Maryland women likely favorites

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It’s a new basketball season, but in the ACC, the contenders in women’s game remain the same.

Although the result of yesterday’s balloting by conference media was not released until this morning, reporters agree that Maryland, North Carolina and Duke are expected to jockey for the ACC title this season.

The Terrapins start the season as the favorite to finish on top of the conference. Each of the three preseason national polls released have the Terps in the top five, the highest ranking among ACC teams.

The Terps lost a proven leader in guard Shay Doron, but the four other starters from the 2006 NCAA championship team return. This year’s roster includes Maryland’s top three scorers and top four rebounders from last year’s team, led by two-time All-American and national player of the year candidate Crystal Langhorne, whose summer break included a trip to Moscow and a gold medal on the U.S. women’s under-21 world championships team. That, combined with a recruiting class ranked No. 2 in the nation, gives the Terps the early nod.

The Terps again are loaded with talent, and coach Brenda Frese said the team learned from last year’s second-round loss in the NCAA tournament and is determined to leave it in the past.

“We’re extremely excited [about this season],” Frese said. “Our motto this year is that if we work twice as hard, we’ll have twice as much fun.”

Duke and North Carolina rank between ninth and 11th in the preseason national polls.

The Tar Heels are accustomed to success, winning the ACC tournament championship three consecutive years and reaching the Final Four the past two seasons. Despite the graduation of the program’s all-time leading scorer, Ivory Latta, the Tar Heels’ roster has no dearth of talent.

First team All-ACC performer Erlana Larkins is back as a formidable presence down low. Rashanda McCants, younger sister of former Tar Heels sharpshooter Rashad McCants, should play a prominent role after closing out last season on a strong note.

But according to coach Sylvia Hatchell, the Tar Heels’ talented freshman class ultimately will give the team its final push.

“Come tournament time, we’re gonna be a lot better than we are at the beginning [of the season],” Hatchell said. “We will get better because those freshman are going to be adjusted to our system.”

Duke also lost key players to graduation, including guard Lindsey Harding, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. But the Blue Devils return three starters from last year’s squad that went 29-0 in the regular season, led by long-range threat Abby Waner.

The big change for the Blue Devils this season is on the sidelines. Longtime coach Gail Goestenkors left for Texas after 15 years at Duke, and former Michigan State coach Joanne McCallie succeeded her. The Blue Devils, who hope to put together another deep NCAA tournament run, expect the transition to go smoothly.

“Having a new coach and having no preconceived notions is a good thing with our team because we’ve had to work hard to earn our spots,” senior guard Wanisha Smith said. “Working hard is good because it prepares us better for our games.”

The ACC should not be top heavy. The rest of the conference features talented teams as well, and the ACC could have at least six teams playing in March. The coaches and players consider the conference the best in the nation, and ACC commissioner John Swofford said the perception of the conference from his peers is the same.

“I don’t know that it could be much better from a competitive standpoint and a commitment standpoint,” Swofford said. “Having three teams in the Final Four all at once a couple years ago as well as the consistency of some of our programs has been noticed. I think it’s taken us to another level, perception-wise.”

Those three teams in the Final Four two seasons ago — Duke, North Carolina and Maryland — all have the talent to return this year. And although the Terps suffered that second-round loss in the NCAA tournament last season, Langhorne said the proven talent and fresh faces vault them back into national title contention.

“I’m very confident,” Langhorne said. “After last year, which was very disappointing, we learned a lot about having a lot of talent but not using it to the best of our ability. I think this year we realize what we need to do to win.”