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
No. 10 California 75, No. 15 Wake Forest 52
No. 11 Georgia Tech 72, No. 14 Florida State 60
Thursday’s second round
No. 9 Clemson 63, Virginia 50
No. 5 Notre Dame 69, Miami 54
No. 7 Syracuse 70, California 59
No. 6 Virginia Tech 62, Georgia Tech 54
Friday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 Duke 60, Clemson 54
Notre Dame 81, No. 5 N.C. State 63
No. 2 Louisville 87, Syracuse 61
No. 3 North Carolina 85, Virginia Tech 68
Saturday’s semifinals
Duke 65, Notre Dame 63
Louisville 65, North Carolina 57
Sunday’s championship
Duke 70, Louisville 65, OT
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 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. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 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 No. 22 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. 8 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. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo by Joshua Lawton
