By R.L. Bynum

With No. 8 North Carolina’s first back-to-back losses all season, the short-handed Tar Heels lost a chance to earn a double-bye in the ACC women’s tournament.

The Tar Heels’ 78–75 upset loss to Virginia, playing without stars Reniya Kelly and Alyssa Ustby, means that they open play with an 11 a.m. Thursday second-round game at Greensboro’s First Horizon Coliseum. UNC (25–6) will face the winner of Wednesday’s 1 p.m. first-round game between No. 12-seed Boston College (15–16) and No. 13 Syracuse (12–17).

Carolina beat BC 80–67 at home on Jan. 12 and won at Syracuse 68–58 on Feb. 20.

With a Thursday win, the Tar Heels would meet No. 4-seed Florida State (24–6) in a quarterfinal game at 11 a.m. Friday. The Seminoles won at UNC 86–84 on Jan. 26.

While UNC coach Courtney Banghart said that Kelly (right knee) and Ustby (left knee) will definitely play in the NCAA tournament, she wasn’t sure about their status for the ACC tournament, adding that they are progressing.

In other Wednesday’s first-round games, No. 10 Virginia (16–14) takes on No. 15 Pittsburgh (13–18) at 3:30 and No. 11 Stanford (16–13) plays No. 14 Syracuse (12–17) at 6:30.

After UNC’s game on Thursday, No. 8 Georgia Tech (21–9) meets No. 9 Virginia Tech (18–11) at 1:30, No. 7 California (24–7) takes on the Virginia-Pittsburgh winner at 5 p.m., and Louisville faces the Stanford-Syracuse winner at 7:30.

No. 1-seed N.C. State (24–5) opens play at 1:30 Friday against the Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech winner. At 5 p.m. Friday, No. 2 Notre Dame (25–4) faces either California, Virginia or Pittsburgh. In the final quarterfinal matchup at 7:30, No. 3 Duke (23–7) takes on the Stanford-Syracuse winner.

Saturday’s semifinals start at noon. UNC would play at noon if it advances that far. The championship game is at 1 p.m. Sunday

ACC tournament

First Horizon Coliseum | Greensboro
Wednesday’s first round
No. 12 Boston College 76, No. 13 Syracuse 73
No. 10 Virginia 64, No. 15 Pittsburgh 50
No. 14 Clemson 63, No. 11 Stanford 46
Thursday’s second round
No. 5 (No. 14 ranked) North Carolina 78, Boston College 71
No. 8 Georgia Tech 72, No. 9 Virginia Tech 57
No. 7 California 75, Virginia 58
No. 6 Louisville 70, Clemson 68, OT
Friday’s quarterfinals
North Carolina 60, No. 4 (No. 22 ranked) Florida State 56
No. 1 (No. 7 ranked) N.C. State 73, Georgia Tech 72
No. 2 (No. 6 ranked) Notre Dame 73, California 64
No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Duke 61, Louisville 48
Saturday’s semifinals
N.C. State 66, North Carolina 55
Duke 61, Notre Dame 56
Sunday’s championship
Duke 76, N.C. State 62

Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	L, 76–66, OT	vs. No. 16 Louisville	9–3, 0–1 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 84–34	vs. UNCW	10–3
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Stanford	ESPN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 20 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	7 p.m.	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix