02/09/2010 - Michael Tomko, GoDuke.com

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DURHAM, N.C. - Rewind to last Friday afternoon.

Head coach Joanne P. McCallie and senior forward Joy Cheek sat in Cameron and spoke how rebounding would be the crucial factor in Monday's matchup against ninth-ranked North Carolina.

They each used the Boston College game as an example of how a contest can be lost because of rebounding.

They stressed effort and desire as the only way to succeed on the boards, especially against the Tar Heels who lead the conference in rebounds per game.

Fast forward to the present, Monday night.

Inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, the same court they were on just a few days earlier stressing the importance of rebounding, the Blue Devils put forth their most dominating rebounding performance of the season.

The sixth-ranked Blue Devils held a plus-24 rebounding edge against the Tar Heels, outrebounding their cross-town rivals 52-28 and dismantling North Carolina by a score of 79-51.

"Fifty-two rebounds to 28 is something that we're very proud of especially considering our last game out and this game, what a difference," McCallie said. "Great learning for us and great growing as a team."

Cheek paced the Blue Devils on the glass, with seven of her team-high nine rebounds coming in the second half. Five of her nine boards came on the offensive glass, also a team high, as Duke recorded 25 offensive rebounds in the game. Just three fewer than the total number (both offensive and defensive) of rebounds the Tar Heels recorded for the game.

Bridgette Mitchell and Karima Christmas each chipped in with seven rebounds, while Krystal Thomas grabbed six.

"The team deserves all the credit," McCallie said. "There's no X's and O's to that."

Those 25 offensive rebounds were converted into 22 second-chance points by the Blue Devils.

"At halftime it was 17 to 16 and in the second half they outrebounded us 35 to 12 so I thought that was a big key," North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "To start the second half their one possession they got five or six rebounds on one trip down the floor so that was big. I knew rebounding would be big."

Hatchell said that her player's might have been thinking too much strategy instead of just going out and battling Duke on the boards. The Blue Devils didn't have that problem. They were the more aggressive team. They were the more competitive team. And they were the hungrier team.

"People were hitting people, and, as you know, when you're matching up you've got to hit people and box out," McCallie said. "The team did a great job there."

The sour taste of their performance against Boston College last week still lingered with this Duke squad heading into this matchup, possibly leading to a little extra motivation to prove last game was a fluke.

"We felt we gave a game away," McCallie said. "That's a very painful feeling. That takes a long time to settle. I think our team understood that, and everybody grew together and was hungry."

Duke won't be able to celebrate this victory long though. Thursday they host another in-state rival, N.C. State, and will need to turn their focus to repeating this effort on a consistent basis.

"Our team really needs to think about this game a little bit in terms of what are the possibilities," McCallie said. "How good can we be? How can we grow from this experience?"