2022-23 ACC Preview Part 3
Last season's ACC POY picks up this season's preseason one, along with an All-American nod...
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Last season: 11-19 overall, 2-16 in ACC
This season: Picked to finish 15th
“I think we really pride ourselves in how hard we work, and every day that our kids are going to give the best effort they can possibly give. And that's what you know, I think Pittsburgh itself is built on is that we're the Steel City… they really are a blue-collar worker’s mentality and that's what I want our kids to be about. We've done a great job the last couple of years of rebounding the basketball and have been able to lead the conference and be high in the nation… I think the thing that fans are going to see the most is our increased skill level, is that I really think we brought some kids in who can shoot the basketball and that are winners. And so I think that's what fans will see is just how hard we play. How fast that we move and just how competitive this group is.” - Head Coach Lance White (fifth season)
White was not kidding when he said his Panthers have been high in the national rankings in rebounding. They ranked ninth nationally last season in total rebounds per game and have been in the top 70 each of the past three seasons. What is also impressive is the improvement in that ranking. In White’s first season, 2018-19, they were 245th. Their 15.6 offensive rebounds per game last season ranked 12th nationally, and they had two players in the top 10% in offensive and total rebounds per game. One of the two, Rita Ikbogwe, has since transferred to Ole Miss, but Liatu King returns. The Panthers also return Amber Brown, the team’s third-best rebounder last season, who landed in the top third nationally in all three rebounds per game categories.
On the flip side, when it comes to shooting, there isn’t anywhere to go but up. The same goes for assists. Pitt ranked in the bottom third of nearly every shooting and assist-related category. White seems to have a lot of confidence in the players the Panthers have brought in, but there isn’t a ton already on paper at the collegiate level for Pitt’s five newcomers Three are freshmen (including ESPNHoopGurlz top-100 recruit Aislin Malcolm). Channise Lewis, who transferred in from Maryland, has only played nine games since the 2018-19 season due to injury. Gabby Hutcherson, who transferred from Ohio State, appeared in 18 games but did not qualify for our rankings in any category due to lack of attempts.
Non-conference game to watch: Pitt will take on two 2022 NCAA Tournament participants, DePaul and Maryland, both in the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off over Thanksgiving weekend. We’re going to go with the matchup against the Blue Demons, because while all three squads excelled at rebounding last season, most of the Terrapins’ production on the glass has moved on, while DePaul returns a majority of theirs.
Last season: 11-18 overall, 4-14 in ACC
This season: Picked to finish 10th
“I know that we're gonna be tough as nails, we're gonna fight to the finish line. We will meet you at the bus and we will defend. That's who we are. That's what I've always been. I just want our players to play free. I want them to run with the ball in their hand. I want them to understand we hold people to 59 points. When we hold them to 59 points, we win a lot of games… Offensively, I’ve got some great offensive coaches, I’m gonna let them lead me in that category, but defense, it's going to be the mecca of our women's basketball program.” - Head Coach Felicia Legette-Jack (first season)
The good news for Legette-Jack is last season, Syracuse was already in the top 25 in a pair of defensive categories, steals per game and its partner, opponent turnovers per game. The Orange return their leader in steals, redshirt junior Teisha Hyman, whose 2.5 per game ranked 34th nationally. Legette-Jack also added a pair of transfers from her previous team, Buffalo, Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley. They each stole the ball an average of 2.1 times per game, good for the top 10% nationally. As for the other category of stats often looked at to determine a team’s defensive prowess, rebounding, the Bulls ranked in the top third in every rebounding category but one last season, while the Orange fell to the bottom third in all but one. Syracuse should get an immediate bump in that category from Alabama A&M transfer Dariauna Lewis, who ranked in the top 20 nationally in defensive and total rebounds per game to go along with a top-35 ranking in blocks per game.
While Legette-Jack says she’s going to let her assistant coaches lead her on the offensive end, there are already some good things to build on. Last season in Buffalo, the Bulls ran the 33rd-fastest offense, pace-wise (ICYMI in parts 1 or 2, AKA estimated possessions per 40 minutes). Syracuse came in at No. 15. So, assuming the Orange coaches are looking to keep their offense fast, they’re in good shape. When it comes to actually scoring the ball, Syracuse was… fine. They landed in the middle of the pack in most of the shooting percentage categories, with a positive outlier of being the fifth-best free-throw shooting team in the nation. The Orange are bringing in four players who scored in double figures last season in Fair, Woolley, Wichita State transfer Asia Strong, and Lewis, the latter being a 50% field-goal shooter last season.
