For just the second time since 1997, the Atlantic Coast Conference is playing its women's basketball tournament outside of North Carolina.
The 15-team event began Wednesday at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia. Duke earned the top seed in the tournament, while No. 3 seed North Carolina and No. 4 seed NC State also secured double byes into Friday's quarterfinals.
Other WRAL Top Stories
The Duke women defeated Notre Dame 65-63 to advance to the ACC Tournament Championship game. They will play the winner of the Louisville-North Carolina game on Sunday.
Duluth is about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta. The tournament has been held at First Horizon Coliseum (formerly Greensboro Coliseum) since 2000 with just one exception. The 2017 event was in Conway, South Carolina.
"I don't even know where Duluth is," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said Sunday after her team's victory over Duke. "I'll be quite honest. I thought it was Atlanta. I'm hearing it's not Atlanta. I don't really know. I hope it's closer to drive for our fans than further, but again, I don't know. I think people wanted it to move. I think Greensboro has done a really good job. I know it looks like it's a home court advantage for us, NC State and Duke. Well, those have been the top three teams a lot of the time, even before I got here."
2026 Ally Acc Women's Basketball Tournament
Printable bracket
March 4-8, 2026 / Gas South Arena • Duluth, Ga.
Wednesday, March 4 (First Round)
Game 1: No. 12 Miami 83, No. 13 Stanford 76
Game 2: No. 10 California 75, No. 15 Wake Forest 52
Game 3: No. 11 Georgia Tech 72, No. 14 Florida State 60
Thursday, March 5 (Second Round)
Game 4: No. 9 Clemson 63, No. 8 Virginia 50
Game 5: No. 5 Notre Dame 69, No. 12 Miami 54
Game 6: Syracuse 70, Cal 59
Game 7: Virginia Tech 62, Georgia Tech 54
Friday, March 6 (Quarterfinals)
Game 8: Duke 60, Clemson 46
Game 9: No. 5 Notre Dame 81, No. 4 NC State 63
Game 10: No. 2 Louisville 87, Syracuse 61
Game 11: No. 3 North Carolina 85, Virginia Tech 68
Saturday, March 7 (Semifinals)
Game 12: No. 1 Duke, 65, No. 5 Notre Dame 63
Game 13: No. 2 Louisville 65, No. 3 North Carolina 57
Sunday, March 8 (Championship)
Game 14: No. 1 Duke 70, No. 2 Louisville 65
ACC Women's Tournament history
No. 3 seed Duke defeated No. 1 seed NC State in the final of the 2025 tournament. NC State won three consecutive tournaments from 2020 to 2022. North Carolina won the last of its nine ACC Tournaments in 2008 when the Tar Heels topped Duke in the final.
Duke has won it nine times since its inception in 1978, tied with UNC for the most by any current member of the ACC. NC State has won the event seven times. Other current members of the league have won the tournament a combined 13 times: Notre Dame (six), Virginia (three), Clemson (two), Louisville (one) and Virginia Tech (one). Former ACC member Maryland has won the tournament 10 times.