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GREENSBORO — Clemson became the first No. 12 seed to win an ACC women's basketball tournament game when the Tigers upset Georgia Tech 81-69 on Thursday in the opening game at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Clemson (14-16) goes on to face fourth-seeded North Carolina in today's first quarterfinal (11 a.m., Fox Sports Carolinas).

Shaniqua Pauldo, making her first collegiate start, had 23 points to lead five Tigers scorers in double figures. The 6-foot-3 freshman center went 11-for-17 from the floor, mostly on layups and put-backs.

Pauldo learned she was starting from coach Cristy McKinney in the locker room.

"I was excited," Pauldo said. "I knew she believed in me, so I just wanted to show that she just wasn't starting me for no reason."

Pauldo ended Tech's 8-0 run to start the game with a short jumper and also scored the next basket for the Tigers. Pauldo had 14 points in the first half and kept Clemson from falling too far behind.

"She's been getting better in practice," McKinney said of her decision to start Pauldo. "And that's where you get better when you're not starting and getting a lot of minutes. She's been scoring and being more aggressive in practice.

"(She's) definitely doing a lot of good things on the offensive end, and we've been talking to her about doing it on the defensive end, too. I thought she did a great job rebounding and she gave us the offense we've been seeing in practice."

Fifth-seeded Tech (21-9), which beat Clemson twice during the regular season, held a 17-6 lead following a 9-0 run capped by a Jacqua Williams layup with 13:11 remaining in the first half.

But it was all Tigers the rest of the way.

Pauldo scored six points during a 12-4 Clemson run, and her layup capped a 13-2 surge with 4:30 remaining in the half to give the Tigers a 31-28 lead.

The score was 37-37 at halftime, but the Tigers dominated play in the second half. They had no problems handling the Jackets' pressure defense, thanks to the strong play of guard Tasha Taylor, who finished with 12 points and a game-high nine assists.

Just as important, Clemson seemed a step quicker than Tech in the closing 20 minutes, when the Tigers' triangle-and-two defense bottled up the Jackets' attack.

"I'd just like to give Clemson all of the credit," Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. "After we came up with a huge win up at their place a couple of weeks ago, I thought they came out and their kids really responded and played hard.

"Obviously out there today they got all the hustle points and all of the loose balls. Fifty rebounds, we haven't given up 50 rebounds all year long."

Clemson will try to maintain momentum today against North Carolina.

"I just want my team to play with confidence again," McKinney said. "I think when they play with confidence, they can do a lot of good things. Hopefully, this game gave them a lot of confidence."

CLEMSON (14-16) — Hardy 4-15 2-2 10, Parker 5-10 0-0 10, Pauldo 11-17 1-1 23, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Taylor 3-7 5-6 12, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Wright 2-6 1-1 5, Thomas 2-7 6-6 10, Tate 2-4 3-3 7, Hood 0-1 0-0 0, Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Welker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-70 18-19 81.

GEORGIA TECH (21-9) — Hemingway 3-14 6-10 13, Goodlett 2-5 0-0 4, Walthour 0-2 2-2 2, Montgomery 5-14 4-4 17, Foster 3-5 2-5 8, Williams 5-18 5-6 15, Bennett 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-2 0-0 0, Ardossi 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 22-67 21-29 69.

Halftime—37-37. 3-point goals-Clemson 1-11 (Taylor 1-2, Hardy 0-4, Thomas 0-2, Pauldo 0-1, Smith 0-1, Wright 0-1), Georgia Tech 4-15 (Montgomery 3-6, Hemingway 1-2, Williams 0-7). Rebounds—Clemson 50 (Hardy 8), Georgia Tech 38 (Hemingway 9). Assists—Clemson 16 (Taylor 9), Georgia Tech 9 (Williams 4). Total fouls—Clemson 19, Georgia Tech 20. A—9,993.