The 45th ACC Women's Tournament follows the top seeded favorite - the country's No. 3 team - against the red-hot No. 7 team in the conference.
Powerhouse NC State (28-3) leads Miami (20-11) for the tournament title at Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Wolfpack are chasing a third consecutive title. The Hurricanes are playing in a championship game for the first time since joining the ACC in 2004.
Pack senior Alyssa Kunane — 6-foot-5 center from North Guilford and last year's tournament MVP — finished Saturday afternoon with 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in the state's 70-55 semifinal win over Virginia Tech.
She would play one last game at the Coliseum, where she had watched ACC tournament games as a child, even making snow angels in balloons and confetti that had been dropped from the ceiling on an earlier champion. .
The last two title matches are just raising the appetite for this one.
"We're still excited to be back," Kunene said. "It feels a little different because now we have the experience. We have been in the big game thrice now, won it twice. But we still have to come out with the same mindset. We have to dominate. ...
"We can't look past it and say, 'We've won this first so we're going to win this. No, we have to respect who we're playing, really study scout and be prepared' "
It means preparing for the unexpected. Miami will play their fourth game in four days, going out on the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds to go on a date with No. 1.
Kelsey Marshall hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points in Saturday's second semifinal to lead the Hurricanes to a 57-54 victory, giving Miami nearly 19 hours to rest and prepare for the title game. Got time
"We have teams that were in the top-four here before," said Miami coach Katie Meier. "...we've been in a much more favorable position than this with some talented teams that could have won just two games and made the final, and we didn't. This team is moving in brackets, not on foot. We screwed up. No. We are tough as nails."
They have to be. Because the depth of the state creates problems for any opponent.
Cunanan fought early in a physical game against Virginia Tech, regularly fighting through double-teams in the low post. But Jada Boyd came off the bench and scored 16 points in 20 minutes.
"Many teams are going to double Alyssa, but they may not (account) our forward," state coach Wes Moore said. “So it clears the paint a little bit for that person. And if you decide to help out and double down, Alyssa is usually going to pay you.”
From Virginia Tech Northwest Guilford, guard Kayla King (ankle) and 6-6 ACC Player of the Year Liz Kitley (shoulder) played without two injured starts. Both were in uniform and went through pregame practice, but coach Kenny Brooks decided to keep them out as the Hokies looked forward to the NCAA Tournament.
"The fact that the two got really hot, I was excited," said Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks. "But you err on the side of caution. I'm never going to put these kids in harm's way, not for sports. ... It was all my decision. I pretended it was their decision." , and they went out, and I think it builds character. It builds rigor that they both went out there and were trying to give it. But I knew it was for the game for me It was going to take a slight miracle to provide."
It changed the game. Virginia Tech was tough early on but ran out of gas.
"It was just different," Kunane said. "They were trying to foul from the inside, so you couldn't really attack as much with Kitley. You had to be a little more gentle with him. ... He clearly still played a good game. I think it shifted things."
And now comes Miami, a team that has won eight of its last nine matches.
The hurricane season turned after back-to-back defeats on the road at national-level teams North Carolina and Notre Dame. It was the second week of February, and Miami was 12-10.
"It was definitely hard to go through those two games and dent our confidence," said Miami guard Carla Erjavec, who scored nine of her 10 points in the second half on Saturday. Who are It made us dig even deeper than before. It made us more rigid. It inspired us to work harder, pay attention to the little things and play better with each other. Those two defeats really turned our season upside down. ,
So here we are: gritty Miami against Powerhouse State. winner take all.
And Meyer is well aware that his team is a huge underdog in their first trip to the finals.
"You have to go east-west with your (defensive) coverage with NC State," she said. "He spread you so much. There's no player you can help. He has an incredible post player, but boy, does that ball move east-west really well. We really need to get off our feet tonight." We have to bring them back and really understand the (state) personnel. ... We have a task ahead of us."