Virginia's Monica Wright was named the ACC's Rookie of the Year.
Wright was the league's preseason pick for Rookie of the Year and won the league's rookie of the week award eight times. She started all 29 games for the Cavaliers, averaging 14.9 points and 6 rebounds a game. She led all ACC freshmen in scoring and led Virginia with 67 steals.
Virginia's Lyndra Littles was a second-team all-ACC selection, the league announced on Monday. Virginia Tech's Kirby Copeland was an honorable mention pick.
Roanoke native Khadijah Whittington was a third-team sel1ection, averaging 10.3 points and 10.4 rebounds a game for N.C. State. Whittington, a junior, became the first Wolfpack player to average a double-double since Trena Trice-Hill did it in 1987.
Littles, a sophomore. average 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds a game for the Cavaliers (16-13).
Copeland, a senior, averaged 15.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds a game for the Hokies (17-13).
First Team (votes)
Lindsey Harding, Duke (163)
Ivory Latta, North Carolina (162)
Crystal Langhorne, Maryland (157)
Alison Bales, Duke (125)
Erlana Larkins, North Carolina (125)
Second Team
Abby Waner, Duke (104)
Camille Little, North Carolina (89)
Lyndra Littles, Virginia (83)
Renee Taylor, Miami (78)
Marissa Coleman, Maryland (73)
Third Team
Alicia Gladden, Florida State (65)
Khadijah Whittington, NC State (65)
Kathrin Ress, Boston College (57)
Stephanie Higgs, Georgia Tech (51)
Kristi Toliver, Maryland (50)
Honorable Mention (15 or more votes)
Kirby Copeland, Virginia Tech (33)
Janie Mitchell, Georgia Tech (21)
Wanisha Smith, Duke (19)
Gillian Goring, NC State (17)
Yolanda Lavender, Wake Forest (17)
REGION TOURNAMENTS
BOYS
NORTHWEST REGION
Tuesday
First round
Albemarle 69, Fauquier 54
George Washington 76, Forest Park 53
Brooke Point 53, Osbourn 48
Freedom 72, Franklin County 56
Thursday
Semifinals
George Washington 61, Albemarle 56
Freedom 62, Brooke Point 45
Saturday
Championship
George Washington 83, Freedom 80
REGION III
Monday
First round
Pulaski County 76, Amherst County 48
Alleghany 65, Liberty 53
Tuesday
Quarterfinals
William Fleming 64, Pulaski County 39
Blacksburg 63, Heritage 48
Hidden Valley 71, William Byrd 60
Brookville 69, Alleghany 47
Friday
At Northside H.S.
Semifinals
William Fleming 53, Blacksburg 46
Hidden Valley 77, Brookville 74.
Saturday
Championship
Hidden Valley 64, William Fleming 49
REGION IV
Tuesday
First round
Bassett 77, Grundy 67
Magna Vista 46, Lee 34
Martinsville 71, Richlands 55
Virginia High 63, Carroll County 51
Thursday
At Graham Middle School
Semifinals
Magna Vista 45, Bassett 34
Martinsville 56, Virginia High 51
Saturday
At Bassett H.S.
Magna Vista 45, Martinsville 42
REGION C
Tuesday
First round
Galax 65, Bath County 52
George Wythe 84, Giles 55
James River 69, Grayson County 53
Chilhowie 64, Radford 63
Thursday
At Pulaski County H.S.
Semifinals
George Wythe 83, Galax 64
James River 65, Chilhowie 49
Friday
At Pulaski County H.S.
