The Guru’s ACC Tournament Report: NC State, Louisville, Notre Dame, and North Carolina Earn Top Four Seeds

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The SEC did not have a monopoly on exiting and interesting regular season finishes Sunday heading into the conference tournament bracket announcements for this week.

Next up is the Atlantic Coast Conference, whose tournament this week out of Greensboro, N.C., also runs Wednesday through Sunday and had its share of interest at the finish line.

No. 3 North Carolina State on the way to claiming the regular season ACC title on the road battled No. 23 Virginia Tech in Roanoke, Va., and had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter slide away to a 66-66 tie after Georgia Amoore score with 1:25 left in regulation.

Then Elissa Cunane assisted by Raina Perez hit a jumper for the Wolfpack to snap the deadlock with 58 seconds left. 

That turned out to be both the winning points and final points in the game.

In the next 58 seconds, Aisha Sheppard missed a three-point attempt, then Cunane missed a layup with 16 seconds.

Sheppard missed another from deep with six seconds left, Kai Crutchfield snapped the rebound and time ran out on the Hokies.

Cunane finished with 22 points, Kayla Jones scored 12, and Jada Boyd scored 11 for the Wolfpack (26-3, 17-1 ACC).

For the Hokies  (21-8, 13-5), who finished in a three-way third-place tie but fifth seed position behind North Carolina and Notre Dame, Elizabeth Kitley scored 18, and Aisha Sheppard scored 16

.

No. 4 Louisville took the second seed pounding No. 14 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., 86-64, as Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith each scored 20 points for the Cardinals (25-3, 16-2) with Van Lith connecting on 4-of-5 from deep.

 Emily Engstler had a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Chelsie Hall also connected in double figures with 13 points.

Notre Dame (21-7, 13-5), which will be the third seed in breaking the three-way tie for the slot, got pounded on the boards 40-22 by Louisville.

Olivia Miles scored 13 for the Irish, while Maya Dodson and Dara Mabrey each scored 12 points, and Sonia Citron scored 10.

No. 18 North Carolina worked its way to a fourth seed and double bye beating visiting Duke 74-46 in Chapel Hill.

Anya Poole and Alyssa Ustby each scored 15 points for the Tar Heels (23-5, 13-5), while Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 14, and Carlie Littlefield scored 10 with 10 rebounds for a double double for the former Princeton star who played there under UNC coach Courtney Banghart.

The Blue Devils (16-12, 7-11), under a first full season with Kara Lawson, got 14 points from Celeste Taylor and 11 from freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson.

No. 22 Georgia Tech won at Wake Forest 64-56 in Winston-Salem, N.C., as Lorela Cubaj got 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Yellowjackets (20-9, 11-7 ACC), who finished sixth, and Norea Hermosa scored 16, and off the bench Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 11 off the bench, and reserve Avyonce Carter scored 11.

Wake Forest (14-15, 4-14) got 14 points from Christina Morra while Niyah Becker scored 13, reserve Jewel Spear scored 11, and reserve Eise Williams scored 10 for the Deacons.

ACC Field Set

The tourney like several other Power 5 conferences, opens Wednesday at Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina and runs through its long-running home thru Greensboro, N.C., through Sunday.

NC State edged Louisville for the top seed and then in a three-way jam for third, Notre Dame took the third slot and UNC the fourth, edging Virginia Tech.

Wednesday

First Round (RSN-TV)

1 p.m. No. 12 Syracuse vs. No. 13 Clemson; 3:30 p.m. No. 10 Duke vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh; 6:30 p.m. No. 11 Wake Forest vs. No. 14 Virginia.

Thursday

Second Round (RSN-TV)

11 a.m. No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. (12-13) Syracuse-Clemson winner; 2 p.m. No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 9 Florida State; 6 p.m. No. 7 Miami vs. (10-15) Duke-Boston College; 8 p.m. No. 6 Georgia Tech vs. (11-14) Wake Forest-Virginia.

Friday 

Quarterfinals (RSN-TV)

11 a.m. No. 4 North Carolina vs. (5-12-13) Virginia Tech-Syracuse-Clemson winner;  2 p.m. No. 1 NC State vs. (8-9) Boston College-Florida State winner; 6 p.m. No. 2 Louisville vs. (7-10-15) Miami-Duke-Boston College winner; 8 p.m. No. 3 Notre Dame vs. (6-11-14) Georgia Tech-Wake Forest-Virginia.

Saturday

Semifinals (ACCN-TV)

12 p.m. (4-5-12-13) North Carolina-Virginia Tech-Syracuse-Clemson winner vs. (1-8-9) NC State-Boston College-Florida State winner.

2:30 p.m. (2-7-10-15) Louisville-Miami-Duke-Pittsburgh winner vs. (3-6-11-14) Notre Dame-Georgia Tech-Wake Forest-Virginia winner.

Sunday

Championship (ESPN)

12 p.m. (4-5-12-13-1-8-9) North Carolina-Virginia Tech-Syracuse-Clemson-NC State-Boston College-Florida State winner vs. (2-7-10-15-3-6-11-14) Louisville-Miami-Duke-Pittsburgh-Notre Dame-Georgia Tech-Wake Forest-Virginia winner.

And that’s the ACC report.