GREENSBORO - Duke advances to the finals of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at for the third consecutive year, edging Georgia Tech 67-55 on Saturday at Greensboro Coliseum.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (26-5) held off a physical Yellow Jackets team that nearly pulled off an upset with their attack-the-post strategy. But the Devils overcame their rebounding and offensive woes with reliable defense, intensifying their trademark full-court press and half-court traps over the final six minutes.
Creating turnovers, the Devils found it much easier to score, opening an 13-point lead with 2:43 left in the second half.
Duke's Jasmine Thomas, an All-ACC first-team selection this season, was held scoreless in the first half and attempted just one shot. She finished the game with 10 points.
Junior Karima Christmas finished with a team-high 15 points, six rebounds and four steals in 44 minutes. Joy Cheek added 10 in her fifth consecutive double-figure game.
Duke awaits the winner of the Saturday's second semifinal game between sixth-seeded N.C. State and seventh-seeded Boston College. The tournament's championship game is on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Duke looks to secure its first ACC Tournament title since 2004.
Duke led 29-25 at half-time.
In an evenly-matched first half, the Devils pulled ahead by four on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Shay Selby. Her shot from the left arc came on a set play where the Devils quickly reversed the ball out to the perimeter.
In the first half, Georgia Tech outrebounded the Devils 20-14 and limited them to four second chance shots.
Edward joined the News & Observer staff in 2004. He is a graduate of American University and Johns Hopkins University. He covers Wake Forest football and women's college basketball for the N&O. Edward is a native of Washington, D.C. He can be reached at 829-4781 or 
