By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Greensboro, N.C. — North Carolina and NC State will meet for a second time this season after all.

The rivals played just once in the regular season due to the ACC’s expansion to 18 teams. But the fifth-seeded Tar Heels and top-seeded Wolfpack have a second date now — in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Saturday (noon, ESPN2).

North Carolina handed NC State its lone ACC loss in the regular season, a 66-65 decision in Chapel Hill on Feb. 16. On Saturday, they’ll be playing for a spot in the ACC Tournament title game.

“This time of year you’ve got enough incentive,” NC State coach Wes Moore said. “This tournament, survive and advance. If you lose, you go home, and then obviously setting up for the big one here in a couple of weeks.”

The Wolfpack (25-5) got a tougher-than-expected test from No. 9 seed Georgia Tech in Friday’s quarterfinals. Aziaha James made two free throws with 7.1 seconds left to give the Wolfpack a 73-72 victory. Georgia Tech never got a shot off on its final possesion.

James led NC State with 16 points. Zoe Brooks had 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

WATCH: NC State’s Saniya Rivers after the Wolfpack victory

NC State has reached the tournament finals in four of the last five years, including wins in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The Wolfpack lost in the final last season.

“We really want to win the tournament,” Brooks said. “Obviously we were in the championship last year and fell short to Notre Dame, and we want to get our get-back, and we’re just going to keep fighting until we get there.”

Standing in the way is North Carolina (27-6), which clamped down on high-scoring Florida State in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“It would be great if the ACC wants to give a cut to the tickets to the two schools because we’re doing y’all a favor here having two North Carolina schools,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said.

Against Georgia Tech, NC State never led by more than four. The Yellow Jackets took the lead twice in the final 46 seconds. Each time, James made a play for the Wolfpack.

She knocked down a jumper with 41 seconds remaining to give NC State a 71-70 lead. Georgia Tech retook the lead on free throws by Dani Carnegie with 15 seconds remaining to set up James’ final free throws.

“Just keep going every play because every play counts,” James said.

Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner was not a fan of the call that send James to the line.

“You want me to walk you through the part where we fouled supposedly?” she said.

Still the Yellow Jackets had the ball last. But without any timeouts, Georgia Tech was unable to get inside the 3-point line or get a shot attempt off.

“They defended that pretty well, and we just didn’t get a good look,” Fortner said.

In other action, No. 2 Notre Dame defeated seventh-seeded California 73-64 to advance to the semifinals where it will face the winner of third-seeded Duke and No. 6 seed Louisville.

North Carolina 60, Florida State 56

North Carolina sophomore Reniya Kelly returned to action Friday after missing the Tar Heels’ last three games.

Kelly showed how important she is to the program’s hopes this March.

Kelly’s back-to-back baskets gave the Tar Heels the lead in the final minutes and fifth-seeded North Carolina held off No. 4 seed Florida State 60-56 in the quarterfinals of the ACC women’s basketball tournament at First Horizon Coliseum, formerly Greensboro Coliseum.

“To see her come in and be what we need when we need it is just Reniya Kelly,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “This is, I think, one of the best point guards in the country. I thought that last year when I started her as a freshman. But she just continues to mature and continues to play to her personality, which makes our team better.”

North Carolina (27-6) will play top-seed NC State and No. 9 seed Georgia Tech in Saturday’s first semifinal (noon, ESPN2). The win likely means that the Tar Heels will host first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games.

With the score tied at 54, the Tar Heels went to Kelly out of a timeout. She delivered with a lay-up. On the next possession, after a Florida State miss, Kelly swished a jumper.

“It was time for Reniya to do what she does,” Banghart said of drawing up a play for her.

She finished with 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Kelly had been itching to play, subtly letting Banghart know over the past two weeks that she wanted back on the court.

Kelly missed the Tar Heels’ losses at Duke and against Virginia to end the regular season and UNC’s tournament-opening win against Boston College.

“I would risk my whole body to be on the court with my team, so my body told me I couldn’t play, and I didn’t play,” Kelly said. “I listened to my body, so it is what it is.

“But I’m going to trust the process. I’m going to trust the work that I put in with my shot. Obviously I missed a lot of shots tonight, but that didn’t down my confidence or make me hesitant about it, so I just kept shooting and trusting my work that I put in.”

WATCH: UNC’s Indya Nivar: ‘We have that trust in each other’

WATCH: UNC’s Lexi Donarski: ‘We had different people stepping up to make big shots’

Alyssa Ustby had 12 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds in the win. Maria Gakdeng matched her career high with 16 rebounds. Freshman Lanie Grant made two key free throws with 7.3 seconds left to seal it.