Non-conference game to watch: Syracuse is taking on one 2022 NCAA Tournament team in UAlbany but has a pair of matchups against Big Ten squads in Purdue and Penn State. I’m gonna take one chance to hedge and offer up both games, because what sticks out to me in both contests is the fact that Syracuse and both opponents feature a non-power conference guard, or in Syracuse’s case, guards that were very successful at their previous schools. They undoubtedly played some good competition while there, but the overall level of opponents will increase a notch this season in the Big Ten and ACC. We’ve already discussed the additions of Fair and Woolley for the Orange. Purdue is bringing in Caitlyn Harper from Cal Baptist, the 2021-22 WAC Player of the Year. Penn State brings in 2021-22 AAC Most Improved Player and First Team member Taniyah Thompson from East Carolina.
Last season: 5-22 overall, 2-16 in ACC
This season: Picked to finish 11th
“Yeah, I mean, well one, they're going to notice us competing. That’s for one, they're going to notice how hard we go, they’re going to notice our energy, our passion, [and] our joy… Now from a tactical standpoint, we're gonna play up-tempo. I've said that a lot. We play really fast and we're gonna utilize our versatility and the way that we position ourselves against the defense. Defensively, physical, tough, hard-nosed, have each other's backs and rebound you know, those are things that we've been working on, so I think those things from a tactical standpoint will stand out, but I think what people are gonna notice is the intangible things.” Head Coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton (first season)
As you may have noticed, I heard a lot about pace and playing fast from various coaches. What is interesting in this case is Mox’s team last year at Missouri State and Virginia’s squad last year were in the bottom half nationally, pace-wise, with the Lady Bears coming in 225th and the Cavaliers 189th (out of 356 teams). Besides being in the bottom half, pace-wise, when you look at Virginia’s HHS page, there’s a lot of red, indicating bottom third nationally, and bolded red, indicating bottom 10%. Obviously, that’s why a coaching change was made, and in addition, eight of the 2021-22 Cavaliers are gone.
Offensively, all field goal percentages, both two-and-three-point, are red, so bolstering those numbers will obviously be key to improving on last season’s 5-22 record. At least some experienced help has already arrived in the form of Notre Dame transfer Sam Brunelle, whose 56.9% two-point percentage put her in the top 10% nationally last year.
Defensively, there are already a few positives to build on in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers were just a few spots out of the top 10% in block rate and solidly in the top third in blocks per game. Four of their five individual players who were top-third or better in that category return for this season. In addition, Virginia’s 17.0 opponent turnovers per game and 20.8% opponent turnover rate both ranked in the top third.
Non-conference game to watch: The Cavaliers face off against only one 2022 NCAA Tournament team, American. That said, the game we’ll have our eye on is the November 30 road match-up with Penn State. The Lady Lions return both of their leading scorers, including their all-everything point guard Makenna Marisa, who was recently named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. Marisa was one of just 10 players to average at least 22 points per game last season.
Last season: 23-10 overall, 13-5 in ACC; NCAA First Round
This season: Picked to finish 2nd, received 17/60 1st place votes
“We play the game the right way. And it's free-flowing, freedom of movement. We get up and down the floor. The execution is way above average. And with the intensity and passion that they play with. I know you said one thing. I can't just give you one thing… We shoot the three. We do everything that a men's team does except for dunk. And last time I checked, a dunk counts two points just like a layup does…” - Head Coach Kenny Brooks (seventh season)
Last season, Virginia Tech was one of the best-shooting teams in the country. In fact, they were one of just four teams to shoot better than 44% overall, 36% from three, and 50% from two. Add in shooting 75% or better from the free-throw line, and it’s just the Hokies and conference foe NC State. If you take out the free-throw number, but add in turning the ball over 13 or fewer times a game and dishing out 14 or more assists, it’s three squads: the Hokies, Wolfpack, and the Creighton Bluejays. I’d say that’s a pretty darn good illustration of “way above average” execution.
This season, Virginia Tech returns most of their impressively-executing roster, including Georgia Amoore, the team’s leading three-point shooter, who was also responsible for 4.4 assists per game, and last season’s ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who was also named this season’s preseason POY and a preseason AP All-American. Kitley led the team in points, rebounds, and blocks per game. All of her numbers in those categories were in the top 10% nationally. To their impressive returner list, the Hokies add Maryland’s leading scorer and distributor from last season, Ashley Owusu, who won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award in 2021 as the nation’s best shooting guard. Virginia Tech also adds Boston College’s second-leading scorer in Taylor Soule, who should also bolster the Hokies’ two weakest statistical categories, steals (their 4.4 steals per game were dead last nationally) and offensive rebounding. Soule notched 1.5 steals per game (top-third) and 2.8 offensive rebounds per game (top-10%). The Hokies also add ESPNHoopGurlz top-50 recruit Carleigh Wenzel.
