Associated Press
The ACC women’s tournament …
GREENSBOROó Jasmine Thomas scored 14 points to help No. 8 Duke beat No. 12 Florida State 75-57 in the semifinals of the ACC tournament Saturday.
Carrem Gay added 13 points for the third-seeded Blue Devils (26-4), who easily avenged a regular-season loss and reached Sunday’s championship game for the second straight year. They will face No. 4 Maryland, the top seed, as they look for their first title since a run of five straight from 2000-04.
Tanae Davis-Cain had 14 points for the second-seeded Seminoles (25-7), who have lost 28 of the past 31 meetings in the series. Florida State had earned a share of the ACC’s regular-season title for the first time in school history, but fell behind by double figures midway through the first half and never recovered.
It was Duke’s second dominating performance in the tournament in as many days. Four players scored in double figures, while senior Abby Waner continued her recent outside shooting surge. She made 3-for-4 on 3s against the Seminoles to finish with nine points.
No. 4 Maryland 95, No. 11 North Carolina 84
Marissa Coleman scored 29 points and No. 4 Maryland ended North Carolina’s dominance of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, beating the 11th-ranked Tar Heels 95-84 on Saturday in the semifinals.
ACC player of the year Kristi Toliver added 25 points and rookie of the year Lynetta Kizer finished with 15 for the top-seeded Terps (27-4).
They advanced to their first league championship game since 2006 . Marylandhas won 11 straight and 14 of 15.
Italee Lucas had 26 points and made five 3-pointers for the Tar Heels (26-6). They twice rallied from double-figure deficits but couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch to avoid their first ACC tournament loss since they dropped the 2004 title game to Duke.
Jessica Breland had 23 points and Rashanda McCants added 18 and hit a 3 with 2:36 remaining that pulled North Carolina within 83-81. Demauria Liles hit a stickback moments later, and Toliver followed with two free throws and an 18-foot jumper to finally give the Terrapins a sizeable lead that they couldn’t blow.