GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Jasmine Thomas scored 18 points and No. 9 Duke captured its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 2004 by beating North Carolina State 70-60 on Sunday.
Karima Christmas added 13 points for the top-seeded Blue Devils (27-5). They forced 23 turnovers and outrebounded the Wolfpack 46-32 in claiming their sixth ACC title and first since winning five in a row from 2000-04.
The Blue Devils were in the final for the third time in ACC coach of the year Joanne P. McCallie's three seasons, but had been stopped by powerful No. 1 seeds the last two years. This time, they held the No. 1 seed - and took full advantage.
Nikitta Gartrell had 19 points to lead the Wolfpack (20-13). They were denied in their bid to become the first team to win four games in four days here and were out for their third upset of a ranked team in eight days.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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