In Greensboro, North Carolina, the Duke Blue Devils, ranked 11th, are on a quest to claim their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament championship in over a decade. This comes after the team successfully avenged two recent regular-season losses. Duke, seeded third, is set to face off against the top seed, No. 7 N.C. State, in the championship game.
Duke sealed their place in the final by defeating the sixth-ranked Notre Dame team 61-56, following a victory over Louisville with a score of 61-48 in the previous quarterfinal matchup. Their recent performance marked significant turnarounds from prior defeats against these teams earlier this season. The Blue Devils only sustained losses this year to N.C. State, Notre Dame, and Louisville after January 9. In an earlier clash, N.C. State edged out Duke 89-83.
Reflecting on the journey, Duke’s coach Kara Lawson was clear about the journey ahead: “We haven’t really done anything yet but just get to the final,” she commented. “Both teams I know are really focused on winning the final.”
Parallel to Duke’s path, N.C. State secured their spot in the championship by beating No. 14 North Carolina 66-55, cruising past a previous defeat earlier this season. Wolfpack coach, Wes Moore, emphasized the present: “This time of year, we don’t talk about revenge,” he said. “It’s all about right now. It’s March. As I like to call it, ‘March Gladness.’”
In their previous encounter, N.C. State bounced back from a 13-point deficit to triumph over Duke, marking one of the higher scoring games allowed by the Blue Devils this season. “They have some of the best guards in the country,” Lawson noted, underscoring the complexity posed by N.C. State’s dynamic offense.
N.C. State has impressively reached the championship game five times in the last six years, although their latest victory in the tournament was back in 2022. Meanwhile, Duke is breaking into the finals for the first time since 2017, sparking excitement within the team.
“This moment means that we have an opportunity to play for a championship,” Lawson expressed, delighted at Duke’s progress this tournament. The last confrontation between Duke and N.C. State in an ACC final occurred in 2010, when Duke claimed victory.
