Lynetta Kizer points the way for young Terps

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland was trailing by 22 points to nationally-ranked Florida State when Lynetta Kizer stepped to the foul line midway the second half Sunday.

After she missed her first free throw, the Seminoles subbed in four new players. Instead of worrying about her next free throw, Kizer, a sophomore from Potomac High School, made sure her teammates knew who to guard with a new group of Florida State players on the floor. She did make the second shot and the Terps picked up their defensive assignments.

Kizer, the reigning rookie of the year in the ACC, has been forced to take on a leadership role this season for a young Maryland team. And even though Maryland lost 94-61 to Florida State, Kizer will have the same approach when the Terps play North Carolina today at 3 p.m. in the first day of the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Maryland, with nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster, is 18-11 overall and 5-9 in the ACC and appears on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.

"Now that we have played everybody in the league, we know how to play other teams," said Kizer, who was selected to the all-ACC third team this season. "We are going to keep fighting. We are still hungry. Going into the tournament, anything can happen. That is what we are doing -- keep fighting."

Kizer scored 11 of her team's first 15 points Sunday as the Terps took a 15-10 lead against FSU, ranked No. 9 in the nation a the time. But the Seminoles had too many weapons and took a 47-32 lead at halftime. The Seminoles were never threatened in the second half as they made 12 of 16 shots from 3-point range.

"We just came out being aggressive," Kizer said. "Florida State did a good job of adjusting. We were getting a lot of open looks. We stopped penetrating. I guess we slowed that down a little bit and it hurt us. Some of their players were hitting more [shots] than the people we didn't want to shoot. It was a losing situation pretty much."

A 6-foot-4 center, Kizer had 11 of her 17 points in the first half and finished with two rebounds, one assist and one block in 22 minutes. She picked up her second foul in the first half and played just eight minutes prior to intermission.

"She is tough to handle. She is a great player," said Sue Semrau, Florida State's head coach. "We knew she liked to go to her left."

The Seminoles made 32 of 54 shots from the field, a clip of 59.3 percent. Kizer entered Sunday's game with a scoring average of 12.6 points per game and had grabbed 7.6 rebounds per contest. She averaged 11.1 points and 7.3 boards per game as a freshman. Sunday was her third start in a row after she came off the bench in four straight games starting Feb. 5 against Georgia Tech and ended when she did not start Feb. 14 against Clemson.

She did not start against Georgia Tech due to a violation of team rules, according to a team spokesperson. Freshman Tianna Hawkins started Feb. 8 against Virginia and Feb. 11 against Wake Forest; Kizer returned to the starting lineup Feb. 21 at Duke.

Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said the Sunday loss was "one of our worst games up until this point of the season. You tip your hat to Florida State. They are a very talented team. They have so many weapons. They just sent waves of players at us."

Does Florida State head coach Semrau feel Maryland is worthy of a bid to the NCAA tourney?

"Absolutely. Going to the ACC tournament they will be tough to beat," she said.

But Kizer and the Terps would like to add some credentials to their resume.

"Now it is a new season for us going down to the ACC tournament. You have to come in fighting for your life," Frese said. "We are playing against teams that are full of veterans. You can not rush the process. We are going to have to prove ourselves at the tournament. That is fairly evident. We control our own destiny."