GREENSBORO, N.C. — In its lone regular season matchup, NC State women’s basketball held UNC-Chapel Hill to 66 points and 36% from the field, but head coach Wes Moore thought his team had too many defensive breakdowns in its 66-65 loss. At that point in the season, Moore thought he had a good team but felt it needed to step up defensively to reach its full potential.

“We’ve got a good team,” Moore said after the loss in mid-February. “We could be a great team if we commit to defending and play with a little more urgency on that end.”

In its ACC Tournament Semifinals matchup, it looked as though NC State had fallen victim to old habits again. The Tar Heels struck first, scoring five points in quick succession while holding the Wolfpack scoreless for the first two-and-a-half minutes.

But the red-and-white flipped the script, holding UNC scoreless for the rest of the quarter and quickly piling on 16 points in the frame. What began as a Tar Heel onslaught turned into a tie for their worst single-quarter performance of the season.

NC State not only took away players’ strengths, but it did so more effectively than any team this season, holding the Tar Heels to a season-low 28% from the field. UNC guard Reniya Kelly — who scored a career-high 23 points against the Wolfpack in the regular season — was held to just two points on 1-5 shooting.

The Wolfpack scored just one more point than it did in mid-February, but its stout defense earned it a 66-55 win over the Tar Heels Saturday afternoon at First Horizon Coliseum, advancing the red-and-white to the ACC Championship for the fourth time in five seasons.

“Our players did a great job of applying the scout,” Moore said. “Big emphasis was transition, trying to slow that down, and then second chance points. And I’m so proud of them. I mean, they carried those two things out unbelievably well and tried to take away players’ strengths.”

It was a true all-around team victory, but one player stood out amongst the rest — graduate guard Madison Hayes. All season, Hayes has played at the four position in Moore’s four-guard offense — an interesting choice given Hayes’ size. However, the veteran has been a key reason for the Wolfpack’s success throughout the season, leading the team in rebounds per game despite standing six feet tall.

Hayes was tasked with guarding UNC’s Alyssa Ustby a day after she recorded a staggering 18 rebounds. Hayes emphatically rose to the occasion, holding Ustby to just eight rebounds and six points while shooting 22% from the field. Meanwhile, Hayes matched her with eight rebounds but also provided 10 points, including two 3-pointers.

“I will be undersized,” Hayes said. “Everybody tries to pick on me, but I take that seriously. I take that personally. And I did what I had to do tonight.”

While Hayes challenged Ustby, NC State’s post players took on the challenge of UNC center Maria Gakdeng. Averaging over 11 points and seven rebounds per game, the senior knew well to take advantage of her experience.

“Part of the gameplan was getting the ball inside, just getting into them and trying to finish over,” Gakdeng said. “They’re a young group, and they’re improving year by year, but getting the ball to me as an experienced post player was important to us.”

Freshman forward Tilda Trygger, freshman center Lorena Awou and sophomore center Mallory Collier all took turns guarding Gakdeng in the post as UNC continued to feed her the ball. All three of NC State’s post players nearly fouled out of the game. The freshmen each committed four fouls, while Collier had three, but the combined effort was good enough to slow down the Tar Heels’ paint attack and allow for the Wolfpack offense to creep ahead.

“We needed them all today because they all had about four fouls on them,” Moore said. “So we got everything we got out of them.”

The Wolfpack will face Duke Sunday in the ACC Championship in an attempt to win its third conference title in the last five years. For senior guard Saniya Rivers, who has experienced losing in the championship game, it would mean everything to bring a trophy back to Raleigh in her final season.

“Tomorrow’s just going to be special,” Rivers said. “I could win with a team that I love so much and appreciate, and I think it’s going to be fun.”

The championship final is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.