
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994                   TAG: 9403160068
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UVA WOMEN'S COACH THINKS ACC IS LOSING RESPECT

Although her team's NCAA Tournament seeding corresponds with its position in the national rankings, Virginia women's basketball coach Debbie Ryan says the first 64-team women's field shows a lack of respect for the ACC.

"In a way I saw it coming and I think it's something our conference has to take a good, hard, close look at," Ryan said. "One of the messages I think it sends is that our strength of schedule needs to change.

"A lot of our schools need to play a tougher schedule out of conference. I think they're expecting some of the stronger schools to carry them. It's just not going to happen that way. We're going to have to do a better job of scheduling and we're going to have to win those games out of conference."

Virginia (25-4) was one of three ACC teams to get NCAA bids, joined by North Carolina (27-2) and Clemson (19-9). That was down from five in 1993, when there were only 48 teams in the field.

The Cavaliers, seeded third in the Mideast, are host to Loyola of Baltimore (18-10) at 7:30 tonight at University Hall. Carolina is seeded third in the East and Clemson is ninth in the Mideast.

"I expected [Clemson] to be higher and I expected us or UNC to be higher," Ryan said. "I wasn't concerned with us as much as I thought Carolina would be a little higher, but I think strength of schedule played into that seriously."

Carolina was fourth in the final Associated Press poll, Virginia was 10th and Clemson was unranked. UNC played only one non-ACC team that made the tournament, 16th-ranked Alabama. UVa's out-of-conference foes included NCAA-bound Connecticut, Virginia Tech, St. Joseph's and Creighton.

Ryan, whose team had first-round byes for nine consecutive years, was especially pleased the new format reduced what has been a two-week layoff.

It has been nine days since the ACC championship game in which Virginia lost 77-60 to North Carolina, a team the Cavaliers had beaten twice in the regular season.

"I've never liked that first-round bye," Ryan said. "I think it's [the change] really to our advantage this year because, when you're coming off a loss, the first thing you want to do is play again. They want to get back out there and prove themselves."

If the Cavaliers win tonight, they will host the winner of tonight's game between sixth-seeded Southwest Missouri State (23-5) and 11th-seeded Northern Illinois (24-5) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

UVa has won 39 consecutive home games - the second longest streak in Division I - and has 23 straight non-conference home wins spanning more than three years.

by CNB