– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA — Don’t let the abundance of Southern hospitality fool you. There are a number of people in North Carolina who hoped to cook up a sweet dish of revenge, and serve it ice cold as the 2025 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament starts its business end.
To begin proceedings in Greensboro, the No. 5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels, who blew a chance to clinch a double bye into the quarterfinals when it was upset by Virginia at home in the regular season finale, got its share of revenge with a 60-56 victory over No. 4 Florida State to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. In the teams’ first meeting on January 26, the Seminoles’ Ta’Niya Latson scored on a layup at the buzzer to nip the Heels in Chapel Hill, and it was the Seminoles who secured the double bye at Carolina’s expense on the final day of the regular season.
There would be no repeat of January, as the Tar Heels grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds in staving off the Seminoles and advancing to their first ACC Tournament semifinal since 2014. Alyssa Ustby led the Heels with 12 points and season-high-tying 18 rebounds and Carolina scored the game’s first 10 points to set the tone.
In the nightcap, the Tar Heels’ bitter rival, the Duke Blue Devils, also had revenge on their mind and succeeded in getting it as the No. 3 seed defeated sixth-ranked Louisville 61-48. Duke went 13-1 at home this season, with its only loss inside Cameron Indoor Stadium coming at the hands of the Cardinals on February 20. However, the Blue Devils’ defense was rock solid in Greensboro, and they eventually opened up a 22-point lead early in the third quarter, 43-21, and saw off Louisville from there.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s quarterfinals, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer William Anthony. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 41 pictures in total.
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