A.C.C. Looks to Get Back in Women's Final Four RALEIGH, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference usually produces its share of Top 25 and even Top 10 teams each year, but you have to go back to 2007 to find the last time an A.C.C. team (North Carolina) made it to the Final Four in the N.C.A.A. women's tournament. And the A.C.C. has captured only one national championship in the last 17 years - Maryland in 2006. "I don't think that's a slight at any point in terms of the A.C.C.," Maryland Coach Brenda Frese said Saturday as the Terrapins prepared to play Texas A&M (24-10), the defending national champion and No. 3 seed, in the Raleigh Regional semifinals at PNC Arena. I just think it shows how difficult it is to get there and obviously the talented conferences that are out there. Maryland was one of three A.C.C. teams in the Round of 16, along with Duke and Georgia Tech. But the No. 2 Terrapins are likely the best shot for the conference to get back to the Final Four. Maryland (30-4) won the A.C.C. championship and features the conference player of the year in the sophomore Alyssa Thomas, who averages 17.1 points and 8 rebounds a game. Still, the No. 2 Terrapins are not on the short list of leading contenders this season. Baylor, Notre Dame and Connecticut top that list right now. And that might be in part because Maryland did not have many non-conference games against premier teams this season. The toughest games for the Terrapins were within the A.C.C. "Obviously, we feel like we were tested with Duke and Miami, those two teams have been in the Top 5 as well most of the season," Frese said. We did feel like we had those battles. We were able to give Delaware their first loss, within the season we played Georgetown. We have UConn coming up next year in a series where we're going to be home-and-home, so I think you always have to find that blend with your team. I felt like we were still a very young team with a lot of sophomores and needed to make sure we grew. I like the fact we were able to grow with our schedule and let it get tougher in conference play. That makes Maryland a bit of an unknown outside the conference. Whether that plays to the Terrapins" favor in the tournament remains to be seen. "I would say it's kind of an advantage and disadvantage," Thomas said. We have played tough competition, but it all depends on who's coming out to play their hardest.