Upsets reign supreme in ACC women's basketball

The GIST: At this point, a massive upset on the men’s court — even USF’s 20-point comeback against No. 10 Memphis yesterday — barely registers as news. But the ACC women’s action last night? Jaws are still on the floor.

Another loss for No. 4 NC State: When NC State took their season’s first loss on January 7th, a 63–62 nailbiter to a very strong then–No. 13 Virginia Tech team, fans weren’t too worried. But last night was a totally different story: A 73–59 beatdown by unranked Miami has the Wolfpack sweating. It’s not quite time to panic…but if they don’t pull their sh!t together, it will be soon.

No. 14 Virginia Tech also stumbles: The momentum from that January 7th upset is long gone — the Hokies’ 63–46 disaster at Duke last night was their second straight loss. Star center Elizabeth Kitley racked up a double-double, but her one-woman show just couldn’t compete with the Blue Devils’ astounding 27-point third quarter.

Syracuse downs No. 15 Florida State: FSU was the ACC’s troublemaker, but they were the ones in trouble last night when the surging Syracuse Orange erased an 18-point deficit to steal the 79–73 win. ’Cuse fifth-year guard Dyaisha Fair balled TF out, nailing nine three-pointers — a program record — while leading all players with 31 points.

No. 3 Colorado’s big weekend: Looking ahead to the Pac-12 (the other dominant women’s hoops conference), the Buffs’ historic rise faces its toughest test when they host No. 5 UCLA tonight at 8 p.m. ET and No. 6 USC — led by freshman phenom JuJu Watkins — on Sunday at 3 p.m ET. If Colorado emerges unscathed, they’ll be the top team in the Pac-12…and maybe the country, too.