Ataira Franklin Named First-Team All-ACC

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March 4, 2013

Virginia junior guard Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team, as announced by Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford on Monday.

The All-ACC team is voted on by a Blue Ribbon Panel of national and local media members as well as school representatives. Because of a tie in the voting, 11 players earned first team honors and five players were named to the second team.

In additional honors announced by the conference, Franklin was also named to the All-ACC second team by the ACC head coaches. This is the first year that the Head Coaches All-ACC team has been voted on in addition to the Blue Ribbon Panel’s All-ACC team. Due to a tie in voting, the coaches All-ACC team had 12 members on the first team and five on the second team.

This is the first All-ACC team honor for Franklin, who was an honorable mention last season. Franklin was also named to the Preseason All-ACC team by both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the ACC Coaches.Franklin currently ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. She leads all players in the conference in minutes played, averaging 36.1 per game. She ranks eighth in both steals per game (2.2) and free throw percentage (78.6 percent) and is 13th among all conference players in three-point shooting efficiency (35.7 percent).

Franklin is the 17th different player in Virginia program history to earn first team All-ACC honors. It is the 31st time overall that a Virginia player has been named to the first team.

The Cavaliers open the 2013 ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 7, when they take on Boston College at 8 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be carried live on the ACC Regional Sports Networks and streamed online on ESPN3 outside of the ACC footprint.

Blue Ribbon Panel All-ACC First Team
Chelsea Gray, Duke
Elizabeth Williams, Duke
Leonor Rodriguez, Florida State
Alexa Deluzio, Florida State
Natasha Howard, Florida State
Tyaunna Marshall, Georgia Tech
Alyssa Thomas, Maryland
Tianna Hawkins, Maryland
Morgan Stroman, Miami
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, North Carolina
Ataira Franklin, Virginia
*due to a tie in voting an extra member was added to the team

Blue Ribbon Panel All-ACC Second Team
Haley Peters, Duke
Tricia Liston, Duke
Xylina McDaniel, North Carolina
Marissa Kastanek, NC State
Chelsea Douglas, Wake Forest

Sixth Player of the Year
Chasity Clayton, Florida State

Head Coaches All-ACC First Team
Chelsea Gray, Duke
Elizabeth Williams, Duke
Alexa Deluzio, Florida State
Leonor Rodriguez, Florida State
Tyaunna Marshall, Georgia Tech
Alyssa Thomas, Maryland
Tianna Hawkins, Maryland
Morgan Stroman, Miami
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, North Carolina
Xylina McDaniel, North Carolina
Marissa Kastanek, NC State
Stefanie Yderstrom, Miami
*due to a tie in voting two extra members were added to the team

Head Coaches All-ACC Second Team
Tricia Liston, Duke
Natasha Howard, Florida State
Ataira Franklin, Virginia
Lakevia Boykin, Wake Forest
Chelsea Douglas, Wake