GREENSBORO, NC. — The N.C. State Wolfpack beat their in-state rivals, the North Carolina Tar Heels, 66-55 to advance to the ACC Tournament Championship. In a stadium filled with their fans, they were able to make them proud in their win. They will face the winner of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday, March 9th, at 1 PM EST.

Although the game started competitive, the Wolf Pack grabbed an early 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, before losing their key player. Star guard Aziah James collided with Maria Gakdeng with 4:07 left in the first quarter, but the Tar Heels were unable to score since she went down. James later returned in the second quarter. North Carolina made two of their 11 attempts from the field (18.2%), a big reason they fell behind early. N.C. State was led by Tilda Tryger (TREE-ger), who scored eight points in the first. While the Tar Heels tried to get going in the second quarter, the Wolfpack defense was too much as they closed out the half.  

The Tar Heels cut their deficit down to seven, still trailing 33-26 at the break. James returned to the game for the Wolfpack before the half came to close, and she immediately hit a three-pointer as their fans loudly cheered. She scored seven points, which led the team. North Carolina trimmed the lead down thanks to Lexi Donarski and Grace Townsend, who scored seven points and six points in the quarter respectively. Their hole was dug deep early due to them allowing too many points in the paint and turning the ball over. They allowed 16 points to N.C. State, while only scoring eight themselves in the same area. The Tar Heels also turned the ball over nine times, which turned into 11 points for the Wolfpack.In spite of their inefficiencies on both ends of the floor, North Carolina still managed to make it a close game coming out of the locker room.

The third quarter started out in a familiar way for the Wolfpack, as James got them back to a double digit lead, 54-37. She had 10 points in the quarter, proving no injury will deter her from doing what’s necessary for a win. Like the first quarter, the Tar Heels struggled to shoot, making four of their 17 attempts (24%) in the period. They also fell into foul trouble early, which only hurt their comeback efforts. North Carolina had five team fouls at the 4:38 mark in the third, which allowed N.C. State to shoot free throws the rest of the period. The Wolfpack capitalized, making eight of their nine free throw attempts (89%)in the quarter. With N.C. State seemingly putting the nail in the coffin in the third, they sealed their victory in the fourth.  

To start the quarter, the Wolfpack made a huge defensive play, courtesy of Senior guard, Sa’Niya Rivers. She blocked a drive to the basket with 8:29 left in the contest, which turned into two points from James on the other end. Rivers finished with eight points in the game, aiding her team to victory down the stretch. The Tar Heels, coming off two straight days of hard fought games, looked exhausted from the jump. N.C. State took advantage, and dominated their rivals from start to finish.

The Wolfpack finished the wire-to-wire victory in front of their home fans, receiving loud ovations before, during and after the game. With the win, they have a chance at redemption after losing to Notre Dame in last year's ACC Championship.