2026 ACC women's basketball tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 2026 ACC women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 15 |
| Site | Gas South Arena Duluth, Georgia |
| Champions | Duke (10th title) |
| Winning coach | Kara Lawson (2nd title) |
| MVP | Taina Mair (Duke) |
| Attendance | 44,686 |
| Television | ESPN, ESPN2, ACCN |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Duke † | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 27 | – | 9 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Louisville | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 29 | – | 8 | .784 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 North Carolina | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 28 | – | 8 | .778 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 21 | – | 11 | .656 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Notre Dame | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 25 | – | 10 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Syracuse | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 24 | – | 9 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Virginia | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 12 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 21 | – | 15 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 21 | – | 14 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 2 | – | 16 | .111 | 9 | – | 21 | .300 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh | 1 | – | 17 | .056 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 1 | – | 17 | .056 | 5 | – | 26 | .161 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 ACC women's basketball tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Atlantic Coast Conference and was held at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, from March 4 to 8, 2026.[1] It was the first time in the tournament's 27 year history that the tournament was held in Georgia. The tournament was sponsored by Ally Financial, and was officially known as the 2026 Ally ACC women's basketball tournament.[2]
Defending champions No. 1 Duke defeated No. 2 Louisville in overtime 70–65 in the championship game, successfully defending their title after entering the tournament as the top-seed. They defeated No. 9 Clemson, No. 5 and Notre Dame before the Cardinals on their way to their tenth overall tournament title.[3]
Fifteen of the eighteen ACC women's basketball teams will participate in the tournament.[4] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The seeds were determined on March 1, after the final regular season conference games.[5]
| Seed | School | ACC Record | Tiebreakers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke #‡ | 16–2 | |||
| 2 | Louisville ‡ | 15–3 | |||
| 3 | North Carolina ‡ | 14–4 | |||
| 4 | NC State ‡ | 13–5 | |||
| 5 | Notre Dame † | 12–6 | 2–0 vs. Virginia Tech/Syracuse | ||
| 6 | Virginia Tech † | 12–6 | 1–1 vs. Notre Dame/Syracuse | ||
| 7 | Syracuse † | 12–6 | 0–2 vs. Notre Dame/Virginia Tech | ||
| 8 | Virginia † | 11–7 | 1–0 vs. Clemson | ||
| 9 | Clemson † | 11–7 | 0–1 vs. Virginia | ||
| 10 | California | 9–9 | |||
| 11 | Georgia Tech | 8–10 | 2–0 vs. Miami/Stanford | ||
| 12 | Miami | 8–10 | 1–1 vs. Georgia Tech/Stanford | ||
| 13 | Stanford | 8–10 | 0–2 vs. Georgia Tech/Miami | ||
| 14 | Florida State | 5–13 | |||
| 15 | Wake Forest | 4–14 | |||
| DNQ | SMU | 2–16 | |||
| DNQ | Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 1–0 vs. Boston College | ||
| DNQ | Boston College | 1–17 | 0–1 vs. Pittsburgh | ||
| # – ACC regular season champions, and tournament No. 1 seed. ‡ – Received a double-bye in the conference tournament. † – Received a single-bye in the conference tournament. Overall records include all games played in the ACC Tournament. | |||||
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 4 | ||||||
| Opening day |
1 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 12 Miami vs. No. 13 Stanford | 83−76OT | ACCN | 5,192 |
| 2 | 1:40 p.m. | No. 10 California vs. No. 15 Wake Forest | 75−52 | |||
| 3 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 11 Georgia Tech vs. No. 14 Florida State | 72−60 | |||
| Second round – Thursday, March 5 | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 8 Virginia vs. No. 9 Clemson | 50−63 | ACCN | 6,203 |
| 5 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Miami | 69−54 | |||
| 2 | 6 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 7 Syracuse vs. No. 10 California | 70–59 | 5,290 | |
| 7 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 6 Virginia Tech vs. No. 11 Georgia Tech | 62–54 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 6 | ||||||
| 3 | 8 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 9 Clemson | 60−46 | ESPN2 | 8,233 |
| 9 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 4 NC State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame | 63−81 | ACCN | ||
| 4 | 10 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 7 Syracuse | 87−61 | ESPN2 | 6,572 |
| 11 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 3 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Virginia Tech | 85−68 | ACCN | ||
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 7 | ||||||
