No. 23 NC State women edge No. 18 Duke in ACC quarters
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) Chelsea Nelson scored 15 points and grabbed an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament record 22 rebounds on Friday and No. 23 North Carolina State upended No. 18 Duke 51-45 in quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Wolfpack (24-7) never trailed in the fourth quarter but it wasn't until Kiara Leslie scored a pair of baskets inside sandwiched around a pair of missed 3-pointers by the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (22-8) that N.C. State had a late two-possession lead.
Leslie's back-door layup off an advanced inbound pass from Aislinn Konig following a timeout made it 49-43 with 20.1 seconds to play. Duke answered with a layup with 9.8 seconds left to keep it at a two possession game and Kaila Ealey added two free throws.
The Wolfpack now tackle top-seeded and fourth-ranked Louisville in the semifinals on Saturday.
N.C. State only shot 29 percent, going 2 of 17 from distance, and had 14 turnovers.
Lexie Brown led Duke with 16 points and Rebecca Greenwell had 13 but the Blue Devils shot just 27.5 percent and had 19 turnovers.
Nelson's rebounds are second on the school list, which is topped by Susan Yow's 27 boards on Jan. 17, 1976, and broke the tourney record, set in 1982, by one. Barbara Kennedy of Clemson had 21 rebounds in the 1981 and 1982 tourneys.
