NC State women’s basketball earns top seed in ACC Tournament; Duke in at No. 3, UNC at No. 5

A week ago, ACC officials had the regular-season trophy in Raleigh and were ready to present it to Notre Dame if the Fighting Irish beat N.C. State.

Things changed drastically over seven days.

The Wolfpack, No. 9 in the most recent AP Top 25 women’s poll, earned a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Greensboro after defeating Wake Forest on Thursday and SMU, 69-45, on the road Sunday. The Pack (24-5, 16-2 ACC) had already clinched a double-bye with its win over the Irish.

Meanwhile, the Irish (25-4, 16-2) lost to Florida State at home Thursday. Even with its 72-59 win over Louisville on Sunday, Notre Dame only tied the Wolfpack in the ACC standings.

Because N.C. State won the head-to-head, it has the top seed. The ACC, however, does not consider this when awarding the regular-season title, so the Wolfpack earned at least a share.

“It’s day to day, you know. This is a big win, though,” Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore said after the Pack’s recent upset of then-No. 1 Notre Dame. “I mean, it kind of compensates a little bit for last week. … Notre Dame’s gotta lose another one. But, we now have the tiebreaker.”

This is N.C. State’s first No. 1 seed in the tournament since 2022. That season, the Wolfpack won the championship before advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight, narrowly missing the Final Four in a double-overtime loss to Connecticut.

Moore said at the beginning of the season that last year’s team was ranked too low and his new squad might be picked to finish too high. After a 4-3 start, however, his program is back where it wants to be: Atop the ACC.

“This ain’t your mama’s ACC,” Moore said after the win. “I mean, this is brutal. A lot of great teams, a lot of great universities, great players, great coaches.”

The Wolfpack opens the tournament at 1:30 p.m. Friday. It will play the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 seed matchup from Thursday.

The Irish will be the No. 2 seed. They play at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of the No. 7-No. 10/15 game.

The Wolfpack led SMU from wire to wire en route to its No. 1 seed. It jumped out to a 15-2 lead early in the first quarter and extended that to 23 points in the fourth. The Mustangs mustered a small comeback in the second quarter, cutting N.C. State’s lead to single digits, but couldn’t overcome its deficit.

SMU’s 45 points were the second-fewest allowed by N.C. State’s defense this season, following the 42 points it gave up to Louisville in December.

Madison Hayes recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Saniya Rivers contributed her own double-double, adding 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Aziaha James and Zoe Brooks also led the team with 19 points each.

“I’m really proud of them; with their consistency, showing up day in and day out, which is what it takes,” Moore said. “These kids have already done it, but they’re going to hang another banner, and they’re going to be able to come back with their families, be recognized and point to those rafters. It’s awesome.”

North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, California and Georgia Tech all earned a bye. The order of seeding was sorted throughout the day Sunday.

UNC blows 18-point advantage vs UVA

North Carolina lost to Virginia, 78-75, at home in Chapel Hill and will be the No. 5 seed in the ACC Tournament. Its seeding was decided by the result of Duke’s game against Florida State.

The Cavaliers, who won at Carmichael Arena for the first time since 2001, opened the game with a pair of baskets. The Tar Heels responded with an 8-0 run courtesy of graduate student Lexi Donarski. She knocked down a pair of 3s and one layup to take the lead.

Maria Gakdeng paced No. 8 Carolina (25-6, 13-5) with a new career-high 25 points and nine rebounds. Her ability to pound the paint allowed the Tar Heels to take an 18-point lead in the second quarter, and UNC looked poised to run away with it.

Virginia, however, held UNC to 2-for-16 shooting to end the first half and started the second with urgency.

The Cavaliers (16-14, 8-10) chipped away at the Carolina lead, going back and forth with the Heels in the second half. Paris Clark and Kymora Johnson hit free throws down the stretch to win UVA’s third straight game and push UNC out of the ACC’s top four.

Carolina will begin its ACC Tournament run at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Fourth-quarter surge propels Duke into top 3

Duke traveled to Florida State on Sunday for the final regular-season game on the ACC schedule, and the Blue Devils clinched the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.

Duke (23-7, 14-4) defeated the Seminoles, 71-57, in a gritty matchup in Tallahassee. They were led by freshman Toby Fournier, who contributed a career-high 28 points and six rebounds in the win. Oluchi Okananwa provided 10 rebounds in the victory.

Duke and Florida State (23-7, 13-5) traded points for most of the evening and defense took center stage. The teams entered the final period tied at 45 points.

The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run early in the fourth quarter, and outscored the Seminoles, 22-10. The game featured seven ties and nine lead changes.

Had Duke lost, it would’ve been pushed to the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament due to head-to-head matchups. Instead, it jumps to the No. 3 seed and will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

All three teams in the Triangle are projected to host first-round NCAA Tournament games, pending results of the ACC Tournament.

“There’s a reason these teams are good. This is a place where basketball is adored,” UNC head coach Courtney Banghart said two weeks ago. “I don’t care that we’re all so close. If the teams are good enough to host, they should host. If we’re all trying to save money, great. ESPN can just send one crew down, and they can do all the games.”

ACC women’s basketball tournament schedule

This story was originally published March 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer