DULUTH, Ga. — For the first time in its 49-year history, the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament is being played outside the Carolinas as the conference postseason showcase shifts to Duluth, Georgia.
The tournament tipped off on Wednesday and runs through Sunday, featuring 15 teams competing for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With No. 1 seed Duke, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 N.C. State all earning double byes into Friday’s quarterfinals — and No. 15 Wake Forest battling through the opening round — the influence of local teams remains unmistakable even in Georgia.
The relocation from Greensboro Coliseum to the Atlanta area ends a quarter-century run in North Carolina and signals a shift for a tournament long tied to the state’s basketball culture.
“I think people wanted it to move. I think Greensboro has done a really good job,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said on Sunday. “I know it looks like it’s a home court advantage for us, N.C. State and Duke. Well, those have been the top three teams a lot of the time, even before I got here. Our teams travel so I think we’ll still have fans. I don’t get to make those decisions. I guess we’ll see afterward if that was the right decision.”
Duke arrives as the tournament’s top seed and defending champion after securing its first outright ACC regular-season title since 2013. The Blue Devils finished 16-2 in league play, won 18 of their final 20 games and are ranked No. 13 nationally after a 74-69 loss Sunday at No. 16 North Carolina that served as a preview of conference postseason action.
UNC’s Elina Aarnisalo scored a career-high 22 points and Nyla Harris added 19, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to lift the Tar Heels above the Blue Devils.
Duke coach Kara Lawson emphasized perspective after the defeat, noting her team’s resilience through injuries that left the Blue Devils with just seven available players late in the season.
“As I told the team after the game, what an incredible season they’ve had,” Lawson said Sunday. “To win the ACC regular season for our school for the first time in 13 years is an amazing accomplishment. That doesn’t make losing a game any less frustrating. Of course, you want to win. You’re competitive. But I think when it’s appropriate, it’s really important, as a coach and as a player, you zoom out and take stock in the big picture.”
North Carolina finished alone in third place with a 14-4 league record and enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak, the longest active run in the conference. The Tar Heels (25-6) have won 12 of their last 13 games, a surge that strengthened their NCAA Tournament seeding outlook and reinforced their identity as a team peaking in March.
“I think this group knows a lot about who they are. It doesn’t make the games easier. It doesn’t make beating whoever we have next any easier,” Banghart said. “We had to win 12 of 13 to even be in this spot.”
UNC, which has not won the ACC Tournament in 18 years and has not reached the title game since 2013, opens Friday night against the winner of a second-round matchup, with the bracket offering a potential showdown with N.C. State (20-9) in the semifinals or a rematch with Duke in the championship.
The Wolfpack secured the No. 4 seed and a double bye for the third consecutive season after closing the regular season with three straight wins, including a 93-43 rout of Pitt that ensured the program’s 11th consecutive 20-win season. N.C. State (20-9) remains a perennial postseason threat just two years removed from a Final Four appearance.
Wolfpack coach Wes Moore emphasized the mental reset that comes with the beginning of conference tournament play: “Obviously we dropped a few, but we’re spoiled. If we can maintain our position, you’ve got to win three games. Then, we leave there, we’ll wipe it again and get ready for the NCAAs.”
Wake Forest (14-16), seeded No. 15, returned to the tournament field after missing last year and opened Wednesday against No. 10 California; the Demon Deacons finished 4-14 in conference play.
Louisville, placed as a two seed alongside a 12th-seeded national rank, finished 15-3 in conference play and went unbeaten in ACC road games, while No. 5 Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, the conference’s leading scorer and a premier two-way guard, headlines a deep field capable of producing multiple national contenders.
