No. 10 NC State beats Duke, will take on Florida State in ACC women's semifinals
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Aziaha James scored 16 points and No. 10 North Carolina State overcame three quarters' worth of offensive struggles to hold off Duke 54-51 in Friday night's quarterfinals at the women's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Freshman Zoe Brooks added 12 points for the second-seeded Wolfpack (26-5), including a critical driving basket past Taina Mair with 58.8 seconds left that made it a two-possession game. Yet this one came down to the final play, with Duke getting one final shot to tie the game after Mair tied up Madison Hayes on a dubious jump-ball call to get the ball back with the possession arrow and 9.7 seconds left.
Mair raced the length of the court and to the right side before launching a 3-pointer over Hayes, but the ball struck the front iron. Duke's Oluchi Okananwa got the rebound but didn't have time to race back to the arc before time expired to end it.
N.C. State started the game by making 10 of 16 shots, but made just 12 of 41 (29.2%) the rest of the evening.
Okananwa had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the seventh-seeded Blue Devils (20-11), including Duke's last basket on a drive with 38.4 seconds left to keep the Blue Devils within range. But Duke shot just 29% for the game, including 3 for 16 in the fourth quarter and 1 of 13 from 3-point range overall.
Aside from that early flurry from the Wolfpack, this turned into a defensive battle with both teams struggling to make shots. N.C. State had a stretch of 12 straight misses in a nearly 8 1/2-minute scoreless drought spanning halftime. And the teams came down the stretch in a one-possession game each unable to make anything, combining to go scoreless for 4 1/2 minutes with each managing long runs of missed shots.
Brooks finally ended the joint drought with her score that helped send the Wolfpack to Saturday's semifinals.
BIG PICTURE
The Blue Devils had advanced with a 70-58 win against Georgia Tech in Thursday's quarterfinals. That marked Duke's fourth win in five games, a stretch that had included a win at now-No. 20 Syracuse and a home win against the Wolfpack on Feb. 25.
The Wolfpack had a late-season hiccup coming down the stretch with losses at rival North Carolina and then one at Duke, though N.C. State closed with wins against Syracuse and Wake Forest to secure the No. 2 seed.
UP NEXT
The Blue Devils await their NCAA Tournament destination. The Wolfpack will take on Florida State in the semifinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
No. 11 Virginia Tech 55, Miami 47
Georgia Amoore scored 23 of her 27 points in the second half for her 15th 20-point game this season and short-handed No. 11 Virginia Tech beat Miami 55-47 on Friday to advance to the ACC Tournament semifinals for the third straight year.
Top-seeded Virginia Tech (24-6), which hadn't played since Sunday, moves on to play No. 14 Notre Dame on Saturday. The Hokies dropped a 71-58 contest at Notre Dame on Feb. 29.
Virginia Tech was without three-time ACC player of the year Elizabeth Kitley because of a knee injury.
Amoore took over in the second half. She scored eight of Virginia Tech's 11 points in the third quarter, including a long jumper from the corner with 43 seconds left and a layup just before the buzzer to extend the lead to 36-33.
Virginia Tech scored six consecutive points by making a basket on three straight possessions to take a 45-37 lead. After Miami sank its first 3-pointer in 14 attempts with 2:13 left, Amoore weaved through three defenders and made a tough layup for Virginia Tech's fourth straight basket.
Miami turned it over at 1:32 and Amoore made two free throws for a nine-point lead. Amoore added four free throws after Miami coach Katie Meier was called for a technical foul to extend it to 53-42.
Clara Strack, a 6-foot-5 freshman, filled in for Kitley down low with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes for Virginia Tech.
Jasmyne Roberts scored 12 points and Shayeann Day-Wilson added 11 for Miami (19-12). Ja'Leah Williams grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
No. 14 Notre Dame 77, No. 24 Louisville 68
Sonia Citron scored 26 points, Hannah Hidalgo added 21 and both players made double-digit free throws to help No. 14 Notre Dame hold off No. 24 Louisville 77-68 on Friday in the ACC Tournament.
Fourth-seeded Notre Dame (24-6) advances to the semifinals on Saturday.
Hidalgo and Citron scored the opening five points of the third quarter to extend Notre Dame's lead to 22 points. But the Fighting Irish turned it over six times in the quarter, after just five in the first half, and Louisville got within 49-39 before Kylee Watson grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to give Notre Dame a 12-point lead entering the fourth.
Jayda Curry kept Louisville close in the fourth, completing a three-point play, sinking a 3-pointer and hitting a jumper from the free-throw line on three straight possessions to get within 58-49 with 6:47 left.
Notre Dame went 2 for 4 on consecutive trips to the free-throw line and Louisville center Olivia Cochran made a layup to get within 71-68 with 30.9 left. Citron responded with two free throws for a five-point lead at 27.2.
Curry had it stolen with 18.3 seconds left. Louisville coach Jeff Walz argued the no-call and was given his second technical, leading to an ejection. Citron made two more at the stripe for a seven-point lead.
Maddy Westbeld added 13 points for Notre Dame, which finished 24 of 30 from the free-throw line.
Curry scored a season-high 26 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, for Louisville (24-9). Sydney Taylor added 13 points, Cochran scored 10 and Nyla Harris grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points. The Cardinals missed eight of their 27 free-throw attempts.
Hidalgo and Citron combined for 20 points in the first half as Notre Dame built a 34-17 lead. The Fighting Irish scored 15 points off 13 turnovers as Louisville was held to its fewest points in a half this season.
The teams played each other for the third time in a month and the second time in a week, with the home team winning each regular-season matchup.
The Associated Press contributed.
