Wake Forest University
Coppin State
Women's Basketball Holds Off Coppin State, 77-57
12/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Dec. 2, 2000
The Wake Forest women's basketball team won its fourth game of the season and third-straight contest with a 77-57 victory over Coppin State College on Saturday evening at Joel Coliseum.
With the win, the Deacs improve to 4-1 overall and are off to their best start since the 1992-93 campaign. The loss drops Coppin State to 2-3 on the year.
While Wake Forest led the entire game, the Lady Eagles produced a couple of scoring runs in each half to narrow the deficit. The Deacon lead was just six points with 3:26 left in the first half before Wake Forest freshman Eafton Hill (Boone, NC) reeled off five points on two free throws and a trey to lift the lead to 37-25 at the half.
Coppin State refused to go away in the second half as well. After WFU built a 19-point lead in the early goings of the second period, the Lady Eagles responded with an 11-0 run to reduce the Deacon lead to eight. Wake countered with its own 12-0 run to put the game away, winning by the final margin of 20 points.
Wake once again used a balanced attack, as every player in uniform played at least four minutes and 11 Deacons put points on the board. Three players scored in double figures with Hill and senior forward Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick (Waynesville, NC) posting a team-high 14. Freshman Tonia Brown (Roanoke, VA) recorded double-figure scoring for the third time this season with a 10-point effort. Hill nearly notched a double-double as she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. She also had a team high four assists and two blocks. Freshman Bianca Brown (Montclair, NJ) grabbed four steals, a high for the Deacs in 2000-01.
Wake Forest shot a season-best 54.2 percent from the field, as well as a season-best 84 percent from the free throw line, paced by senior Olivia Dardy's (Norwalk, CT) 7-of-8 free throws.
"I'm excited about being 4-1, and about winning our last three games," said Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis. "I am pleased that we use a lot of different people. Tonight's victory was a total team effort, which was part of our gameplan. It keeps us fresher in the second half."
"We still need to work on cutting down our turnovers and getting more defensive rebounds, but overall, I'm pleased with tonight's effort."
For the Lady Eagles, senior Keisha Brooks recorded a double-double with 21 points (10-of-11 from the line) and 10 boards. She also had team-highs in assists (3) and steals (5). Jackie Johnson-Stewart was the only other Eagle in double-figures, as she contributed 13 points. Coppin State shot 35.7 percent from the field for the game.
Wake Forest returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 5 when they host Liberty at 7:00 pm at Joel Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on WTRU 830-AM in Winston-Salem.