UNC led 20-4 in the first quarter, but Florida State surged ahead 31-27 at halftime.

It was a bit of revenge for the Tar Heels Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson hit a buzzer-beating layup to give the Seminoles an 86-84 victory in the teams’ lone regular-season meeting in Chapel Hill.

UNC had not forgotten that loss.

“This group is competitive and we have pride, especially on our home floor,” Ustby said. “I was like, that hasn’t sat right with us for long, so to get another opportunity at a team like that, that’s something that we really look forward to, and we’re not going to take that opportunity for granted.”

Latson had 13 points, but UNC limited the All-ACC selection to 3-of-14 shooting from the field. Makayla Timpson led Florida State with 15 points and added eight rebounds and eight blocked shots.

UNC held Florida State to a season-low 56 points.

North Carolina guard Reniya Kelly (10) celebrates after North Carolina defeated Florida State in an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Greensboro, N.C., Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

First Round

Wednesday, March 5

Game 1: No. 12 Boston College 76, No. 13 Syracuse 73

Game 2: No. 10 Virginia 64, Pittsburgh 50

Game 3: No. 14 Clemson 63, No. 11 Stanford 46

Second Round

Thursday, March 6

Game 4: No. 5 North Carolina 78, No. 12 Boston College 71

Game 5: No. 9 Georgia Tech 72, No. 8 Virginia Tech 57

Game 6: No. 7 California 75, No. 10 Virginia 57

Game 7: No. 6 Louisville 70, No. 14 Clemson 68 (OT)

Quarterfinals

Friday, March 7

Game 8: No. 5 North Carolina 60, Florida State 56

Game 9: No. 1 NC State 73, No. 9 Georgia Tech 72

Game 10: No. 2 Notre Dame 73, No. 7 California 64

Game 11: No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Louisville, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

Semifinals

Saturday, March 8

Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, Noon (ESPN2)

Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Championship

Sunday, March 9

Game 12 Winner vs. Game 13 winner, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

Second-round results

Lexi Donarski scored 20 points and 14th-ranked North Carolina beat Boston College 78-71 on Thursday to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals for the third time in four years.

North Carolina (26-6), the No. 5 seed, will play No. 4 seed and 22nd-ranked Florida State on Friday. The Seminoles won the first meeting 86-84 on Jan. 26 when Ta’niya Latson scored at the buzzer.

North Carolina started the game on an 11-0 run and held the lead until Kennedi Jackson scored with 1:58 left in the third quarter to give Boston College a 51-50 lead. It was tied entering the fourth before Kaylah Ivey and Teya Sidberry combined for a 9-0 run on three 3-pointers to push the Eagles in front.

Alyssa Ustby started a 19-3 run that Donarski capped by making a 3-pointer with 1:44 left to give North Carolina a 73-66 lead as Boston College went 1 for 7 from the field.

Boston College had a good look from 3-point range with 11 seconds left but Tatum Greene’s shot did not fall and Donarski made two free throws to seal it.

Donarski scored 20-plus for the first time since the UNC Wilmington game on Nov. 7. Indya Nivar had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for North Carolina. Ustby and Lanie Grant each scored 11.

Greene had 18 points and four 3-pointers for Boston College (16-17), the No. 12 seed. Ivey added 15 points and Sidberry 12.

The Eagles tied their season high with 12 3-pointers on 26 attempts.

In other action, Georgia Tech used a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech 72-57 in the second round. The Yellow Jackets will take on No. 1 seed NC State in Friday’s quarterfinals.

California defeated Virginia 75-58 behind 16-point, 10-rebound games from Ugonne Onyiah and Marta Suarez. The Bears advance to play No. 2 seed Notre Dame. No. 6 Louisville topped No. 14 Clemson 70-68 in overtime. Louisvlle wlll play No. 3 Duke in Friday’s quarterfinals.

First-round results

Boston College trailed No. 13 Syracuse by 19 points, but rallied for a 76-73 victory in Tuesday’s first round. Dontavia Waggoner scored a career-high 32 points in the win.

No. 10 Virginia defeated No. 14 Pitt behind 17 points from Kymora Johnson and a double-double from Latasha Lattimore.

No. 14 Clemson defeated No. 11 Stanford, likely ending the Cardinal’s streak of 36 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Source: wralsportsfan.com