Aziaha James made two free throws with seven seconds left and No. 7 North Carolina State escaped with a 73-72 victory over Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Friday at Greensboro, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets failed to get off a shot on the final possession.
James scored 16 points to lead the top-seeded Wolfpack (25-5), who meet rival North Carolina in Saturday afternoon’s semifinals. Zoe Brooks added 14 points, Zamareya Jones had 13 and Tilda Trygger finished with 12.
Kara Dunn, who had 16 first-half points, and Tonie Morgan paced ninth-seeded Georgia Tech (22-10) with 21 points apiece.
Dani Carnegie made two free throws with 15 seconds left to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 72-71. Chazadi Wright and Carnegie both ended up with 12 points for Georgia Tech, which lost four straight before defeating Virginia Tech on Thursday.
No. 14 North Carolina 60, No. 22 Florida State 56
Alyssa Ustby’s 12 points and 18 rebounds helped North Carolina rally from a halftime deficit to defeat Florida State in Friday’s first quarterfinal.
Lexi Donarski had 12 points and teammate Reniya Kelly — who had been out for three games with an injury — was back in action and scored six of her 11 points in the fourth quarter. Indya Nivar added 10 points and Maria Gakdeng pulled down 16 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who shot 32.4 percent from the floor.
The fifth-seeded Tar Heels (27-6), who trailed 31-27 at halftime, have reached the semifinals for the first time since 2014.
Fourth-seeded Florida State (23-8), which won a two-point road decision against North Carolina in late January, was held to a season-low point total and shot 32.3 percent from the field. Makayla Timpson had 15 points and blocked eight shots, Ta’Niya Latson posted 13 points and O’Mariah Gordon notched 12 points.
No. 6 Notre Dame 73, California 64
Hannah Hidalgo scored 25 points in her first game since being named ACC Player of the Year and the Fighting Irish overcame a six-point third-quarter deficit to win in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
Notre Dame turned a 47-41 hole into a 53-47 lead in less than three minutes toward the end of the third, going ahead on Olivia Miles’ 3-pointer.
Miles had 14 points for the defending tournament champion Irish (26-4), who are the second seed and will meet No. 3-seeded Duke in Saturday’s second semifinal.
Lulu Twidale had 16 points and Marta Suarez provided 14 points and 11 rebounds for seventh-seeded Cal (25-8). The Bears were doomed by 28 turnovers.
No. 11 Duke 61, Louisville 48
Oluchi Okananwa poured in 13 points off the bench, Reigan Richardson scored 12 and Ashlon Jackson had 11 while the Blue Devils relied heavily on defense in the ACC quarterfinal win over the Cardinals.
Toby Fournier added 10 points for third-seeded Duke (24-7), which avenged a home loss to Louisville (21-10) late in the regular season. The Blue Devils have won four straight since the setback to the Cardinals.
Reserve Mackenly Randolph scored 13 points and Olivia Cochran posted 11 for sixth-seeded Louisville, which needed overtime a night earlier to oust Clemson. The Cardinals shot 31.6 percent from the floor and committed with 21 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
