Following a loss at Maryland last month, N.C. State associate head coach Stephanie Glance said the Atlantic Coast Conference is a very top-heavy women?s basketball league, with the Terps, No. 1 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina setting the pace.
But there are signs that the league may be redistributing its weight, as a number of schools make a late-season charge. The most recent example of this came Thursday when unranked Georgia Tech stunned then-No. 4 Maryland, 77-7, in Atlanta. Through Sunday, the defending national champion Terps (22-3, 6-3 ACC) were in fourth place in the league, trailing No. 2 North Carolina (24-0, 8-0), No. 1 Duke (23-0, 8-0) and upstart Florida State (17-5, 6-1).
“So much was made of the ?Big Three? earlier in the season because they were so far ahead of not only the rest of the teams in the conference, but the rest of the teams in the country,” said Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger. “There?s a lot of young teams in the ACC ? our team included ? that have just started getting better as they?ve gone through the rigors of the ACC schedule.”
Georgia Tech (14-8, 5-3) and N.C. State (16-7, 5-3) are making their case for the NCAA tournament, each riding three-game win streaks. Both teams can make things even more interesting this week. N.C. State hosted Florida State and Georgia Tech played at Virginia Tech (15-9, 2-2) Monday night in games too late for this edition.
Also, Duke plays at North Carolina Thursday night in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. The game features the only two remaining undefeated teams in the country.
“It?s clear the ACC is one of the strongest conferences in the country, and every day you know you will face an opponent that can beat you,” Maryland junior forward Laura Harper said. “All the teams want to fight and get their name out there, so it?s competitive every day.”
Maryland coach Brenda Frese said she is not surprised by the performance Georgia Tech displayed in its win over the Terps last week. Frese added that there is never an easy night in the ACC, which was the third-ranked conference in the country in the latest RPI ratings.
“To me, the ACC is the best league in the country,” Frese said. “Whether it?s at home or on the road, you know you are going to get a tough game. This is especially true for road games. We were fortunate that last year we had some of our more difficult games at home. This year, we play those teams like Georgia Tech and Florida State on the road.”
ACC NOTES
» N.C. State?s recent three-game winning streak coincided with the return to coach Kay Yow to the bench. The sister of Maryland athletics director Debbie Yow took a leave from her job in November to receive treatment for breast cancer.
» Entering the week, 10 of the 12 ACC teams had a winning record overall, and seven teams owned at least a .500 record in league play.
