March 6, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maryland and Florida State shared the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball regular-season co-championship, and their success is reflected in two honors announced today by the conference office.

Maryland’s Kristi Toliver has been named the ACC Women’s Player of the Year, while Florida State’s Sue Semrau claimed Coach of the Year honors. The selections were made by a 45-member Blue Ribbon Panel.

Tolliver, a 5-foot-7 senior guard from Harrisonburg, Va., ranks second among ACC scorers with 18.1 points per game and leads all conference players in assists per game at 5.1 Tolliver also ranks second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage and consistently stood out among the ACC’s top five free-throw shooters as Maryland (25-4, 12-2) completed a stellar run through the conference.

Tolliver’s 1,939 career points rank third on Maryland’s all-time scoring list. The Naismith Award candidate’s 75 three-point field goals this season rank just three behind the school record she set last year, and she ranks among the ACC’s top-five leaders in both career three-point field goals and assists.

In her 12th season, Semrau guided Florida State (24-6, 12-2) to a share of the first ACC regular-season title in school history. The Seminoles posted a 10-0 mark in road games.

The last five years have been the best run in FSU school history, as the Seminoles have amassed 111 victories. In addition, FSU has won 48 ACC games during that stretch, which is also the most in a five-year span. This year’s ACC regular-season championship came in a year in which the Seminoles were picked to finish fifth in the conference and did not receive a single first-place vote.

The 32nd annual ACC Women’s Tournament Quarterfinal action is currently under way at the Greensboro Coliseum. The four-day event concludes Sunday, March 8, with the championship game at 1 p.m.