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GREENSBORO -- Duke made sure Virginia didn't crash the party at the ACC women's tournament Friday night.

The Blue Devils dispatched Virginia 76-53 to become the last of the top four seeds to make today's semifinals. Third-seeded Duke (25-4) will play second-seeded Florida State in the second semifinal, following the 1 p.m. opener matching No. 1 Maryland against No. 4 North Carolina.

Florida State handed the Blue Devils one of their losses this season, 82-75 in overtime, on Jan. 29.

"It feels like a long time ago," said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie. "We didn't execute defensively, we let people score all over the place. That's still painful."

There was little painful about Friday's performance. As the last team in the tournament to play, Duke unleashed its pent-up energy from the opening tip. Chante Black tapped the ball to Carrem Gay, who drove for an easy layup five seconds into the game.

"It was a long day," Black said. "All our emotion went into the tip-off. We were ready to play."

Black scored all 12 of her points in the first half. Abby Waner led the way for Duke with 16 points and Joy Cheek added 12 off the bench.

It was a gratifying game for Waner, shooting just 31.9 percent for the season and 27.7 percent from 3-point range. But she knocked in six of nine and added two steals and a block. She found her old form on 3s, hitting a fadeaway from a corner and another from about 25 feet.

"It's always nice when shots fall," Waner said. "It's important to have a good shooting night as a team for momentum. You need that extra edge the next day."

Usually not a good-shooting team -- 39.8 percent in ACC play -- Duke hit 56 percent. On the defensive end, it held Virginia to 36.4 percent.

The Blue Devils smothered Virginia's top scorers, Lyndra Littles and Monica Wright, who were averaging nearly 42 points between them. But they totaled only 21, combining to hit just seven of 29 shots.

Duke built such a big cushion early in the game that McCallie was able to go frequently to her bench. Waner played 28 minutes and no other starter more than 23.

Virginia withered under the Devils' pressure defense early, missing 13 of its first 14 shots and turning the ball over six times in the first eight minutes. All told, Duke converted 14 Cavaliers turnovers into 20 points en route to a 42-25 halftime lead.

UVa coach Debbie Ryan tried to stem the tide in the first half. She called three 30-second timeouts, to no avail. Duke built a 17-2 lead 61/2 minutes into the game and stretched it to 40-15 at one point.

"We had an excellent start," McCallie said. "I was very pleased with the energy and the way the team played off each other. That's a difficult thing to maintain, but we kept up our intensity throughout."

Any thoughts of a UVa comeback were squelched in the second half. When Waner hit her third 3-pointer, the lead was 53-30.

VIRGINIA (23-9) -- Littles 3-14 2-4 8, Hartig 0-1 2-2 2, Mohammed 6-9 2-3 14, Millner 0-2 0-0 0, Wright 4-15 5-5 13, W.Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Moorer 2-7 2-2 6, London 3-4 0-0 6, Hartig 1-1 0-0 2, B.Edwards 1-1 0-0 2, Shine 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 13-16 53.

DUKE (25-4) -- Mitchell 3-3 2-2 9, Gay 2-6 0-0 4, Black 5-8 2-2 12, Waner 6-9 0-0 16, J.Thomas 1-7 0-0 3, Hopkins 0-0 2-2 2, Selby 0-0 0-0 0, Christmas 2-2 0-0 5, Cheek 4-8 3-4 12, Scheer 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 3-4 0-0 6, K.Thomas 2-2 3-3 7. Totals 28-50 12-13 76.

Halftime--Duke, 42-25. Three-point goals--Virginia 0-6 (Littles 0-1, Wright 0-2, Moorer 0-3), Duke 8-13 (Waner 4-6, Cheek 1-1, Mitchell 1-1, Christmas 1-1, J.Thomas 1-3, Scheer 0-1). Rebounds--Virginia 30 (Littles 10), Duke 28 (Black, Jackson, Mitchell 6). Assists--Virginia 6 (Littles, Moorer, Wright 2), Duke 14 (J.Thomas 6). Total fouls--Virginia 15, Duke 16. A--9,779.