Championship
James River 51, George Wythe 50
GIRLS
NORTHWEST REGION
Tuesday
First round
Stonewall Jackson 69, Patrick Henry 38
C.D. Hylton 48, Stafford 44
Forest Park 46, Brooke Point 33
George Washington 54, Osbourn Park 43
Thursday
Semifinals
Stonewall Jackson 52, C.D. Hylton 37
Forest Park 58, George Washington 54, OT
Saturday
Championship
Stonewall Jackson 71, Forest Park 68, OT
REGION III
Monday
First round
Pulaski County 56, Heritage 39
Alleghany 69, Appomattox County 50
Tuesday
Quarterfinals
Brookville 60, Pulaski County 55
Christiansburg 57, William Byrd 43
Northside 57, Staunton River 55
Hidden Valley 78, Alleghany 33
Thursday
At Heritage H.S.
Semifinals
Brookville 52, Christiansburg 43
Hidden Valley 56, Northside 29
Friday
At Heritage H.S.
Championship
Hidden Valley 50, Brookville 41
REGION IV
Monday
First round
Bassett 74, Tazewell 46
Abingdon 58, Graham 43
Magna Vista 51, Carroll County 42
Virginia High 60, Martinsville 40
Wednesday
At Magna Vista H.S.
Semifinals
Abingdon 62, Bassett 59, OT
Virginia High 70, Magna Vista 47
Friday
At John Battle H.S.
Championship
Virginia High 53, Abingdon 51
REGION C
Monday
First round
Narrows 61, James River 23
Radford 33, George Wythe 25
Parry McCluer 56, Fort Chiswell 36
Floyd County 95, Chilhowie 39
Wednesday
At Pulaski County H.S.
Semifinals
Radford 37, Narrows 31
Floyd County 84, Parry McCluer 46
Friday
At Pulaski County H.S.
Championship
Floyd County 65, Radford 31
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
BOYS
VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT CONFERENCE
Division I
Tuesday
First round
Virginia Episcopal 60, Holy Cross 50
Liberty Christian 63, Hargrave 59
Roanoke Catholic 80, Carlisle 49
Thursday
Semifinals
Miller School 64, Virginia Episcopal 44
Roanoke Catholic 63, Liberty Christian 54
Saturday
At Lynchburg College
Championship
Miller School 60, Roanoke Catholic 56
Division II
Tuesday
First round
Eastern Mennonite 73, Roanoke Valley Christian 32
Fishburne 62, North Cross 54
Covenant 47, Timberlake Christian 45
Grace Christian 65, Westover Christian 47
Thursday
Semifinals
Eastern Mennonite 61, Fishburne 55
Grace Christian 62, Covenant 52
Saturday
At Lynchburg College
Championship
Grace Christian 58, Eastern Mennonite 56
VACA SOUTH
Tuesday
First round
Faith Christian-Roanoke 61, Christian Heritage 46
SWVa Home School 69, Faith Christian-Hurt 38
Friday
At Dayspring Christian
Dayspring Christian 62, Faith Christian-Roanoke 49
Gateway Christian 53, SWVA Home School 38
Saturday
At Dayspring Christian
Championship
Dayspring Christian 71, Gateway Christian 39
GIRLS
BLUE RIDGE CONFERENCE
Tuesday
First round
Carlisle 82, Grace Christian 26
Holy Cross 90, Timberlake Christian 40
Miller School 65, Virginia Episcopal 45
Liberty Christian 65, Eastern Mennonite 48
Thursday
Semifinals
Carlisle 59, Liberty Christian 39
Holy Cross 75, Miller School 41
Saturday
At Lynchburg College
Championship
Holy Cross 64, Carlisle 56
VACA SOUTH
Tuesday
First round
Christian Heritage 25, SWVa Home School 24
Faith Christian Hurt 30, Dayspring Christian 29
Friday
At Dayspring Christian
Semifinals
Faith Christian-Roanoke 26, Christian Heritage 15.
New Covenant 55, Faith Christian-Hurt 37.
Saturday
At Dayspring Christian
Championship
Faith Christian-Roanoke 33, New Covenant 25
Virginia and Virginia Tech will each play a rematch against the team they closed out their respective regular seasons with in the opening round of the ACC women's basketball tournament on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.
