acc tournament 2026 delivered a defining semifinal moment Saturday afternoon, as No. 1 Duke held off No. 5 Notre Dame 65-63 at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., ending the Irish’s seven-game win streak with a trip to the ACC Tournament title game on the line.
What Happens When Acc Tournament 2026 pressure meets a one-possession finish?
Duke’s narrow win came after Notre Dame repeatedly forced the game back within reach, including a late sequence that left the Irish with multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the final seconds. A Duke free throw stretched the margin to two points with less than a minute remaining, and Notre Dame had three looks in the closing moments but could not convert as the Blue Devils escaped.
The tight ending was the culmination of a game that swung sharply across quarters. Duke opened with a burst, scoring the first 10 points in the first four minutes and building an early double-digit advantage. Notre Dame responded before the first-quarter horn, trimming a 15-2 deficit to 15-11 by scoring nine straight, but Duke still led 17-11 after the opening 10 minutes.
Notre Dame’s push continued early in the second quarter, getting within two at 17-15. Duke later rebuilt separation with a six-point run that pushed the lead back to 10. The Irish answered again behind a short personal run from Hannah Hidalgo to cut the halftime gap, yet Duke entered the break up 38-31.
What If the third-quarter surge becomes the lasting signal of this semifinal?
Notre Dame’s best stretch came coming out of halftime. After the teams traded jumpers to open the third, the Irish reeled off eight points to take their first lead at 41-40. The surge included back-to-back three-pointers from Vanessa de Jesus and KK Bransford, a sequence that flipped the game’s feel from chase to control.
The Irish extended the momentum into the closing seconds of the third quarter. With time winding down, Hidalgo found Gisela Sanchez open under the basket for a layup, and Notre Dame carried a 49-46 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
That lead did not hold for long. Duke scored 11 of the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to move ahead 57-53 with 6: 00 left. Notre Dame answered quickly, with Iyana Moore hitting her second three-pointer of the game to cut the margin to one. From there, the finish tightened into a shot-for-shot exchange that brought the score to 64-63 Duke with 1: 10 remaining, with Hidalgo scoring all seven of Notre Dame’s points in that specific three-minute stretch.
What Happens Next after the 65-63 semifinal loss?
Notre Dame’s season record moved to 22-10 with the loss, and the result snapped the seven-game win streak the Irish carried into the semifinal matchup. The game also highlighted individual production that kept Notre Dame within striking distance throughout multiple Duke runs.
Hidalgo delivered a game-high 24 points and added eight rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Moore finished with 14 points, and de Jesus added 10 as Notre Dame’s offense searched for answers against Duke’s early control and late closing execution. In the first quarter, Moore accounted for nine of Notre Dame’s 11 points, and in the second quarter Hidalgo scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to keep the Irish close.
Before the semifinal, Notre Dame entered with a seven-game win streak and a 22-9 record, facing Duke with the ACC Tournament title-game berth at stake. With the semifinal now decided, Notre Dame shifts its attention to the NCAA Tournament pathway. The Irish will wait for the bracket reveal during the Selection Show on at 8 p. m. ET on Sunday, March 1.
With the semifinal’s swings, the late one-possession margin, and the closing sequence that left Notre Dame just short, the acc tournament 2026 storyline now turns from a title-game chase to what comes next on Selection Sunday.
