ACC Preview - Georgia Tech

 

Preview: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

WBB Website 

Last Season:  17-16 and 7-11  in league play

The Coaches:  Head Coach Nell Fortner is in her 6^th season.  She has been Head Coach at several schools and USA National teams.

Blanche Alverson is in her 6^th season.  She is the Associate Head Coach.

LaSondra Barrett is in her 3rd season.

Michael Scruggs is in his 2^nd season.

Caleb Currier is in his 3^rd season. 

 

Losses:  Four transfers out,  plus one grad.  None averaged over 2.3 ppg. 

 

Additions: Zoesha Smith, 6-1 Grad Student Forward transfer from Georgia where she averaged 10 ppg and 5 rebounds playing about half the season before a season ending injury.   

Chazadi “Chit Chat” Wright 5-4 Frosh Guard, ranked 4 star .

Dani Carnegie, 5-9 Frosh Guard from NY.  Ranked # 29.

Gabbie Grooms, 5-9 Frosh Guard from Georgia.

Tianna Thompson, 5-10 Soph Wing from GA.  

Schedule:       

Georgia, Oregon, Mississippi State, Rice and Nebraska are the highlights.  

 

The Team:  

Tonie Morgan, 5-9 JR Guard who averaged 15 ppg.

Kayla Blacksher, 6-1 SR Forward who averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds per game. 

Rusne Augustinaite, 6-0 Soph Wing from Lithuania.  She made 71 threes at 35%. And averaged 11 ppg. 

Kara Dunn, 5-11 JR Wing who averaged 15 points and 4 rebounds. 

Ariadna Termis, 6-6 Soph Post from Spain.  Averaged 2 points and 8 minutes per game. 

Ines Noguero, 5-9 Soph Guard from Spain who averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds while starting every game.

D’Asia Thomas Harris, 6-2 Soph Forward who averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds.

 

Prediction:                          

Any team that returns 64 ppg  is going to be tough.  Plus Ga Tech has some good recruits.   Should be much better than last year’s 7-11 in league play.  

 

2025 Recruiting:  

McKayla Taylor, 6-3 Post from Georgia 

 

ACC Preview - Clemson Tigers

 

Preview:   Clemson Tigers

Clemson WBB Website

January 2nd Update:

Clemson is on the rise after an upset 69-58 win over #20 Cal at home.  It was the first ranked win for Clemson under head coach Sean Poppie. It was easily the best win of the year.   Clemson outscored Cal 23-5 on turnovers and held Cal to 20% shooting on three pointers. 

The Tigers are 9-5 overall and 2-1 in conference play.  

Last Season:   12-19 and 5 –13 in league play

The Coaches:  

Shawn Poppie is in his first season as Head Coach coming from Tennessee Chattanooga where he was 48-18 and with 28 wins this past season.

Chris Ayers is the Associate Head Coach.  He is in his first season after 6 years at Ole Miss.

Sydni Means is in her first year coming from Tulsa.

Katelyn Grisillo is in her first year Coming from Tennessee Chattanooga.

 

Losses:  

Makayla Elmore, 4 ppg and 5 rebounds.  Transfer to Pitt.

Ruby Winterhorn, 12 ppg and 5 rebounds.  Transfer to Tennessee.

And more but hard to figure out who.  

 

Additions:      

Loyal McQueen 5-8 Guard Grad student transfer from Alabama where she averaged 10 ppg. 

Jody Griggs 6-2 Soph transfer from Kentucky where she played just a few minutes.

Summah Evans 6-0 Wing a Grad Transfer from Mercer where last season she averaged 13 ppg.

Mia Moore 5-6 JR Guard a transfer from UAB where she averaged 15 ppg.

Tessa Miller 6-2 Sr Forward transfer from Belmont where she averaged 15 ppg and 5 rebounds while shooting 58% from the floor.  

Hannah Kohn 5-9 Soph Guard transfer from Chattanooga where she made 68 threes at 46%.

Anya Poole 6-2 Grad Student Forward transfer from North Carolina where she started all but one game as a Soph and JR.  She played less last season.  Poole was a 5 star recruit out of HS.

