GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina reached the 2025 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals for the third time in four years with Thursday’s 78-71 win over 12th-seeded Boston College at the First Horizon Coliseum.
No one could accuse the fifth-seeded Tar Heels of doing it the easy way.
Trailing 63-54 with just over seven minutes to play, North Carolina regrouped with a 19-3 run to put away the resilient Eagles, who had overcome a 19-point deficit against Syracuse in Wednesday’s first-round game and battled back Thursday after falling behind 11-0 in the opening three minutes.
No. 14 North Carolina (26-6) will face No. 4 seed and No. 22 Florida State (23-7) in Friday’s 11 a.m. ET quarterfinal game. Florida State edged the Tar Heels 86-84 in the regular-season meeting between the teams on January 26 in Chapel Hill.
Lexi Donarski led all scorers on Thursday with 20 points, including a key 3-pointer that put North Carolina up 73-66 with 1:44 to play. Indya Nivar added 15 points and a game-high five assists for the Tar Heels.
Alyssa Ustby, returning from an injury that had sidelined her since February 16, added 11 points and contributed heavily to a rejuvenated North Carolina defensive effort that harassed the Eagles into seven misses on eight shot attempts during the decisive fourth-quarter run.
Before going cold toward the end, Boston College’s accuracy from beyond the arc had the Eagles on the brink of an upset. Entering the game shooting 31 percent from 3-point range for the season, Boston College (16-17) finished 12-for-26 on Thursday, including a flurry of four straight that produced the late nine-point lead.
Boston College’s 12 made 3-pointers tied a season high. Freshman Tatum Greene, daughter of former Tar Heel standout Chanel Wright-Greene, scored a career-high 18 points while shooting 4-for-5 from three. Senior Kaylah Ivey went 5-for-10 from bonus range.
North Carolina improved to 65-38 all-time in the ACC Tournament, 5-4 in second-round games and 37-21 in Greensboro.