GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com)  – No. 14 seed Clemson became the final team to battle its way into the second round of the 2025 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, downing 11th-seeded Stanford 63-46 in Wednesday night’s first-day nightcap.
 
Loyal McQueen paced Clemson with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Mia Moore went 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the second half en route to a 14-point effort. Anya Poole went 6-for-9 from the floor for 12 points and also pulled down eight rebounds.
 
The impressive performance placed the Tigers opposite sixth-seeded Louisville (20-9) in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. ET matchup at First Horizon Coliseum. Clemson will face Louisville for the second time in a week after dropping a 78-52 decision on the road on February 27.
 
Courtney Ogden’s 13 points led Stanford (16-14). The Cardinal entered its first-ever ACC Tournament with wins in five of its six previous games, with the lone setback a 75-74 overtime decision on February 20 at Virginia Tech.
 
A 10-0 second-quarter run helped stake the Tigers to a 27-16 halftime lead. McQueen’s 13 first-half points led the scoring, but a stout Clemson defensive effort was the real story. The Cardinal shot just 23.1 percent in the first two quarters and committed 10 turnovers.
 
Stanford heated up a bit at the outset of the third quarter, trimming the deficit to single digits at 34-27 behind a trio of 3-pointers. But Moore countered with three jumpers from beyond the arc, and Raven Thompson and Maddie Cluse each added another as the Tigers pushed the margin to as high as 20 points and led 48-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
With Wednesday night’s win, Clemson first-year head coach Shawn Poppie improved to 7-0 in conference tournament games. Poppie’s Chattanooga teams went a combined 6-0 in winning the Southern Conference Tournament in 2023 and 2024.
 
The Tigers have won at least one ACC Tournament game in six of the past seven seasons. Clemson is 36-45 all-time in the event, including 11-24 in Greensboro.