Oluchi Okananwa scored 14 points off the bench and No. 11 Duke knocked off regular-season co-champion and sixth-ranked Notre Dame 61-56 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C.
Ashlon Jackson added 12 points for third-seeded Duke (25-7), which meets No. 7 North Carolina State (26-5), the tournament’s top seed, in Sunday’s title game.
Hannah Hidalgo, the ACC Player of the Year, poured in 23 points and Olivia Miles had 10 for second-seeded Notre Dame (26-5). The Fighting Irish shot 3-for-15 on 3-pointers.
The Blue Devils trailed 31-29 at halftime, but ended the third quarter with a late surge before Okananwa’s 3-pointer to begin the fourth frame made it 50-42.
No. 7 NC State 66, No. 14 North Carolina 55
Aziaha James poured in 19 points and the Wolfpack bolted to a double-digit lead en route to a win over the Tar Heels in the other Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinal.
Madison Hayes and Lorena Awou both scored 10 points as NC State avenged a one-point road loss on Feb. 16.
Indya Nivar’s 13 points and Maria Gakdeng’s 10 points and 10 rebounds paced fifth-seeded North Carolina (27-7), which shot just 27.9 percent from the field.
Tilda Trygger scored the Wolfpack’s first eight points as part of a 16-0 stretch that produced a 16-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Tar Heels endured a scoring drought of nearly 11 minutes as NC built a 21-5 edge, but North Carolina was within 33-26 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
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