No. 7 NC State tops No. 14 North Carolina to reach ACC tourney final

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Aziaha James scored 19 points and No. 7 N.C. State jumped out to a big lead to beat No. 14 North Carolina 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. N.C. State faces either No. 11 Duke or No. 6 Notre Dame in Sunday’s Atlantic Coast Conference final.

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-N.C. 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.

N.C. 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.

Up next

North Carolina awaits a bid to the NCAA Tournament as a possible first- and second-round host.

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