North Carolina St. captures ACC title

Point guard Raina Perez hit a jumper from near the left elbow with 2.1 seconds left to help No. 3 North Carolina State successfully defend its ACC tournament title as the Wolfpack beat No. 5 Louisville 5856 in Greensboro, N.C.

Before shooting, Perez — a graduate transfer from Cal State Fullerton who was the Big West player of the year last season — started to pass to Elissa Cunane, who had a gamehigh 20 points. Seeing that Cunane was not open, Perez — who had missed six consecutive shots — buried the jumper for the Tar Heels (202).

Louisville (233) had a final chance to win it, inbounding the ball under its own basket with 1 second left. But Dana Evans, who led the Cardinals with 15 points, missed a 3point attempt off Kianna Smith’s inbounds pass.

“Winning once was hard,” Cunane, the tournament MVP said of the title runs. “Winning twice was harder.”

#7 South Carolina 67, #16 Georgia 62: In Greenville, S.C., Aliyah Boston had 27 points and 10 rebounds and the Gamecocks (22-4) beat the Bulldogs (20-6) for their second straight SEC tournament title and sixth in seven years. Que Morrison had 20 points to lead Georgia.

#1 UConn 84, Villanova 39: Christyn Williams scored 26 points to lead the Huskies (23-1) past the Wildcats (15-6) in the Big East tournament semifinals in Uncasville, Conn. UConn will play Marquette for the title.

WNBA bound: Charli Collier, a junior forward at Texas, declared for the WNBA draft but plans to play in the postseason for the Longhorns. Collier, who is averaging 21 points and 12.2 rebounds, is eligible for the draft because she turns 22 in September.