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GREENSBORO (AP) - Corinne Groves scored 18 points to help Wake Forest beat North Carolina State 59-54 on Thursday in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Brooke Thomas added nine points and seven assists for the ninth-seeded Demon Deacons (19-10), who ended a four-game losing streak and avenged their season sweep at the hands of the Wolfpack. The win was Wake Forest's first ACC tournament victory since beating Virginia Tech in the first round in 2005.

Wake Forest advanced to Friday's quarterfinals to face fourth-ranked Maryland, the tournament's top seed.

Nikitta Gartrell had 16 points to lead the eighth-seeded Wolfpack (13-17), who closed an emotional season in which Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow lost her long fight against cancer. N.C. State lost three of its last four games and heads into an uncertain offseason that includes a national search to replace Yow, the face of the school's women's basketball program for more than three decades before her death Jan. 24.

Groves - a senior averaging 13 points per game - missed the first two matchups due to an illness that kept her out for four games in February. But she turned in a strong performance Thursday, going 8-for-11 from the field along with four rebounds.

She didn't get much scoring help from her teammates, though Secily Ray had 13 rebounds. But considering the Wolfpack's 37-percent shooting, Wake Forest didn't need a big scoring output to win.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack was forced to play without junior guard Sharnise Beal, who had missed two straight games with a knee injury. That forced N.C. State interim coach Stephanie Glance to go most of the way with just six players, which proved to be a big problem as its top players struggled with their shot when the game was close.

By the end, N.C. State - which had played the past two months under emotional duress - looked worn down.

Wake Forest led most of the way, taking a 29-22 lead at the break and answering a spurt from the Wolfpack with a 9-0 run that put the Demon Deacons in control. Leading just 38-37 with 11 1/2 minutes left, Thomas scored in the lane, then Alex Tchangoue drove by Tia Bell for a basket on the next possession.

Then came a 3-pointer from Courteney Morris from right in front of the Demon Deacons' bench, a shot that had coach Mike Petersen pumping his fists in celebration.

Thomas ended the spurt by taking an inbound pass and racing the length of the court for a layup that made it 47-37 with 9:23 to play, a lead that grew to as many as 14 points.

The Wolfpack rallied to within 57-54 on Gartrell's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, but got no closer. Tchangoue made a free throw with 22.1 seconds left to push the margin to four, and Gartrell missed a 3 on the next play to effectively end the game.

Shayla Fields added 15 points for N.C. State, though much of that came with the Wolfpack trailing by double figures in the second half.