NCAAW: Can Saniya Rivers, Aziaha James lead NC State to the ACC title?

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For the fourth time in the past five seasons, No. 1-seed NC State has advanced to the ACC Tournament championship game, having beaten No. 5-seed North Carolina on Saturday, 66-55. There, they’ll meet No. 3-seed Duke, who is back in the tournament title game for the first time since 2017 after upsetting No. 2-seed Notre Dame on Saturday, 61-56.

The final tips off on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Here’s what the Wolfpack and Blue Devils need to do to raise the trophy in Greensboro:

How the Wolfpack can win it all

Winners of 14 of their last 15 games, NC State is one of the hottest teams in the nation, overcoming an uneven start to the 2024-25 season to re-establish themselves as Final Four contenders.

On Saturday, they avenged their lone loss during this hot streak, as the Tar Heels had escaped with a one-point win over the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill on Feb. 16. In the semifinal rematch, NC State did not mess around against their in-state rival, racing out to a 16-5 first-quarter lead that situated them for the double-digit win.

Aziaha James once again looked like one of the best bucket getters in the game, leading NC State with 19 points. She’ll certainly be atop Duke’s scouting report, as the senior guard dropped a career-high 36 points on the Blue Devils, propelling the Pack to the 89-83 win on Feb. 3.

Yet, NC State sports other weapons, with the growing game of Zoe Brooks, in particular, equipping the Wolfpack to attack the Blue Devils’ ACC-leading defense. A quiet semifinal broke a streak of six-straight double-digit scoring outings for the sophomore guard, who was named ACC Most Improved Player. But Brooks is not just a scorer; she’s also can make an impact by corralling rebounds and setting up teammates. With a big game from Brooks, the Wolfpack should be boogying to the program’s eighth ACC Tournament title.

How the Blue Devils can win it all

With a combined score of 171 points, the regular-season game between NC State and Duke was not the kind preferred by the Blue Devils and head coach Kara Lawson. This team trends toward the, “Defense wins championships,” mantra with their aforementioned ACC-best defense.

On Saturday, that defense stifled an explosive Notre Dame offense, holding the Irish to a season-low 56 points as they induced an inefficient afternoon from ACC Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo while limiting the scoring opportunities for Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron.

To claim the program’s first ACC Tournament championship since 2013, Duke will need to generate some good offense themselves. And that begins with not turning the ball over. On Saturday, the Blue Devils survived, despite coughing up the ball 21 times. They also must make their free throws, something they did on Saturday, going 14-for-16 from the line, but have struggled to do for the majority of the season, with a team-wide conversion rate of 67.8 percent. In short, any sloppiness on the margins will not suffice.

Fortunately, Duke does have a number of players capable of making the kind of momentum-swinging plays necessary in March. Against Notre Dame, Oluchi Okanawa impressed with her energy, with the sophomore guard hustling for every lose ball as she had 14 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. ACC Freshman of the Year Toby Fournier was more limited on Saturday, contributing just five points in 16 minutes. Yet, throughout her debut season, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer has shown she is ready for the big stage, totaling nine games in which she scored 20 or more points.