| 5 | 12 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Notre Dame | 65−63 | ESPN2 | 6,604 |
| 13 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 3 North Carolina | 65–57 | |||
| Championship – Sunday, March 8 | ||||||
| 6 | 14 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Louisville | 70−65OT | ESPN | 6,592 |
| Game times in EST through the semifinals and EDT for the championship. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||||
Bracket
Source:[6]
| First round Wednesday, March 4 | Second round Thursday, March 5 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 6 | Semifinals Saturday, March 7 | Championship Sunday, March 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 13 Duke | 60 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Virginia | 50 | 9 | Clemson | 46 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Clemson | 63 | 1 | 13 Duke | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Notre Dame | 63 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | NC State | 63 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Notre Dame | 69 | 5 | Notre Dame | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Miami | 83* | 12 | Miami | 54 | 1 | 13 Duke | 70* | |||||||||||||||
| 13 | Stanford | 76 | 2 | 12 Louisville | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 12 Louisville | 87 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Syracuse | 70 | 7 | Syracuse | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | California | 75 | 10 | California | 59 | 2 | 12 Louisville | 65 | |||||||||||||||
| 15 | Wake Forest | 52 | 3 | 16 North Carolina | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 16 North Carolina | 85 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 62 | 6 | Virginia Tech | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Georgia Tech | 72 | 11 | Georgia Tech | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Florida State | 60 | |||||||||||||||||||||
* denotes overtime period
Game summaries
First round
| (12) Miami (FL) 83, (13) Stanford 76 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19−10, 18−29, 28−13, 5−18, Overtime: 13−6 | ||
| Pts: Kyle (25) Rebs: Kyle (11) Asts: Raviv (6) |
Pts: Ogden (22) Rebs: Agara (8) Asts: Ogden (6) | |
ACCN |
| (10) California 75, (15) Wake Forest 52 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 11–10, 21–11, 29–12, 14–19 | ||
| Pts: Walker (17) Rebs: Walker (10) Asts: Maul (4) |
Pts: Carter (13) Rebs: Brown (9) Asts: Oliver, Sørbye (3) | |
ACCN |
| (11) Georgia Tech 72, (14) Florida State 60 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–16, 17–13, 17–19, 16–12 | ||
| Pts: Foster (18) Rebs: Turnage (9) Asts: Walker (3) |
Pts: Bowles (16) Rebs: Greene (8) Asts: Williams (4) | |
Second round
ACCN |
| (8) Virginia 50, (9) Clemson 63 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–15, 12–13, 13–15, 11–18 | ||
| Pts: Clark (15) Rebs: Smith (11) Asts: Johnson, Smith (3) |
Pts: Moore (19) Rebs: Thompson (11) Asts: Rose (5) | |
ACCN |
| (5) Notre Dame 69, (12) Miami (FL) 54 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–19, 14–4, 21–17, 11–14 | ||
| Pts: Hidalgo (28) Rebs: Cowles (12) Asts: Hidalgo (5) |
Pts: Raviv (15) Rebs: Kyle (15) Asts: Adams (4) | |
ACCN |
| (7) Syracuse 70, (10) California 59 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–7, 14–9, 13–24, 20–19 | ||
| Pts: Izoje (23) Rebs: Izoje (10) Asts: Darius (4) |
Pts: Walker (19) Rebs: Maul (9) Asts: Maul, Morris, Twidale (3) | |
ACCN |
| (6) Virginia Tech 62, (11) Georgia Tech 54 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 7–17, 22–6, 21–23, 12–8 | ||
| Pts: Wenzel (15) Rebs: Nelson (9) Asts: Nelson (6) |
Pts: Walker (20) Rebs: Turnage (10) Asts: Alben (3) | |
Quarterfinals
| (1) Duke 60, (9) Clemson 46 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 18–5, 8–9, 14–18 | ||
| Pts: Fournier (17) Rebs: Fournier (10) Asts: Jackson (4) |
Pts: Moore (17) Rebs: Hinds (8) Asts: Rose (5) | |
ACCN |
| (4) NC State 63, (5) Notre Dame 81 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 14–17, 9–22, 22–19 | ||
| Pts: Pierre (17) Rebs: Pierre (14) Asts: Brooks (5) |
Pts: Hidalgo (25) Rebs: Moore (9) Asts: Hidalgo (5) | |
ESPN2 |
| (2) Louisville 87, (7) Syracuse 61 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–12, 20–21, 17–14, 25–14 | ||
| Pts: Roberts (17) Rebs: Randolph (10) Asts: Berry, Scott (5) |
Pts: Izoje (22) Rebs: Burrows, Izoje (9) Asts: Burrows, Cooper, Potts, Schmitt (2) | |
ACCN |
| (3) North Carolina 85, (6) Virginia Tech 68 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 11–16, 29–11, 24–24, 21–17 | ||
| Pts: Grant (21) Rebs: Harris (10) Asts: Aarnisalo (6) |
Pts: Wenzel (26) Rebs: Baker (8) Asts: Nelson (6) | |
Semifinals
ESPN2 |
| (1) Duke 65, (5) Notre Dame 63 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–11, 21–20, 8–18, 19–14 | ||
| Pts: Mair (16) Rebs: Thomas (10) Asts: Mair (8) |
Pts: Hidalgo (24) Rebs: Hidalgo (8) Asts: Hidalgo, Moore (2) | |
ESPN2 |
| (2) Louisville 65, (3) North Carolina 57 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–10, 12–17, 17–13, 20–17 | ||
| Pts: Berry (22) Rebs: Berry (10) Asts: Istanbulluoglu (4) |
Pts: Aarnisalo (17) Rebs: Harris (8) Asts: Aarnisalo (5) | |