Raven Thompson 5-10 Jr Forward transfer from Chattanooga where she averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds. 

Kinsley Barrington, 6-0 Grad Student Forward a transfer from Cal Baptist where she averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds.  Barrington played at Southern Utah first.

 

Schedule:

Florida and South Carolina are the highlights in this rebuilding year.

 

The Team: 

Mackenzie Kramer 5-9 Guard Grad student who averaged 8 ppg. 

Kylie Kellerman 5-6 Soph Guard who played little.

Maddie Cluse 5-10 JR Guard who was averaging 7 ppg in 13 games before a season ending injury.  At Miami the season before she averaged 15 ppg.

Madi Ott, 5-10 Sr Guard who averaged 2 ppg. 

Eno Inyang, 6-2 Sr Post who averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds.

 

Prediction:  

Nine transfers into Clemson so a real rebuilding with their new coaching staff.   

 

2025 Recruiting:  

Hollard Harris, 6-1 Wing ranked # 42.

 

ACC Preview - Florida State Seminoles

Florida State Seminoles Preview

FSU WBB Website

January 6 Update: Stanford will host the 13-2 FSU team on Thursday, January 9th.  FSU has a 24 net ranking and is 3-0 in conference play.   FSU plays an up tempo style and averages 94.9 points per game - they are led by the dynamic  La'Tiya Latson, a 5'8" sophomore guard who averages 27.9 ppg while playing only 28 minutes per game.  Latson is a 3-level scorer who can drive while shooting 45.5% from 3-pt range. 

Here's an ESPN profile on Latson - https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4609797/taniya-latson.  Latson is certainly in the running for national player of the year.

Makala Timpson is the Seminoles' 2nd leading scorer at 17.9 ppg while pulling down 10.7 rebounds per game.  The Cardinal will have its hands full trying to reign in FSU.

Preview:   Last Season:  23-11 and 12-6 in league play

The Coaches:  

Brooke Wyckoff is the Head Coach in her 5^th season.  She is a former Florida State player.

Bill Ferrara is in his 3^rd season and the Associate Head Coach.

Morgan Toles is in her 5th season.  Toles is a former Florida State player.

Desma Thomas Bateast is in her 2^nd season.

Adam Surguine is in his 6^th season.

Abilgil Yuan is in her 2^nd season.

 

Losses: 

Sara Bejedi who averaged 12 ppg.

Alexis Tucker who averaged 5 ppg.

 

Additions:  

Raiane Dias Dos Santos 5-9 Soph Guard a JC transfer who averaged 12 ppg at the JC. 

Morelia Chavez, 6-1 JR Forward transfer from Eastern Arizona JC where she averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Sydney Bowles, 6-1 JR Guard a transfer from Texas A&M.  Bowles averaged 3 ppg last season at Texas A&M after averaged 9 ppg as a frosh.  She was ranked # 37 out of HS.

Malea Williams, 6-4 Forward Grad Student a transfer from Cincinnati where she averaged 8 ppg and 6 rebounds.  Williams made 35 threes at 37%. 

 

Schedule:

Illinois, Florida, Texas Tech, Gonzaga and Tennessee highlight the schedule.

 

The Team: 

Ta’Niya Latson, 5-8 JR Guard who averaged 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.  Latson was All ACC first team. 

Makayla Timpson, 6-2 SR Forward who averaged 14 ppg and 9 rebounds last season.

O’Mariah Gordon, 5-4 SR Guard who averaged 13 ppg and shot 38% from three making 56.

Carla Viegas, 5-9 Soph Guard who averaged 4 ppg.  

Brianna Turnage, 6-1 JR Guard who averaged 2 ppg.

Marianna Valenzuela, 6-2 Redshirt Soph Guard who was injured last season.  As a frosh she averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds.  

Amaya Bonner, 6-0 JR Guard who averaged 4 ppg.  Bonner played at Cal as a Frosh. 

Avery Treadwell, 6-3 Soph Forward who averaged 2 points and 1 rebound.  

 

Prediction:

Three top scorers back, but not sure how the others fit in.  Still few player losses and 23 wins last bodes well for Florida State.

