Duke the higher seed, but UNC on a roll as ACC women’s basketball tourney set to begin

Having been hired at Miami in 2005, Katie Meier is currently the longest-tenured women’s basketball coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. And in her opinion, this season has been unlike any other for the ACC in terms of competitiveness and parity.

“If you love basketball, you better come to Greensboro and watch these teams compete,” Meier said during a conference call of the ACC’s coaches on Monday. “It’s been ridiculous. I’ve never seen anything like it… I think a lot of teams had a lot of pressure in every game they played. That’s just a testament to the league.”

The ACC Tournament for women’s basketball begins on Wednesday at the Greensboro Coliseum. Heading into the league’s regular season finale on Sunday, just two of the 15 seeds in the tournament were locked in; everything else got sorted out as the day went on. Because of North Carolina’s upset win at Duke and Notre Dame’s victory at Louisville, the Irish claimed the ACC’s regular-season title and the top seed in the tournament.

But Notre Dame could be without its star point guard in sophomore Olivia Miles. In the second quarter of the Irish’s win over Louisville, Miles went down with what appeared to be a right knee injury. A candidate for the ACC’s Player of the Year award, Miles was emotional on the floor as she was being tended to. She did not return to the game.

Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said Miles would be examined by doctors Monday afternoon. She is seventh in the nation in assists this season with 6.9 per game while also averaging 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Irish.

“Just prayers up,” Ivey said. “Hopefully it’s not season-ending.”

While Notre Dame deals with a significant injury, Virginia Tech — the third seed in the tournament and No. 7 in the AP Top 25 Poll this week — seems to have the most momentum. The Hokies have won eight straight games, a record for consecutive ACC wins in program history. And during that stretch, reigning ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley has shot 62% from the floor while averaging 21 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

“I think we’re playing pretty well. Chemistry is really good, confidence is really high,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks said. “When I first got here, we were just happy to be (in Greensboro), trying to figure it all out. We kind of graduated a little bit to hoping we would win. And then now, we put ourselves in position to expect to win.”

The Hokies have not won a conference tournament since 1998, when they were in the Atlantic 10.

Here’s the outlook for teams in North Carolina’s Triangle heading into the tournament:

N.C. State (19-10, 9-9 ACC)

The Wolfpack have won the ACC Tournament three years in a row now, but this team is a whole lot different than those led by Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones and Kai Crutchfield. Those squads had a talented center and surrounded her with shooters, but this N.C. State team is really at its best when it leans on its athleticism and speed.

N.C. State won its regular season finale, beating last-place Pittsburgh at home by five points, but are limping into Greensboro a bit as the No. 8 seed. Before beating Pitt, N.C. State had lost five of its previous seven games.

Diamond Johnson is the team’s top scorer at 12.3 points per game, but has battled a nagging ankle injury off and on this season. She hasn’t played since Feb. 16 and Wolfpack coach Wes Moore says the team may hold Johnson out until the NCAA Tournament.

“Our conference season was a roller coaster. Now we’re ready for the ACC Tournament and a fresh start,” Moore said. “You wipe the board clean and start over. So, we’re ready to attack that.”

The Wolfpack play ninth-seeded Syracuse on Thursday at 2 p.m. The winner faces Notre Dame on Friday.

North Carolina (20-9, 11-7 ACC)

For the first time all season, the Tar Heels have finally had all 11 players on their roster healthy for the past two games. The result with a full complement of players has been a buzzer-beater home loss to Virginia Tech, and an upset win over Duke on Sunday.

The Tar Heels’ victory over the Blue Devils marked the first time since the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons that UNC has notched four consecutive wins over Duke. It was also the first home loss of the season for the Blue Devils.

Noticeable in the victory was how the Tar Heels closed the game. In the final three minutes, UNC coach Courtney Banghart turned to a trio of youngsters off the bench, giving crucial minutes to true freshman Paulina Paris, redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson and sophomore Destiny Adams. While Banghart would have preferred to go through the season injury-free, those players earned her trust in earlier games when the Tar Heels were missing starters Alyssa Ustby and Eva Hodgson.

“As a coach, you just have more options, and that’s always a good thing,” Banghart said. “I really like our depth. I trust it. It’s been proven. They’re ready.”

As the No. 7 seed, UNC will play Thursday, facing the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between No. 15 Pitt and No. 10 Clemson. The Tar Heels beat both teams by double digits in January. A win in that game sets up another game with rival Duke.

Duke (24-5, 14-4 ACC)

Despite falling short of capturing the ACC’s regular season crown, the Blue Devils won 14 league games for the first time since the 2012-23 campaign. In Kara Lawson’s second full season at the helm, Duke has found success with its defense. The Blue Devils rank fourth nationally in defensive rating (75.4), sixth in opponent field goal percentage (34.8) and first in opponent assist-turnover ratio (0.43).

But while the defense is outstanding, Duke’s offense could use a spark. The Blue Devils are 12th in the ACC in scoring average, 12th in 3-pointers made and 10th in offensive rebounding. In that loss to UNC on Sunday, Duke turned the ball over 25 times and scored zero fast break points. Leading scorer Celeste Taylor had nine of those turnovers for Duke and shot just 2-of-10 from the floor.

“I think it’s just converting on transition opportunities when we get them,” Lawson said. “When we have advantage possessions — whether it’s two-on-one, three on two — in games, where we do that, we tend to score well. Some of this is just, you make shots sometimes, you miss shots sometimes.”

With the No. 2 overall seed, Duke earned a double-bye and will automatically play in Friday’s quarterfinals, where a third-round bout with North Carolina is likely. UNC hasn’t beaten Duke three times in the same season since 2005.

This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Duke the higher seed, but UNC on a roll as ACC women’s basketball tourney set to begin."