Virginia (16-13, 5-9 ACC) beat Clemson 86-85 in S.C. today (Sunday) to earn the No. 8 seed. The Cavs will face Clemson (12-17, 4-10) Thursday at 3 p.m. in the 8-9 game. The winner of that game will play No. 1 Duke at 3 p.m. Friday.
Virginia Tech (17-13, 6-8 ACC) finished the regular season in seventh place in the ACC, meaning the Hokies will play No. 10 BC Thursday at 6 p.m. The winner will play top-seeded Duke on Friday at 6 p.m.
Virginia (16-13, 5-9 ACC) beat Clemson 86-85 in S.C. today (Sunday) to earn the No. 8 seed in the ACC tournament. The Cavs will face Clemson (12-17, 4-10) again in the ACC tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. in the 8-9 game, unless Boston College comes back to beat Maryland this afternoon.
Virginia Tech (17-13, 6-8 ACC) finished the regular season in seventh place in the ACC, meaning the Hokies will play the No. 10 seed, likely BC if the Eagles don't come back against the Terps, in the ACC tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Greensboro.
Duke has already secured the top seed, no matter what happens in its rematch with North Carolina today (4 p.m.). Carolina is already No. 2.
Wake Forest has a lock on No. 12 and Miami is securely No. 11.
N.C. State has clinched a first-round bye, but it is not yet sure whether its No. 3 or 4. The rest of the seedings will be settled today, with defending-national champion Maryland facing the possibility of finishing outside the top four (who all receive byes).
Virginia Tech (17-13, 6-8 ACC) finished the regular season in seventh place in the ACC, meaning the Hokies will play the No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Greensboro.
Virginia (15-13, 4-9) is playing Clemson this afternoon at 2 (at Clemson, S.C.) for the eighth seed. Since the 8th and 9th seeds play each other in the tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m., Virginia's game time is set and the opponent will likely be a rematch with Clemson (12-16, 4-9).
But if Virginia beats Clemson and Boston College knocks off Maryland (unlikely) at 3 p.m. this afternoon, then the Hoos would face BC instead.
Duke has already secured the top seed, no matter what happens in its rematch with North Carolina today (4 p.m.). Carolina is already No. 2.
Wake Forest has a lock on No. 12 and Miami is securely No. 11.
N.C. State has clinched a first-round bye, but it is not yet sure whether its No. 3 or 4. The rest of the seedings will be settled today, with defending-national champion Maryland facing the possibility of finishing outside the top four (who all receive byes).
I had my first in-person looks at Tech and UVa this week. Don't ask for a prediction on Thursday's game in Charlottesville.
This ACC season has proven that one performance has little to do with the next. Tech and UVa have combined for eight losses, including two to N.C. State (by Tech), one to Miami (UVa) and one to Florida State (Tech).
Both teams have looked great, looked OK and looked bad. When they met in Blacksburg, Tech looked especially great and UVa looked especially bad. Could it go the other way this time? Certainly. However, expect a close game.
UVa is 15-1 at home this year, and Tech is 7-7 away from home.
Other than the fact it was home, Virginia's 75-69 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday was eerily similar to a 64-63 UVa win at Clemson on Jan. 28.
In that game, the Cavaliers outscored the Tigers 15-0 over the final 3:59. On Saturday, Virginia outscored Georgia Tech 13-0 over the final 3:41.
Four days after winning at Clemson, Virginia outscored Duke 10-2 over the final 3:21, setting up overtime in a game the Cavaliers would win 68-66 in overtime.
"I'll just have to look at it all over again," Dave Leitao said after Saturday's game. "It just happened in a blur."
Leitao improved his record to 17-13 in his two seasons as UVa head coach and has now beaten every team in the league at least once.
Virginia, which is 15-1 in its first season at John Paul Jones Arena, has won more home games than any other team in the history of UVa men's basketball.