 

2025 Recruiting:  

Pania Davis, 6-6 JC Soph from New Mexico JC.  Davis is from Australia.

Mari Gerton, 5-7 Guard ranked # 93.

  

ACC Preview: Duke Blue Devils

Preview:   Duke Blue Devils

https://goduke.com/sports/womens-basketball

January 18 Update: Duke is 14-4 overall and AP ranked #16, with a #9 Net ranking.  They have a 5-1 conference record.  They are coming off a dominating 72-38 home win over #18 ranked Cal. This is a big, authentic team that will be tough to beat by anyone, especially at home.

They can dominate a team as the Cal game showed, and they can play down to their opponent's level as their close  60-55 road win over Virginia or 56-65 loss to South Florida, again on the road.

For Stanford to compete it will take our best game and a poor shooting game by Duke.  Duke features very balanced scoring with three top scorers, #35 Fournier, #3 Jackson and #24 Richardson averaging between 11.8 and 12.8 ppg. 

Last Season:   22-12 and 11-7 in league play

The Coaches:  

Kara Lawson now in her 5^th season at Duke.  Lawson of course was a famous player College and Pro.

Tia Jackson is the Associate Head Coach and in her 5^th season at Duke.

Kyra Elzy is in her first season after 4 years as the Head Coach at Kentucky.

Karen Lange is in her third season at Duke.

Karen Middleton the former Stanford Assistant is in her 2^nd season at Duke.

Pierre Miller is in his 2^nd season at Duke. 

 

Losses: 

Kennedy Brown the former Oregon State player who averaged 8 ppg and 5 rebounds. 

Camilla Emsbo who averaged 4 ppg. 

 

Additions: 

Riley Nelson 6-2 Soph Wing transfer from Maryland. Nelson missed half the season last year, however was a McD All American ranked # 18 out of HS.

Arianna Roberson, 6-4 Frosh Post from Texas ranked # 17.  Sadly Roberson will miss the season with an injury.

Toby Fournier 6-2 Frosh Forward from Canada ranked # 10.

Jenessa Cotton 6-2 Frosh Forward from SoCal ranked # 80.

 

Schedule:

Maryland, Kansas State and South Carolina highlight the Duke Schedule.

 

The Team:  

Reigan Richardson 5-11 SR Guard who averaged 12 ppg.

Ashlon Jackson 6-0 JR Guard started every game and averaged 9 ppg.

Jadyn Donovan 6-0 Soph Wing who started all except one game and averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Oluchi Okananwa 5-10 Soph Guard averaged 9 points and 6 rebounds and was named the ADD 6^th person of the year.

Taina Mair 5-9 JR Guard who averaged 9 ppg a transfer from Boston College

Delaney Thomas 6-3 Soph Forward averaged 5 ppg and 3 rebounds.

Vanessa de Jesus 5-8 PG Grad Student who missed last season with injuries.  

Jordan Wood 6-4 Soph Post who played in about half the games.

Emma Koabel 5-11 JR Guard who averaged 12 minutes per game.

Louann Battiston, 5-5 Soph Guard who played little last season.

 

Prediction:

Four players back who averaged 9 ppg or better plus de Jesus who was injured last season, - and they have more solid depth.   Duke should improve over last season and be one of the top ACC teams. 

 

2025 Recruiting:  None yet.

  

Preview of ACC Teams: Cal

Pac 12 Preview:  Cal

Cal WBB Website

January 21 Update: Cal continues to exceed expectations this season with a 17-3 record overall and a 5-2 record in conference compared to Stanford's 2-5 conference record.  Over all Cal has played an easier non-conference schedule but they dominated the Cardinal in their earlier match-up 83-63.  The box score from the prior meeting is below.  What stands out is that Cal hit 18 threes while we hit 9, resulting from their extended pressure defense limiting our outside shots.  Cal was quicker and distributed the ball better than we did.

The shift in our recent guard lineup to include our quickest player, Shay Ijiwoye, will hopefully limit Cal's success from 3-point range.  And the possible addition of Kennedy Umeh's play inside may improve our inside game.  Overall a tough matchup, in a potentially crucial game that could start to turn around our performance in the second half of the season.

