Parity the word in ACC

Coaches expect wide-open race

With players like North Carolina's Erlana Larkins and Maryland's Crystal Langhorne selected in the 2008 WNBA draft, the landscape of the ACC has changed for the 2008-09 season.

As women's basketball teams open their seasons around the country, the ACC has lost some of its marquee names of the past four years and seemingly opened the door for new players and teams to emerge.

Coaches and players have said it appears as if there is more parity in one of the nation's toughest conferences.

Last month, North Carolina was picked by a panel of media members and school representatives to finish first in the conference.

The Tar Heels, although winners of the past four ACC Tournaments, were selected for the first time since 2004. They, however, were not a unanimous choice, with four other schools receiving votes for the top spot, including Duke.

"I think any of it could go any which way," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "Is it a changing of the guard? I hope so."

The Heels were selected ahead of, in order, Maryland, Duke, Virginia, Florida State and Georgia Tech.

"I think the conference this year has a lot of depth," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.

Frese's team is No. 3 in The Associated Press preseason top 25 poll, followed by No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Duke, No. 15 Virginia and No. 21 Florida State.

The Terps return one of the finest point guards in the nation in senior Kristi Toliver, last season's winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the top point guard in Division I.

Toliver, who needs three assists to break her school's career record, was chosen the ACC's preseason player of the year.

Add senior Marissa Coleman to the backcourt and Maryland has one of the most talented scoring tandems in the conference.

The Terps, however, will have to answer questions about their inside play after losing two of the nation's best in Laura Harper and Langhorne. They will turn to 6-foot-4 freshman center Lynetta Kizer, the conference's preseason rookie of the year.

Virginia, a team that finished third in the conference, is led by junior guard Monica Wright. A dynamic scorer, she leads an experienced team that looks to shuffle the order of things in the conference, even without guard Paulisha Kellum, who will miss the entire season after injuring her knee.

"We really believed that we could win last year," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "This team knows that it can win."

Some might say the same for Florida State and Georgia Tech, teams that have recruited themselves into the top tier of the conference and believe than can compete on the national stage.

Georgia Tech will test that theory today when it faces No. 1 Connecticut.

"We're in a situation now where we just don't want to make the NCAA Tournament," Yellow Jackets coach MaChelle Joseph. "We want to advance and get to the sweet 16 and have a chance to play for championships."

Last season, Maryland and North Carolina were two of the top four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. For the sixth consecutive year, the ACC was represented by at least six teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Overall, the ACC returns 43 starters and 16 of its top 25 scorers, including Wright (17.6).

Boston College, with former UNC standout Sylvia Crawley as its new coach, is the only ACC school to return all five starters.