No. 14 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team faced the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels in a top-20 matchup Thursday. The game delivered on its expectations, reaching overtime after Duke overcame a late UNC lead,

Duke was involved in a rock fight with UNC: only twice in the game’s four quarters did either team score more than 10 points.  For good measure, the tw

Regardless, the Blue Devils were one offensive surge away from changing the dynamic of what had previously been a stable Virginia lead. That surge came in the third quarter, as Duke scored 19 points — nearly matching their first half total of 20. Entering the final period of play, the Cavaliers held a dwindling 43-39 lead.

The Duke Blue Devils came closer to a second straight loss than head coach Kara Lawson probably wanted on Sunday afternoon, but sophomore Oluchi Okananwa helped her team score 40 second-half points for a 60-55 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers.

The turnovers kept Duke — which averages over 22 points off turnovers per game — in the game, despite shooting 22 percent from the field in the first half. The Blue Devils had 10 turnovers of their own in the first half, but UNC couldn’t capitalize.

The Blue Devils improved to 11-2 on the season, while the Eagles fell to 10-6 with the loss at home Thursday night.

Stout defense trumped efficient offense in the first women’s basketball game between Duke and UNC this season. Both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels are ranked in the top 20 in the most recent AP Top 25 poll.

The Duke women's basketball team improved to 13-4 for the season and 4-1 against the ACC on Sunday with a double-digit comeback against Virginia, but Thursday's overtime loss to the North Carolina Tar