GREENSBORO, N.C. (Mar. 4) — Freshman Amy Lingenfelder scored a team-high 18 points and junior Regina Tate recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Georgia Tech to a 71-62 upset of third-seeded NC State Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.
| NC State’s Monica Bates, left, and Georgia Tech’s Candice McCallum fight for a rebound in the first half. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) |
The Yellow Jackets (15-12 overall) advance to take on second-seeded Duke in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Duke defeated eighth-seeded Florida State, 92-65, in one of Saturday’s other semifinal games.
Sophomore Milli Martinez added 16 second-half points for the Jackets, including 10 straight for Tech during one stretch to put the Jackets ahead of the Wolfpack (20-8 overall) for good.
Martinez pulled the Jackets to within three of the Pack at 54-51 on a fast break layup with 7:19 to play. A pair of free throws by NC State’s Talisha Scates put the Wolfpack back up five with 7:06 left before Martinez keyed a 12-2 run to put the Jackets up to stay.
After State’s two free throws, Martinez added two more layups and a pair of free throws to put the Jackets up 57-56 with 5:45 left. She added another fast break layup with 5:30 left to put Tech up 59-56 with 5:30 left.
A layup by Monica Bates pulled State to within one with 5:11 left, but that would be the closest the Wolfpack would get the rest of the way. Tech sealed the win by going 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 4:15.
NC State’s Tynesha Lewis led all scorers with 23 points. Bates and Kaayla Chones added 12 points each for the Wolfpack.
Freshman Nina Barlin had a career-high 11 assists for the Jackets.
Tech’s win sends the Jackets to the ACC semifinals for the first time since 1992.
GEORGIA TECH (15-12)
Donehew 1-9 0-0 3, Lingenfelder 5-11 5-6 18, Barlin 0-5 2-2 2, Kruppa 1-6 1-2 3, Tate 6-7 5-6 17, Stewart 1-1 0-0 2, Martinez 6-12 4-5 16, Mallory 1-2 0-0 2, McCallum 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 25-58 17-21 71.
N. CAROLINA ST. (20-8)
James 2-7 0-1 5, Lewis 8-16 4-6 23, Gardner 1-7 0-2 3, Scates 2-3 3-5 7,
Chones 6-12 0-4 12, Hutcherson 0-3 0-0 0, Bates 6-7 0-1 12, Simpson 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 7-19 62.
Halftime -N. Carolina St. 32, Georgia Tech 27. 3-Point goals -Georgia Tech 4-13 (Donehew 1-8, Lingenfelder 3-5) N. Carolina St. 5-16 (James 1-4, Lewis 3-6, Gardner 1-3, Simpson 0-3). Fouled out -None. Rebounds -Georgia Tech 38 (Tate 10), N. Carolina St. 43 (Chones 11). Assists -Georgia Tech 17 (Barlin 11), N. Carolina St. 15 (James 4). Total fouls -Georgia Tech 20, N. Carolina St. 18. A -6,640.
