GREENSBORO, N.C. — Oluchi Okananwa had 14 points off the bench and Ashlon Jackson scored 12 to help No. 11 Duke beat No. 6 Notre Dame 61-56 in the ACC Tournament semifinals Saturday.
Duke (25-7) will meet No. 7 N.C. State, the top seed, in the tournament final Sunday. It’s the Blue Devils’ first time playing in the championship game in eight years. N.C. State beat No. 14 North Carolina 66-55 in the first semifinal.
Hannah Hidalgo had 14 of her 23 points in the first half and Olivia Miles had 10 points for second-seeded Notre Dame (26-5). The Fighting Irish were held to 25 second-half points.
Takeaways
Duke: The Blue Devils avenged a regular-season loss for the second day in a row after topping Louisville on Friday. This outcome came despite committing 21 turnovers. Okananwa didn’t miss a shot, going 3-for-3 with two 3-pointers and 6-for-6 on free throws.
Notre Dame: The Irish have made a recent habit of falling behind and, unlike in the quarterfinal against California, they couldn’t muster a comeback. Ranked No. 1 less than two weeks ago, they’ve lost three of their last five games.
Key moment
Duke scored the last six points of the third quarter for a 47-42 lead as the Irish didn’t score for three-plus minutes. The first points of the fourth quarter came on Okananwa’s 3-pointer.
Key stat
Notre Dame made only 3 of 15 (20%) of its 3-point attempts and shot 21-for-56 (37.5%) overall.
Up next
Notre Dame awaits the NCAA Tournament selection as a likely first- and second-round host.