Non-conference game to watch: Virginia Tech will take on five 2022 NCAA Tournament squads: Kentucky, Longwood, Mount St. Mary’s, Nebraska, and Tennessee. We were tempted to pick the matchups with the Wildcats or the Huskers, but we’re going to give the edge to the one with the Lady Vols. Not only is that the only true road game of the three (the Kentucky game will be in the Bahamas), it will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Similar to Virginia Tech, Tennessee is returning a lot of its talent from last season and brings in some impressive new firepower. Four starters return, including Tennessee’s all-everything player, senior guard Jordan Horston, who led the team (and was top 10% in the country) in points, rebounds and assists per game. Coming to Knoxville via the transfer portal are three players who all averaged double figures in scoring last season: Jasmine Franklin from Missouri State, Jasmine Powell from Minnesota, and Rickea Jackson from Mississippi State.
Last season: 16-17 overall, 4-14 in ACC; 2nd Round WNIT
This season: Picked to finish 14th
“I think when you watch us what you'll notice is we're going to hopefully be really good on the defensive end, taking things away, trying to make the opponent take difficult shots. I think offensively you're going to see the ball move a lot. You're going to see different people contributing… So you're gonna see that, hopefully less turnovers and more assists. Pay attention to that. That's something we've talked a lot about in practice.” - Head Coach Megan Gebbia (first season)
Wake Forest is going to be an interesting team this year, because there’s a new head coach in Winston-Salem. However, the Demon Deacons lost only one player who saw minutes last year (Christina Morra) and have just one newcomer, freshman Kate Deeble. At the same time, as one would expect for a team that replaced its head coach, Wake Forest has a lot to work on.
Wake Forest really needs to work on the offensive side of the ball, and it starts with the stat Gebbia mentioned, assists. It's easy to see why they have been a focus so far in Demon Deacons’ practices. Last season, they ranked 13th-worst nationally in assisted shot rate and were in the bottom 70 (294/356) in assists per game. More than half (6/11) of Wake Forest’s qualified players ranked in the bottom third for assists per game. As for taking actual shots and scoring, the Demon Deacons were solidly middle of the pack in nearly every category, with the high point being a low-top-third ranking in 3-point percentage. Wake Forest returns both of its top 3-point-shooting players, Jewel Spear and Olivia Summiel. Spear was also the only Deac who averaged double-figure points per game last season. While Gebbia notes that “the ball needs to be shared a little bit more” from Spear and the whole squad, at least until we see an improvement in that assist number, Spear will probably be the player opposing defenses key in on.
Speaking of defense, things were better on that end for Wake Forest last season, but there’s still work to do. Last season, Gebbia’s team at American was third nationally in opponent 3-point percentage. Talk about a perfect illustration of “making the opponent take difficult shots.” Wake Forest was, while not top-5, decent in that category last season as well, coming in 75th (out of 356 teams). In the other stat section most people look at for defensive metrics, rebounding, the Deacs were in the top third in all six subcategories (offensive/defensive/total rebounds per game and offensive/defensive/total rebounding rate).
Non-conference game to watch: Wake Forest will face off against three participants from the 2022 NCAA Tournament in its non-conference schedule in Charlotte, Longwood, and Mercer. That said, I’m going to give the nod to Alabama, with a runner-up going to the other team the Demon Deacons will face in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship (say that five times fast), Missouri. Both the Tigers and the Crimson Tide made the WNIT last season, with Alabama advancing to the quarterfinals, and it would probably be a tie for the non-conference game to watch if the Tigers hadn’t lost four players, including leading scorer and rebounder and Second Team All-SEC player Ajiha Blackwell. On the flip side, Alabama returns most of its roster, including All-SEC second-teamer Brittany Davis, and all three leading scorers from last season. In addition, the Crimson Tide add the 2022 Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year and Tennessee Miss Basketball in Karly Weathers as well as four transfers, three of whom played significant minutes at their previous schools.
*All HHS stats and rankings exclude games against non-Division I opponents.*
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Hokies looked so quick down the court tonight vs MSM. I’m very excited for this squad!