By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Greensboro, N.C. — The ACC women’s basketball tournament is going to have a heavy Triangle flavor.

Third-seeded Duke’s defense bottled up No. 6 Louisville on Friday night, earning the Blue Devils a 61-48 quarterfinal victory at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro and a place in the tournament semifinals on Saturday.

The Blue Devils will meet No. 2 seed Notre Dame in the second semifinal after the Irish beat California on Friday. North Carolina and NC State will meet in the first game.

The championship game is Sunday.

“This is the greatest time of year: You get to play and then you go to sleep, you wake up, you play again,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “This is what you want. You want to be in March basketball.”

She added: “If that doesn’t get you fired up, I don’t know what else would.”

Four Duke players scored in double figures, led by Oluchi Okananwa (13 points) Reigan Richardson (12). ACC Freshman of the Year Toby Fournier had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the win.

Louisville shot 32% from the floor in the game, connecting on just 18-of-57 field-goal attempts. The Cardinals also turned the ball over 21 times.

“We kind of give off each other’s energy and each other’s intensity, and when we’re all locked in and we all have that one goal, it’s like we’re unstoppable,” Okananwa said.

Louisville defeated Duke in the regular season in Durham.

The three Triangle teams are all expected to host first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games as top four seeds. It would be the first time that’s happened since 1998.

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 61, No. 6 Louisville 48

Semifinals

Saturday, March 8

Game 12: North Carolina vs. NC State, Noon (ESPN2)

Game 13: Notre Dame vs. Duke, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Championship

Sunday, March 9

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

Source: wralsportsfan.com