NC State Wolfpack at Duke Blue Devils

No. 6 Duke edges pesky NC State, into ACC semis

Liston scored 10 of her 26 points during the timely run that helped the sixth-ranked Blue Devils rally past pesky NC State 79-65 on Friday in a quarterfinal.

"Tournament time is always a fun time, but it's one game and you're out," Liston said. "We really needed to keep that in our mind."

Freshman Alexis Jones added 17 points for top-seeded Duke (28-2), which shot just under 44 percent and made a season-high 12 3-pointers.

The Blue Devils avenged a bitter loss to NC State in last year's quarterfinal round. That defeat snapped a string of 17 straight semifinal appearances for Duke, which has won this tournament seven times. Next up is No. 23 Florida State (22-8), the tournament's fourth seed, in a semifinal Saturday.

Marissa Kastanek scored 18 points for the eighth-seeded Wolfpack (16-16), and her layup with 7 minutes left put them in prime position to claim a second straight postseason victory over their rivals.

"After she hit that, our next mentality was, 'Let's get a stop now," Liston said. "And then, after we started getting stops, we started getting rebounds, and then coming down (the court) and executing on offense. ... The problem was, in that time when they went up, we weren't getting any stops, and so once we buckled down on defense, we were getting good chances on offense."

Duke then outscored NC State 24-5 during the next 6-plus minutes, with Liston doing most of the damage.

"The No. 1 thing on the scouting report for Tricia Liston is to not allow 3s," NC State coach Kellie Harper said. "I think everybody in the gym knows that. It's not rocket science."

Liston's 3-pointer with 6:15 left put the Blue Devils ahead to stay at 58-57, and she added another 3 and went 4 of 4 from the free throw line during the run. Her foul shot with 45.3 seconds left put Duke up 77-62.

Meanwhile, NC State missed 10 of 12 shots during the Blue Devils' run.

"They got some open looks and made them," Harper said. "And we didn't."

The Blue Devils improved to 4-1 without Chelsea Gray, the ACC's co-player of the year who will miss the rest of the season with a dislocated kneecap suffered Feb. 17.

"We have really shown this year that we can play at a very elite level," Harper said. "We've proven it several times. We have not been able to sustain that throughout the season, so that's why you're looking at a .500 record for us."

And the Blue Devils' 67-57 win on Jan. 3 wound up being one of their closest games all season.

After allowing the Blue Devils to shoot 50 percent in the first half, NC State clamped down on defense and gave up just three field goals in the first 13 minutes of the half while rallying to regain the lead.

Gatling's basket with 11½ minutes left put NC State up 51-50, and Goodwin-Coleman's 3-pointer on the next possession gave the Wolfpack their short-lived four-point lead.

"You have to enjoy these games. These are challenging games," Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said. "These are games that prepare you for the NCAA tournament. ... You want to be the very best in the last 8 minutes of the game and dictate as much as possible. That's what we'll take from this."

How can I watch Wolfpack vs. Blue Devils?

• TV Channel: Wolfpack vs Blue Devils 2021 College Basketball, week 18, is broadcasted on ESPN3.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Venue: First Horizon Coliseum

Location: Greensboro, NC
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