Clemson women beat Notre Dame in ACC tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Gabby Elliott scored a season-high 25 points and 11th-seeded Clemson beat sixth-seeded Notre Dame 68-63 in the second round of the ACC tournament on Thursday night.

The Tigers (11-12) face No. 3 seed Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

The freshman Elliott scored on a baseline drive with 1:28 left that put Clemson in front for good at 61-60, the Tigers’ first lead since late in the first quarter.

Kendall Spray pushed the lead to 64-60 on a pull-up 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer expired with 17.6 seconds left. The referees checked the monitor to confirm that she both got the shot off in time and was behind the arc.

Maddy Westbeld got the Fighting Irish (10-10) back to 64-63 with a three-point play four seconds later.

Amari Robinson made a pair of free throws for Clemson, and most of the remaining time ran off the clock during a loose ball scrum after Notre Dame’s Dara Mabrey missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied it with nine seconds left.

Spray finished with 13 points, Delicia Washington had 11 points and seven assists, and Robinson had 10 points and eight boards. Elliott had seven rebounds and six steals.

Westbeld scored 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds for Notre Dame. Mabrey and Olivia Miles added 10 points each.

Notre Dame shot 49% compared to Clemson’s 35%. But the Tigers had 29 points off 23 turnovers and 18 second-chance points off 18 offensive rebounds.