UM WOMEN

When Katie Meier first recruited Shenise Johnson, she thought she had herself a power forward to be reckoned with.

When the 5-11 McDonald's All-American first set foot at the University of Miami, Meier changed her mind again: Johnson was going to be a prolific shooting guard.

Now, after watching her lead the Hurricanes in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks and earn Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman honors, Meier has decided once and for all what Johnson needs to be: the player with the ball in her hands at all times.

``She likes to have the ball in her hands, she likes to control, she believes in her ability to make plays and make Miami win,'' said Meier, who moved Johnson to point guard this offseason.

``She makes everybody very, very good.''

The Hurricanes would certainly like to get better. UM was 13-17 last season, a four-game improvement.

But the Canes, who finished 2-12 in Atlantic Coast Conference play last year, want much more, and they believe they can finish in the top half of the conference -- which is in flux after the departure of several key veteran players.

``We have inside post players with Hannah [Shaw] coming in from England and we have Ashley Sours,'' said Johnson, who helped lead the United States' Under-19 national team to gold in Thailand this summer. ``We also have an off-guard in Stefanie [Yderstrom] that can really score, so it's not just me and Riquna [Williams]. We've got ammo.''

Meier brought in a highly regarded freshman class to compliment Johnson and Williams, her team's top two leading scorers from a year ago. Among the arrivals: Forward Morgan Stroman (6-1), another McDonald's All-American, giving UM two such players on the roster for the first time in the program's 39-year history.

The South Carolina native is expected to be a part of an eight- to nine-player rotation and will help provide rebounding, a category the Hurricanes finished last in a year ago.

``The improvement we had was evident last year, but we didn't win the games,'' Meier said. ``This year we have to finish the games. This is the brightest team I've had since I've been at Miami and that shows up late in games.

``This season is all about we do in the ACC. That's all we talk about in the huddles: that's not an ACC shot, that's not an ACC rebound, that's not how you win ACC games, that's not ACC intensity, that's not ACC passion.

``You might see us this year like the football team, holding up a four. Because that's where we lost games last year that we need to win [the last four minutes]. That's where we need to perform and that's where we're going to get our ACC wins.''

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