CHAPEL HILL - The No. 2-ranked North Carolina women's basketball team must have seen it as a sign on Sunday when, moments into the game, reserve Meghan Austin took a charge in the paint.

A senior who seldom plays and made her first career start, Austin got the nod for senior night and made the most of it.

By standing firm and absorbing the force of Duke's 6-foot-5 junior center Chante Black, she sent the Tar Heels off to a dominating, convincing 82-51 victory over the 12th-ranked Blue Devils (21-8, 10-4 ACC) at Carmichael Auditorium.

The Tar Heels (27-2, 14-0) became the first team in school history to secure an undefeated ACC regular-season record.

Eight teams now have gone through the ACC regular season undefeated, with Duke last reaching the mark in 2007.

"I just wanted to inspire my team," Austin said. "I just set it in my mind from the beginning I wanted to take a charge."

Evidently, her efforts ignited something lethal in the Heels.

"It just brought us to a different level," said UNC senior LaToya Pringle, who along with Erlana Larkins and Austin played her last home game.

Afterward, the Heels celebrated their historic victory with the sold-out home crowd -- and this time the toilet paper rolled inside the gymnasium instead of outside on Franklin Street.

Asked if she planned to toilet-paper another tree on Franklin Street, as she had done on Feb. 4 after the Heels defeated Duke, North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said: "I don't have plans to do that. I might ride down the street and see if somebody else is doing it."

If she did, Tar Heels fans would understand, particularly after Hatchell's team secured the largest margin of victory over the Blue Devils in her 22 years at the school.

Plus, they swept the Devils, as they had last done in 2006 and 2005, holding true to the series history in the past seven seasons of the first team to win taking both regular-season games.

Having won the past three ACC championships, the Heels also have secured the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday.

On Friday, UNC plays the winner of Thursday's N.C. State-Clemson game. The top seed has won the championship in 13 of 30 seasons.

Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, muscling for 36 points in the paint and 23 points off a season-high 27 turnovers.

Forcing their opponents into an unsustainable pace, the Tar Heels established themselves as the superior team early in the first half, racing to a 24-10 lead with a 16-4 run. They closed the half ahead 41-23.

Duke could never catch up. In the end, it was the worst regular-season ACC loss for the Devils since Feb. 13, 1993 when they fell to Virginia 97-61.

Duke starters Abby Waner, Wanisha Smith and Black were resigned to the bench with six minutes left and never returned.

"We continued to play too fast," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "North Carolina is a better team, faster than we are right now. They've proven that. We need to know who we are and know what we do."

Duke secured the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament and will face the winner of Florida State and Wake Forest.

How will this disappointing loss impact the postseason?

"It's a motivator obviously," McCallie said. "It's a test of our character, for sure. We'll find out what type of character we have."