San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
No. 3 North Carolina St. returning to ACC title game
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Elissa Cunane had 20 points and 13 rebounds and No. 3 North Carolina State used a strong second half to pull away from No. 21 Virginia Tech 70-55 on Saturday and return to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Jada Boyd added 16 points and Raina Perez had nine points for NC State (28-3), which is seeking its third straight tournament title. The Wolfpack (28-3) will face the sixth-seeded Miami on Sunday.
Kayan Traylor had 18 points for Virginia Tech (23-9), which was without Elizabeth Kitley. The ACC women's player of the year injured her right shoulder in the Hokies' 87-80 quarterfinal win over North Carolina on Friday. Kitley participated in warmups, but did not play.
Without the 6-foot-6 Kitley in the middle, the Hokies faced a severe size disadvantage.
The Wolfpack tried to take advantage early, pounding the ball inside to Cunane, but mostly came up empty. Cunane was 3 of 11 from the field in the first half, turned the ball over twice and the Wolfpack only led 31-27 at the break as the Hokies closed the first half on a 6-0 run.
But NC State coach Wes Moore moved Cunane from the low post to the high post for a portion of the second half and the Wolfpack began to take control.
Cunane ignited the crowd by knocking down an open 3 from the top of the key. Boyd, who finished 7 of 10 from the field, followed by scoring on a spin move in the lane and Jakia Brown-Taylor canned a 3 to give NC State a 44-34 lead after three quarters.
Earlier, Kelsey Marshall scored 18 points and Miami pulled off its second straight upset in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, defeating No. 20 Notre Dame 5754 to advance to the championship for the first time.
OHIO VALLEY CHAMPIONSIHP
Destinee Wells scored 22 points and Belmont's defense overwhelmed Tennessee Tech for a 5129 win at Evansville, Ind., sending the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in seven years.
Top-seeded Belmont (22-7), which won four-straight titles from 2016-19 and again last season, limited the second-seeded Golden Eagles to 17 percent shooting (9 of 52) and forced 17 turnovers to win its 12th-straight game.
Wells, a sophomore who was tournament MVP for the second time, was the only player in the game to reach double figures.
SEC SEMIFINALS
Aliyah Boston posted her 23rd consecutive double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as topranked South Carolina beat Mississippi 61-51 at Nashville, Tenn.
The Gamecocks (29-1) won their 17th straight to reach their seventh tournament championship game in eight seasons. They will play either No. 18 Tennessee or seventhseeded Kentucky on Sunday looking for South Carolina's third straight title and seventh overall.
Ole Miss (23-8) tried to rally, scoring 20 of the first 25 points in the fourth to get within 58-50 on Shakira Austin's three-point play with 1:40 left. That was the last bucket the Rebels would make as South Carolina clinched their latest berth in the title game.
BIG TEN SEMIFINALS
Nicole Cardano-Hillary led a balanced attack with 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 14 Indiana moved within a game of making Big Ten Conference history with a 70-62 win over No. 13 Ohio State in the semifinals at Indianapolis.
If the fifth-seeded Hoosiers can beat the winner of the NebraskaIowa game in Sunday's championship game they will become the first team to win four straight to win the tournament.
Ali Patberg scored 15 points for the Hoosiers (22-7), Mackenzie Holmes had 12, Chloe MooreMcNeil 11 and Grace Berger 10.
Jacy Sheldon scored 22 points for top-seeded Ohio State (23-6), league co-champion with Iowa, and Taylor Mikesell and Braxtin Miller had 12 apiece.
BIG EAST QUARTERFINALS
Paige Bueckers scored 16 points in her third game back from knee surgery and No. 7 UConn routed Georgetown 84-38 at Uncasville, Conn.
Christyn Williams added 15 points for the Huskies (23-5).