Toby Fournier provided 17 points and 10 rebounds as defending champion Duke opened play in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with Friday’s 60-46 quarterfinal victory against Clemson in Duluth, Ga., avenging a loss from less than two weeks earlier.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (22-8), who are ranked 13th nationally, also received 14 points from Delaney Thomas and 11 points from Taina Mair. Duke, which lost two of its final three games in the regular season, led by as many as 25 points in the rematch with Clemson and next meets Notre Dame in Saturday’s semifinals.
Mia Moore scored 17 points for ninth-seeded Clemson (21-11), which managed only 28 points through the first three quarters and trailed by 18 points with nine minutes remaining. The Tigers committed 21 turnovers and shot 35.3% (18-for-51) from the field.
Notre Dame 81, North Carolina State 63
Hannah Hidalgo, the ACC Player of the Year, poured in 25 points and the fifth-seeded Irish rolled in the quarterfinal game.
Iyana Moore, who made four 3-pointers, posted 17 of her 20 points in the first half for the Irish (22-9), who were up by 14 points before holding a 40-32 halftime edge. Moore and Hidalgo accounted for 33 of first-half points, and the margin grew to 62-41 going to the fourth quarter. Cassandre Prosper added 13 points for Notre Dame, which improved to 4-0 vs. NC State in ACC tournament matchups.
Khamil Pierre’s 17 points, Zamareya Jones’ 14 points, Qadence Samuels’ 12 points and Zoe Brooks’ 10 points paced fourth-seeded NC State (20-10), which hit only four of 19 shots from 3-point range. The Wolfpack committed 17 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
