It is sad to see the low attendance at the UNC vs. Duke women's basketball game, given the high-stakes matchup and rich history of the rivalry. On Thursday night, Cameron Indoor Stadium was far from full, with a reported crowd of 7,010 fans — in a venue that holds 9,314.
The No. 16 Blue Devils (22-7,13-4 ACC) took care of the business defeating the No. 8 Tar Heels (25-5,13-4 ACC) 68-53, to get revenge for their earlier overtime loss in Chapel Hill.
However, some fans expressed their disappointment on social media for the lack of support on the court, compared to the regular sellouts for the men's game.
Here are a few reactions on X/Twitter:
"Embarrassing turnout for the Duke/UNC women's basketball game here at Cameron. Where are the Cameron Crazies?" one Blue Devil fan wrote.
"Duke fans don't care about women’s basketball?? Cause it sounds like a UNC home game in Cameron," another fan tweeted.
"UNC fans are loud but Duke athletics f**ked students over by selling UNC fans student section tickets — students have the numbers but they're scattered throughout the stadium, makes it harder to sound loud," a fan explained.
"Just turned the Duke-UNC women’s game on and the lack of support from the students is honestly pretty disappointing," another one added.
Here are some general reactions to the matchup:
"Duke also whooped UNC😭😭Rankings don’t mean sh*t this year," a user tweeted.
"Heels fall on the road for the first time this season 68-53. Duke still sucks," one more chimed in.
Last season, the same matchup at Cameron Indoor saw a sellout crowd, and so did the season before but that was not the case this time around.
Duke hands North Carolina its first road loss of the season
The UNC Tar Heels came into Thursday's game at Cameron without a single road loss this season — all four of their defeats came in North Carolina. That streak came to an end as the Blue Devils downed their rivals 68-53.
This loss also ended North Carolina's seven-game winning streak. Kara Lawson's squad started strong by taking a 24-17 lead in the first quarter. But UNC fought back and even led 32-31 at halftime. However, the home team responded with a strong second half to pull away, allowing just 21 points after the break.
Duke's Reigan Richardson led all scorers with 23 points, with freshman forward Toby Fournier adding a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
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