A statistic that went unnoticed Saturday was Virginia's free-throw shooting. The Cavaliers went 18-of-19 from the line, going 10-for-10 before a Tunji Soroye miss with 4:20 left
. However, Soroye finished 2-for-3 from the line after going 1-for-7 in UVa's previous two games. The Cavaliers were only 17-for-25 on free throws Wednesday in a 68-60 loss at Miami.
In that game, the Hurricanes outscored UVa 7-0 over the final 25 seconds.
When J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary had 25 points and 24 points Saturday, respectively, it marked the third time this season in which they have gone over the 20-point mark in the same game.
Singletary had 33 points and Reynolds 26 against American, then Reynolds had 29 and Singletary 27 at N.C. State.
Mark Berman back here in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team ran away from Miami, 73-57.
The Hokies (20-8, 10-4) clinched a first-round bye in the ACC tournament.
"That's another day of rest, another day to prepare," said Zabian Dowdell, who had 20 points and eight rebounds. "That's definitely something we look forward to taking advantage of."
Tech also clinched its first 20-win season since 1995-96, the last time it made the NCAA tournament.
"I'm happy for these kids," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "I'm proud of them. ... They've done something that people didn't think they were capable of doing."
The final score Saturday would have been even more lopsided had Tech not missed 11 free throws. The Hokies had five blocks and eight steals, and outrebounded Miami 36-34.
"When we get on the glass, ain't too many teams that can beat us," Jamon Gordon said.
"Everybody on their whole team crashed the boards," Miami's Dwayne Collins said.
The game featured more fun dunks by Deron Washington, and a nifty between-the-legs pass by Dowdell.
Tech shot just 39.4 percent from the field in the first half but 68.8 percent in the second half.
"We ran a different offense [in the second half] .. . to get people moving more instead of just standing around, to get some easy penetration," said Washington, who had 12 points. "The zone they ran, I don't think we [were] well-prepared for that. The offense we [were] running was real slow."
"In the first half, we were settling for jump shots," Dowdell said. "In the second half we did a good job of attacking."
Coleman Collins had 10 of his 15 points in the first half. Greenberg didn't play him for the first eight minutes of the second half, opting for Cheick Diakite after Diakite grabbed six rebounds in the first half.
Greenberg praised Diakite and fellow backups Nigel Munson and Chris Tucker, even though none of them scored.
"A pivotal point in that game was Chris Tucker, Cheick and Nigel at the end of the first half," Greenberg said. "They gave us a determination and a focus to get the thing tied back up at the end of the half. .... Cheick gave us great, great energy. He was active around the basket, he rebounded the ball, he gave us a physical presence.
"Chris Tucker gave us very good minutes and that's something I've got to look at."
A.D. Vassallo had 11 points, starting instead of Lewis Witcher for the third time in the last five games.
Gordon had 13 points despite getting poked in the left eye.
"I thought I was going blind," he said.
Miami shot 30 percent in the second half.
"Hands above the ball is a phrase we use when we're guarding shooters," Greenberg said.
Mark Berman here Saturday in Blacksburg, where the Virginia Tech men's basketball team is tied with Miami 32-32 at halftime.
The Hokies are fortunate to be tied because they have not done a good job of executing their offense.
The Hokies scored the final seven points of the half, though. Zabian Dowdell had only scored four points until the final 63 seconds, when he had a basket and a 3-pointer.
Coleman Collins has played well offensively, scoring 10 points. He picked up his second foul and went to the bench with 2:34 left in the half, less than two minutes after Deron Washington went to the bench with his second foul.
The Hokies have five steals, including three by Dowdell. Miami has nine turnovers
Tech went on an 8-0 run to build a 19-13 lead with 9:21 left, but Miami tied the score at 23.
The Hokies can clinch a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament with a win today.
Miami is shooting 45.8 percent from the field to Tech's 39.4 percent.
The Hokies have three blocks.
Denis Clemente, who is averaging 9.4 points, already has 13 for Miami.
Washington and Jamon Gordon are a combined 2-of-7 from the field. Dowdell is 3-of-7.
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