NC State defeated seventh-seeded Virginia Tech 68-55 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Friday night.

The second-seeded Wolfpack (18-2, 12-2 ACC) advanced to its fourth-consecutive ACC Tournament semifinals and will play the winner of the Clemson-Georgia Tech game Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

The Pack didn't shoot the ball to its usual standard from the perimeter or the foul line, but its overall strong defensive performance led the way to a comfortable victory over the Hokies.

The game was tied 16-16 at the end of the first quarter, but NC State held the Hokies to just seven points in the second quarter to take a 33-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Junior center Elissa Cunane led all scorers with a season-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting in 31 minutes. She added nine rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Cunane consistently went head-to-head with fellow 6-5 Summerfield, N.C., native Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley. Kitley had a strong night and led the Hokies with 20 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough to match the firepower of the third-ranked Wolfpack.

Cunane wasn't the only Wolfpack post player to get it done down low Friday night.

NC State outscored Virginia Tech 42-16 in the paint with plenty of assistance from its reserves off the bench.

Sophomore forward Jada Boyd was the Pack's only other double-figure scorer, finishing the night with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds in 28 minutes off of the bench. Boyd also added one assist, one steal and tied her career-high with three blocks.

Sophomore center Camille Hobby chipped in an efficient eight minutes as a reserve in the first half after Cunane picked up a quick foul in the first quarter. Hobby produced four points on 2-of-3 shooting and five rebounds during that stretch.

"I probably should have subbed a little more, especially Camille," NC State head coach Wes Moore said. "Elissa was just playing so well. We got to realize, hopefully, we're going to play multiple games. So we've got to pace them a little bit. Camille gave us some great minutes in the first half and did some good things.

'We obviously wanted to keep Elissa from getting her second foul that early. And Camille's played so well for us. I thought Elissa looked a little winded, and when she gets tired, that's when she's more likely to foul. Then if somebody goes in and plays well, I thought Camille was playing well, so I rode with her. If we're playing well as a team, I don't touch it a whole lot, I'll let them stay out there."

37:10 Was the amount of time NC State led Virginia Tech Friday night in the 13-point victory.

63% Was the Wolfpack's shooting percentage from the free-throw line. NC State was shooting 73.7 percent from the foul line entering Friday night's contest.

18 Missed three-point attempts from the Pack in the win. NC State shot 18 percent from the perimeter for the game, significantly less efficient than its 36.3 percentage from deep entering the contest.

11 Points NC State scored off of 10 Virginia Tech turnovers. The Hokies turned the Pack over nine times but were only able to create six points off of those takeaways.

6 Assists from fifth-year senior point guard Raina Perez in the victory. She had the most assists of any player on the floor Friday night.

+15 Was the Wolfpack's plus-minus rating when senior forward Kayla Jones was on the floor. The efficiency rating led all players in the game.

15 Points was the margin NC State's bench outscored Virginia Tech's. The Wolfpack reserves finished with 17 points compared to just two from the Hokies.

"We got away from it late in the game. You got to lead, come down, you got Elissa Cunane who's pretty dog-gone good down there on the block.

"If you're going to Vegas, you're going to play the odds. The kid shoots over 60 percent from the field. Give her touches, give her the ball.

"We just came down and settled for threes some and shot early in the clock. A little disappointed with the way we played in the fourth quarter from that perspective.

"We got to work inside-out. It was a rough day, again, we didn't shoot it great from outside, so I'm proud of them for being able to defend, rebound and do the other things. So that was good.

"We got to be smart and pick our opportunities to take that shot and other times, maybe slow down and work the ball down low a little bit. We were definitely trying to get some post touches."

— NC State head coach Wes Moore said when asked about the team's conscious effort to feed the post beginning in the second quarter.

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