When discussing the Atlantic Coast Conference, the talk usually begins with the “Big Three:” No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Duke and No. 10 North Carolina.
Don?t tell that to most of the conference?s other nine teams.
No. 20 Florida State and N.C. State each advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament last year, and Georgia Tech won a school-record 21 games, including one over Maryland, this year?s preseason favorite to win the conference. In addition, Virginia is expected to be an improved squad after going 19-15 and advancing to the WNIT quarterfinals.
“When you have three teams in the Final Four [two years ago], we?re going to garner all of the attention,” Maryland junior guard Marissa Coleman said. “The ACC, from top to bottom, is definitely a great conference. We have to be competitive every game.”
This season, 20 of the 30 starters from the six ACC teams which made the NCAA Tournament return. Among those are Duke guard Abby Waner and North Carolina forward Erlana Lawkins, who joined N.C. State forward Khadijah Whittington and Coleman and forward Crystal Langhorne on the All-ACC preseason team. Langhorne is the preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Waner averaged 14 points a game last season for Duke, which has a new coach in Joanne P. McCallie. The former Michigan State coach took over for Gail Goestenkors, who left for Texas during the offseason. Duke (32-2) struggled in the postseason, losing to N.C. State in the ACC semifinals and to Rutgers in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
Larkins leads North Carolina ? the defending ACC Tournament champions ? which went 34-4 last year and advanced to the Final Four before losing to eventual champion Tennessee, 56-50. Larkins is one of three Tar Heel starters returning, joining guard Rashanda McCants (9.4 ppg) and center LaToya Pringle (9.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.2 bpg).
The Terps are going after their first ACC title since 1989. Maryland went 28-6 overall and 10-4 in ACC play last season, losing to North Carolina in the conference semifinals, 78-72.
“We ended on a bitter note last season and let our seniors down,” Maryland junior guard Kristi Toliver said. “We have to put that behind us, but also can?t totally forget it so we can stay motivated and remember what happens if we don?t stay focused.”
