Women’s hoops roundup: UNC, NC State stay alive for ACC Tournament top seeds
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ACC regular season nears end; Duke, N.C. State, UNC clinch ACC tourney berths.
- N.C. State holds head‑to‑head tiebreakers in 3‑way tie for fourth.
- UNC posts comeback wins; Duke splits week with Clemson upset loss.
Seven days remain in the regular season, and the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament picture is starting to form after several significant outcomes this week with programs in North Carolina fighting for the best possible spot in the postseason.
Entering the final week of play, Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina have clinched their spots in the ACC Tournament, scheduled for March 4-8 in Duluth, Georgia.
Duke (20-7, 15-1) and Louisville secured double byes, but the other two remain up for grabs.
N.C. State and Carolina (23-6, 12-4) remain in contention to join the Blue Devils and Cardinals as a Top 4 seed.
UNC pulled off a pair of comeback wins to remain third in the conference, while Duke and N.C. State split the week. The Blue Devils are No. 1 in the league, despite suffering their first conference loss Sunday at Clemson. The Wolfpack is in a three-way tie with Syracuse and Virginia for fourth, but it holds the head-to-head over both opponents.
“We’re still learning. We’re running out of time, though,” N.C. State head coach Wes Moore said after his team’s 82-69 win over Syracuse. “This doesn’t guarantee you anything. You still have two games left and have to go out and earn those. As we saw today in the conference, anything can happen. Anybody can beat anybody, so we’re going to have to make sure we stay focused here. There’s a lot on the line.”
The Wolfpack (18-9, 11-5) snapped its two-game losing streak in its victory over the Orange and the result could ultimately end up being the determining factor in the top four seeds.
N.C. State got out to a strong start over visiting Syracuse. It finished the first quarter on a 13-0 run and started the second with a 5-0 run, building a 19-point lead. Tilda Trygger and Khamil Pierre scored the team’s first nine points and reached double figures before halftime.
Pierre paced the Wolfpack with a 25-point, 15-rebound double-double. It was her third 20-point game in the last four. Zoe Brooks added 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Trygger contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.
“I remember how they were in the first four to six games of the season,” Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “They were killers. We knew that they bring that. They did. They lost two games in a row and were ready. We should have been more ready to understand the wrath of that resistance, and we kind of kept getting punched in the mouth.”
Syracuse outscored the Pack 24-20 in the third quarter, including a 7-0 run to start the period. The Orange’s hot shooting, and defensive lapses, cut N.C. State’s lead to six points midway through the quarter.
Orange center Uche Izoje, the ACC Rookie of the Year favorite, led all scorers with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
A solid response from the Wolfpack resulted in a double-figure lead in the final minutes of the third and most of the fourth.
“It was really important for us,” Trygger said about getting the win. “We want the double bye in the ACC Tournament, so we just knew that we had to go out, be tough and punch first. I think that’s what we did today.”
Duke snaps streak
Toby Fournier walked off the court at Littlejohn Coliseum in tears after giving up the go-head 3, allowing Clemson to snap Duke’s 17-game winning streak and perfect ACC record.
The Blue Devils bested N.C. State on Thursday in an 83-65 matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but they couldn’t keep it going against the Tigers on Sunday.
Clemson came away with the 53-51 win in the upset after Duke blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils went on a 13-0 run to build a three-possession advantage in the first quarter and expanded that to 14 points at the start of the second.
Clemson cut it to one point with 2 ½ minutes left before halftime and remained within single digits for all of the third. The Tigers used a 17-3 run, eight points came on free throws, to retake the lead.
Duke’s Riley Nelson hit the would-be game winner before the Devils gave up the 3 with three seconds remaining.
Turnovers and fouls can be blamed for Duke’s inability to capitalize on the leads it created. The Blue Devils committed 17 turnovers, which the Tigers turned into 17 points. They were called for 15 fouls and Clemson shot 11 of 12 from the line.
Fournier led both teams with 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three blocks and one steal. Nelson, who scored 10 points, was the only other Duke player in double figures.
Lawson listed among the best
Duke’s Kara Lawson earned a spot on the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year watch list last week. She is one of 15 coaches to earn the recognition and one of two from the ACC.
She joins coaches such as Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Cori Close (UCLA), Kim Mulkey (LSU), Shea Ralph (Vanderbilt) Tammi Reiss (Rhode Island), Dawn Staley (South Carolina) and Jeff Walz (Louisville).
Lawson, 45, is the youngest coach to be considered for the award at age and has six years of head coaching experience.
The Blue Devils are 117-48 in Lawson’s tenure. She reached 100 career wins this season, reaching it in 143 games played. She is the second-fastest coach in ACC history to achieve the feat.
UNC keeps rolling
No. 22 North Carolina went 2-0 last week after picking up wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. The two victories kept the Tar Heels (23-6, 12-4) in contention for a double bye entering the ACC Tournament.
On Thursday, UNC escaped Blacksburg with a 66-63 overtime win against the Hokies after trailing early in the game. The two teams started slow on the offensive end, leading to a 28-21 Virginia Tech lead at the half. UNC made five field goals, while Virginia Tech scored 10.
Carolina, however, out-scored Virginia Tech, 36-29, in the second half to force overtime. It matched its first-half scoring total in the third quarter. The Tar Heels held the Hokies without a point for the final two minutes and 48 seconds to secure the win. Lanie Grant, Indya Nivar and Elina Aarnisalo scored in double figures to lift Carolina past the Hokies.
Nyla Brooks led the Tar Heels in scoring on Sunday, dropping 18 points in her 14th double-figure performance of the season. The rookie shot 6 of 15 from the field. She added six rebounds and two steals in the 78-50 win over Pittsburgh.
Pitt jumped out to a seven-point lead midway through the opening quarter and topped the Tar Heels by two points at the end of one. Laila Hull hit a 3 for UNC’s first basket of the second quarter and gave her team its first lead of the game.
From there, Carolina scored 51 points in the second and third quarters, including a season-high 30 points in the second, expanding its lead to more than 20 points.
At no point in the game did the Panthers score more than 15 points in a quarter, and its scoring gradually decreased as the game progressed.
Hull scored a career-high 17 points on 5 of 10 3-point shooting. UNC won the rebounding battle 55-34, scoring 20 second-chance points and 16 in transition.
Upcoming games for the Triangle teams
Thursday, Feb. 26: Wake Forest at N.C. State — 7 p.m. ET (ACCNX) — Raleigh; Duke vs Florida State — 8 p.m. ET (ACC Network) — Durham; North Carolina at Virginia — 7 p.m. (ACCNX) — Charlottesville, Va.
Sunday, March 1: Duke at North Carolina — 12 p.m. ET (ESPN) — Chapel Hill; N.C. State at Pittsburgh — 2 p.m. ET (ACC Network) — Pittsburgh, Pa.
