ACC women's tournament: NC State, Duke stun opponents in semifinal to advance to ACC championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- It's an exciting weekend as all Triangle teams made the Women's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.
No. 7 NC State is headed to the championship game Sunday after defeating No. 14 North Carolina. The team will play against the Duke Blue Devils who defeated Notre Dame 61-56 in Saturday's semifinals.
The championship game starts 1 p.m. on ESPN.
No. 7 NC State 66, No. 14 UNC 55
Aziaha James scored 19 points and the Wolfpack jumped out to a big lead to beat the Tar Heels 66-55 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
Madison Hayes and reserve Lorena Awou each had 10 points as the Wolfpack (26-5) avenged a one-point regular-season road loss.
Indya Nivar had 13 points and Maria Gakdeng had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina (27-7), which shot 27.9% from the field.
The Wolfpack rattled off the last 16 points of the first quarter for a 16-5 lead, delighting the decidedly pro-NC State crowd. North Carolina's scoring drought extended for almost 11 minutes, creating a 21-5 hole.
Takeaways
North Carolina: The Tar Heels won two games in the tournament with a couple of comebacks following a two-game skid to end the regular season, when starters Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly were out with injuries.
NC State: The Wolfpack will play in the ACC final for the fourth time in five years. To win it, they'll have to defeat a ranked opponent for the seventh time this season.
Key moment
James, who exited for a stretch after a hard first-quarter fall, scored the Wolfpack's first six points of the second half to rebuild a double-figure lead after North Carolina made it 33-26 at halftime.
Key stat
It marked the second day in a row that North Carolina was limited to five points in a quarter. Unlike against No. 22 Florida State in the quarterfinals, the Tar Heels couldn't recover.
No. 11 Duke 61, Notre Dame 56
Oluchi Okananwa had 14 points off the bench and Ashlon Jackson scored 12 to help No. 11 Duke beat No. 6 Notre Dame 61-56 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
Duke (25-7) will meet No. 7 N.C. State, the top seed, in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game on Sunday. It's the Blue Devils' first time playing in that game in eight years. N.C. State beat No. 14 North Carolina 66-55 in the first semifinal matchup.
Hannah Hidalgo had 14 of her 23 points in the first half and Olivia Miles had 10 points for second-seeded Notre Dame (26-5).
Notre Dame was held to 25 second-half points.
Takeaways
Duke: The Blue Devils avenged a regular-season loss for the second day in a row after topping Louisville on Friday. This outcome came despite committing 21 turnovers. Okananwa didn't miss a shot, going 3 for 3 with two 3-pointers and 6 for 6 on free throws.
Notre Dame: The Irish have made a recent habit of falling behind and, unlike in the quarterfinal against California, they couldn't muster a comeback. Ranked No. 1 less than two weeks ago, they've lost three of their last five games.
Key moment
Duke scored the last six points of the third quarter for a 47-42 lead as the Irish didn't score for three-plus minutes. The first points of the fourth quarter came on Okananwa's 3-pointer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.