  

Cal's current AP ranking is #18 and they are #33 in Net ranking versus Stanford's #42 net ranking. 

Last Season:  19-15 overall and 7-11

 

Dec 6th Update:  Cal is 8-1 and has been very impressive this season with some excellent wins while playing a challenging schedule.  Latest win was an upset over  #19 Alabama 69-65 at home.  

Their last 6 game results include road wins over Gonzaga and Arizona, and a home win over Auburn, with their only loss coming in the Acrisure Classic to Michigan State 72-78.

Their five starters are getting heavy minutes and all average in double figures.

The Coaches:

 Charmin Smith with 2 degrees from Stanford returns for her 17th season at Cal and is now the Head Coach for her 6th year.  

Heidi Heintz is in her 3rd year.  Heintz was an assistant at St Mary’s the previous three years.  She is the Associate Head Coach.

Eliza Pierre is in her 4th year after 4 years at UCSB.

Tarvon Bryant is in his 2nd year.

Jenny Huth is in her first year at Cal.  Huth has coached at Oregon State, UCLA, Florida State, Kentucky and was once the Head Coach at Northern Colorado.

Kai Felton is back for her 12th year at Cal.  Kai has been an Assistant at Oregon, 2 years, and at USC, 5 years.  Kai is no longer an official coach but she is a Special Assistant. 

 

Losses (6 players):  McIntosh was honorable mention All-Pac-12

Leilani McIntosh averaged 10 ppg and almost 5 assists per game and turned pro.

Kemery Martin averaged almost 7 ppg.  Transferred

Ila Lane averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds. 

McKayla Williams averaged 6 ppg and 5 rebounds. 

Mia Mastrov who averaged 3 ppg.

Alma Elsnitz played just 11 games.

 

Additions: 5 freshmen and 3 transfers

Natalia Ackerman, 6-1 Grad Student Forward a transfer from Cal Poly.  Ackerman averaged 12 points, 9 rebounds and was first team all Big West.

Gabrielle Abigor, 6-3 Frosh Post from Northern California High School (NorCal).

Kamryn Mafua, 6-2 Frosh Forward from NorCal, ranked # 56.

Sofia Bowes, 5-10 Frosh Guard from Norcal

Lola Donez, 5-11 Frosh Guard from Hawaii where she was the state player of the year.  

Zahra King, 5-10 Frosh Guard from Brooklyn.  King was ranked # 76.

Gisella Maul, Soph Guard transfer from Texas where she had highs of 9 points and 6 assists.  Maul was ranked # 38 out of HS.

Jayda Noble, 5-11 Guard and is a Grad student.  Noble is a transfer from Washington where she averaged 3 points and 4 rebounds. 

Kayla Williams, 5-7 Guard and a Grad student a transfer from USC.  Last season Williams at USC averaged 5 ppg.  The season before while a student at UC Irvine she averaged 15 ppg. 

 

The Schedule:

Gonzaga, Auburn, Alabama, Michigan State and either Arizona or Vanderbilt are the highlights. 

                                        

Returning Team (6 players):  Lulu Laditan-Twidale 5-10 Soph Guard from Australia who averaged 6 ppg.

Anastasia Drosouni, 5-11 Soph Guard From Greece who was out all last season.       

Ioanna Krilimi, 5-10 Guard Grad student who transferred from U of San Francisco.  Last season Ioanna averaged 13 points and made 61 threes at 38%.

Marta Suarez , 6-3 Redshirt Sr Forward from Spain and a transfer from Tennessee.  Last season Marta averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds.  She also made 42 threes at 29%.

Claudia Langarita, 6-4 Sr Post averaged 2 points and 1 rebound.   

Michelle Onyiah, 6-3 Grad Student Post averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds.  

 

Predictions:  The incoming Frosh class was ranked 23 overall.  Cal returns 40 ppg so the frosh and transfers will be needed for depth.   Cal does return three starters.  

 

2025 Recruiting:  

Grace McCallop, 5-9 PG from KS.