Associated Press I File March

Monica Wright (22) averaged 17.6 points a season ago and was second-team All-ACC.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In her first two seasons, Monica Wright was already busy etching her name in Virginia women's basketball lore. She earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2006-07, a second-team All-ACC pick last season and a preseason All-ACC pick this fall.

At the same time, Cavaliers' point guard Sharnee Zoll was imprinting her leadership skills on Wright.

Zoll, the ACC's all-time assists leader, has graduated, and Wright finds herself channelling Zoll's spirit as the Cavaliers gear up for a new season.

"Every single moment I was like: 'What would Sharnee do in this instance?'" Wright said after the Cavaliers' preseason exhibition game. "When I felt myself yelling, I thought: 'I sound like Sharnee.'"

To coach Debbie Ryan, Wright sounds like the kind of leader the Cavaliers need. Not only does Wright know when to yell at her teammates, Ryan said. She also knows when not to.

"When I might be raising my voice, she knows that she needs to be the one encouraging," Ryan said.

The Cavaliers have already needed some encouragement.

Because Zoll was the only major loss for a team that went 24-10 overall, 10-4 in the ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, Virginia was the preseason pick to finish fourth in the ACC and is ranked 15th in the AP's preseason poll.

But Ryan had said she wanted to use Paulisha Kellum in rotation with freshman Ariana Moorer and senior Britnee Millner as a sort of point guard "by committee." But Kellum, who'd already had surgeries on each knee, went down in a practice scrimmage on Oct. 25 and tore the ACL in her right knee.

The players were stunned.

"Who tears it three times?" said freshman forward Chelsea Shine.

"It's so sad," said center Aisha Mohammed, who has had two ACL tears herself. "We really need her. But I told her this happened for a reason, and now we have to do this for her. We have to work hard for her."

In their final exhibition before the season opens on Friday, Ryan started Millner and Moorer together and sometimes had Wright bringing up the ball.

"After Paulisha went down, we all got a feeling like we all need to step up now, we all need to do a little bit more and fill the role," Wright said.

Though she indicated that the exhibition lineup wasn't likely something that would extend into the season, Ryan said she liked having two point guards -- even three -- on the floor at the same time, particularly on those occasions when an opposing point guard would find herself lineup up trying to guard Wright.

"If you're not in front of her, she's going to score," Ryan said.

In Wright, forward Lyndra Littles and Mohammed, the Cavaliers have three of the top 12 returning scorers in the ACC this season. Wright was second in the league to Virginia Tech's Brittany Cook.

Littles, who was benched for the preseason exhibition for "personal reasons," Ryan said, and Mohammed also rank in the top 5 returning rebounders.

Forward Abby Robertson left the team, but not the school, by mutual consent in the fall.

But the Cavaliers have added freshman forwards Shine and Britny Edwards, daughter of former NBA player Blue Edwards, along with returners Kelly and Jayna Hartig.

In addition to Millner and Enonge Stovall, both energetic defensive guards, Virginia has added Edwards' twin sister Whitny to the guard ranks.

Guard Kristen London, who played sparingly as a junior college transfer last season, will sit out several games to start the season, Ryan said, suspended for violating team rules.

But because the role of point guard, is as Ryan said "just crucial," Moorer's development is critical to the Cavaliers' potential.

Moorer is not a point guard in the old-school mold of Zoll, who looked for assists but had to be pushed into scoring herself. Moorer averaged 21.8 points a game as a senior in high school.

"She shows a lot of promise at the point," Ryan said. "[She's] not as much of an organizer or a leader as Sharnee [Zoll] was yet but obviously you can see she's very skilled -- she shoots the 3s, she gets to the basket, she knows where the ball needs to go -- but she needs to pick up on defense. "

Wright, an All-ACC defensive team pick last season, opted for encouragement in the case of the young point guard.

"I'm very excited about her future," Wright said of Moorer. "She's still a little timid, but when she finally lets it go ..."