By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina will play its first game in the ACC women’s tournament in the quarterfinals against a team the Tar Heels beat on the road during the regular season.
The No. 21-ranked and No. 3-seed Tar Heels (25–6, 14–4 ACC) will play at 7:30 on Friday at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., against either No. 6-seed Virginia Tech (22–8, 12–6), No. 11 Georgia Tech (13–17, 8–10) or No. 14 Florida State (10–20, 5–13).
The Seminoles and Yellow Jackets play in the final first-round game at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to a 7:30 second-round game against the Hokies. UNC faces the winner of that final second-round game.
UNC, which has the league’s longest active win streak at four, won 83–55 at Florida State on Jan. 18, at Georgia Tech 54–46 on Jan. 22 and at Virginia Tech 66–63 in overtime on Feb. 19.
If favorites win on the Tar Heels’ side of the bracket and they advance, UNC would face No. 10-ranked and No. 2-seed Louisville (25–6, 15–3) in a 2:30 semifinal game on Saturday. The Cardinals won in overtime at UNC 76–66 on Dec. 14.
Carolina could potentially face No. 12-ranked and No. 1-seed Duke (21–8, 16–2) in the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday. That would be the third meeting after each team won at home during the regular season.
Notre Dame (20–9), Virginia Tech and Syracuse (22–7) tied for fifth in the final standings at 12–6. With the Fighting Irish sweeping the Hokies and Orange during the regular season, Notre Dame earned the No. 5 seed. Notre Dame is coming off a win at No. 10 Louisville in the regular-season finale. Virginia Tech defeated Syracuse during the regular season to claim the No. 6 seed, while the Orange secured the No. 7 seed.
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ACC tournament
Gas South Arena | Duluth, Ga.
Wednesday’s first round (ACC Network)
No. 12 Miami (16–13) vs. No. 13 Stanford (19–12), 11 a.m.
No. 10 California (18–13) vs. No. 15 Wake Forest (14–16), 1:30
No. 14 Florida State (10–20) vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech (13–17), 4 p.m.
Thursday’s second round (ACC Network)
No. 8 Virginia (19–10) vs. No. 9 Clemson (20–10), 11 a.m.
No. 5 Notre Dame (20–9) vs. Miami-Stanford winner, 1:30
No. 7 Syracuse (22–7) vs. Cal-Wake Forest winner, 5 p.m.
No. 6 Virginia Tech (22–8) vs. Ga. Tech-FSU winner, 7:30
Friday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 Duke (21–8) vs. Virginia-Clemson winner, 11 a.m., ESPN2
No. 5 N.C. State (20–9) vs. 1:30 Thursday winner, 1:30, ACC Network
No. 2 Louisville (25–6) vs. 5 p.m. Thursday winner, 5 p.m., ESPN2
No. 3 North Carolina (25–6) vs. 7:30 Thursday winner, 7:30, ACC Network
Saturday’s semifinals (ESPN2)
Winners of the first two quarterfinals, noon, ESPN2
Winners of the last two quarterfinals, 2:30, ESPN2
Sunday’s championship
1 p.m., ESPN
| 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. 2 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. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 10 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 12 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 12 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | 7:30 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech, Ga. Tech or Florida State | ACCN |
| 7 | Saturday | 2:30 | (With Friday win): Semifinal vs. Louisville, Syracuse, Cal or Wake Forest | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | Championship game | ESPN |
| 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 |
Photo by Joshua Lawton
