2024 Women's NCAA tournament: UNC, Duke, NC State win women's NCAA tournament openers

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The NCAA Women's Tournament will tip off today, with high stakes.

Here's what's in store for Duke, UNC and NC State in the first round:

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Duke

No. 7 Duke (21-11) took over in the second half, using a 6-0 run after the break to pull away from No. 10 seed Richmond (29-6) 72-61 on Friday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.

The Blue Devils trailed by nine at halftime but went ahead 42-41 with 4:42 left in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead again.

Reigan Richardson scored 25 points and had seven rebounds to lead Duke. AshlonJackson added 14 points and Kennedy Brown chipped in 10 from the post.

The Blue Devils also beat the Spiders during the regular season 83-53.

Duke, which has never lost an opening game in the NCAA tournament, will next face regional host Ohio State with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

The Buckeyes routed Maine 80-57 earlier in the day.

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Ashlon Jackson added 14 points and Kennedy Brown had 10 for Duke.

Grace Townsend led Richmond with 18 points, Addie Budnik had 17 and Maggie Doogan added 15.

The Spiders shot 58% in the half and led Duke 37-28 at the break. But they cooled off in the second half, hitting just 2 of 8 from 3-point range.

UNC

No. 8-seed North Carolina held on to beat No. 9-seed Michigan State 59-56 on Friday morning in Columbia, South Carolina.

Deja Kelly had 13 points and Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 17 rebounds -- no grab bigger than pulling down Kelly's final free throw miss with 3.2 seconds left as the clock ran out.

It looked like the Tar Heels (20-12) had the game sewn up, opening a 16-point lead early and still leading 54-42 with 3:22 to go. But the Spartans (22-9) had a final rally in them and cut things to 57-56 on Theryn Hallock's 3-pointer from the right corner with 5.4 seconds to go.

But that was as close as they got as Kelly did just enough at the foul line as North Carolina won its third-straight opening NCAA game.

The Spartans almost pulled off a dramatic comeback in coach Robyn Fralick's first season. Fralick and North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart have been longtime friends and hugged after their first-ever meeting as opposing coaches.

North Carolina will next play No. 1 overall seed South Carolina.

South Carolina easily overcame the absence of starters Kamilla Cardoso and Bree Hall to beat No. 16 seed Presbyterian 91-39.

The Gamecocks (33-0) moved five wins away from the 10th perfect championship season by overwhelming the Blue Hose (21-15) of the Big South Conference for a second time this season.

The Tar Heels did play the Gamecocks earlier in the season -- ultimately losing 65-58 in Chapel Hill.

This is the Tar Heels' fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance since 2019. Last season, the team won in the opening round over St. John's.

NC State

The Wolfpack hosted its first two games in the tournament as Reynolds Coliseum is a host site for the tournament.

The first game Saturday at Reynolds featured No. 6 Tennessee and No. 11 Green Bay. Following a 92-63 loss for Green Bay, No. 3 NC State took on No. 14 Chattanooga defeating the Mocs 64-45 final.

Saturday's game featured Wes Moore's Wolfpack squad against the team he previously coached.

Previously, the Wolfpack came up short in the ACC Tournament losing to Notre Dame 55-51 in the championship game. Regardless, the team made the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed and is looking to make a deep run in the postseason.

Next up the Wolfpack will take on Tennesee coached by former NC State coach Kellie Harper.