Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Travels To Maryland
1/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2001
Winston-Salem, NC
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WAKE FOREST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #17
Wake Forest (9-7, 2-4) vs. Maryland (10-6, 1-4)
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 * 7:30 pm * Cole Field House (14,500) * College Park, MD
Broadcast: No broadcast in Winston-Salem. The game will be broadcast on WMUC in the College Park area, on 88.1 FM, 650 AM, and over the internet at: www.wmuc.umd.edu.
Records: WFU is 9-7 overall, 2-4 in the ACC after defeating Florida State, 79-69, at home on Sunday. Maryland is 10-6, 1-4 in the league after falling to Duke, 64-75, on Sunday as well.
The Series: Thursday's game marks the 47th meeting between the two conference rivals. Maryland leads the series 36-10. More series information is on page two.
The Coaches: Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis is in her fourth season with the Deacs, with a 28-71 record at the school. She has a 190-221 career record in her 15th season as a head coach. Maryland coach Chris Weller is 479-263 in her 26th season as a head coach, all of which have been with the Terrapins.
Noteworthy: Seniors Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick and Kristen Shaffer will both play their 100th career game on Thursday night.
Up Next: The Deacs return home for an out-of-conference tilt with Coastal Carolina on Monday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 pm. The game will take place at Reynolds Gym on campus.
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Demon Deacons Look for Two in a Row Against the ACC, Travel to Take on the Terps Thursday...
Wake Forest, 9-7 overall and 2-4 in the ACC, hits the road to face conference rival Maryland (10-6, 1-4 ACC) in a 7:30 p.m. matchup in College Park on Thursday.
The Demon Deacons are coming off a 79-69 victory over Florida State at home last Sunday. The 79 points scored by the Deacs were the most since an 87-69 win over Richmond on Nov. 30. The win is also the teams' ninth of the season, assuring head coach Charlene Curtis that 2000-01 would be the most successful season of her four-year tenure at WFU thus far.
Wake Forest, however, is still searching for its first ACC road victory of the year. The Deacs have dropped contests at Duke, NC State and Clemson, three of the league's toughest arenas. The environment won't be much friendlier on Thursday at Cole Field House, as the Terps have dropped three straight ACC games and are hungry for a conference win on their home court.
The 2000-01 season marks the 30th anniversary of Wake Forest women's basketball. The Deacon program began in the 1971-72 season. WFU's first game was a 30-28 win over Elon College. Since then, Deacon women's basketball has compiled a 314-427 overall record.
A Quick Look at the Deacs...
Wake Forest boasts an experienced nucleus in the 2000-01 campaign, with 10 letterwinners, including four starters, returning from a year ago. The team's top returning scorer and leading rebounder from a year ago, 6-0 senior Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, has been hovering around the double-digit scoring average all season, and is currently scoring 9.6 points a game, and averaging 10.3 points in ACC contests only. She also continues to lead the squad with 5.8 rebounds a contest, in addition to steals (23). The team's starter at power forward, Kirkpatrick leads a senior class which includes 6-1 forward Olivia Dardy and 5-10 guard Kristen Shaffer. Dardy spent much of last year on the injured list but has returned with a vengeance this season, averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds off the bench. Shaffer, the starting shooting guard, has scored in double-digits in seven of the last 10 games to take over the team scoring lead (11.1 ppg). Dardy currently owns WFU's best scoring performance this season with a 26-point outing versus Florida State on Jan. 14.
The junior class is comprised of two point guards and a center. The Deacs' returning starter at point guard is 5-4 Val Klopfer. Twelve of Klopfer's 13 field goals this season have been beyond the arc, and she's shooting 40 percent from three-point range (12-of-30). She is backed up by classmate Adell Harris, a flashy athlete who has seen her playing time increase over the course of the season. Junior center LaChina Robinson, who stands 6-4, is a continuously improving inside player who is currently averaging 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds a game.
Robinson is challenged in the middle by sophomore Johanna Bj?rklund, Wake's tallest player ever at 6-5. Bj?rklund provides a strong presence in the post, notching four steals and six blocks this season, and has shown she can score outside the paint as well. Two other sophomores, 6-1 Tiffani Listenbee and 6-4 LaTisha Pearson, add aggressiveness and depth in the post with their rebounding and shot-blocking abilities.
Listenbee, who has started the last two games, recently set a career-high with 10 points at Arizona State, and is third on the team in blocks (8). Rounding out the sophomore class is 5-10 forward Heather Miller, who was bothered by early signs of a stress fracture in her foot in the beginning of the season, but has gradually increased her playing time. Miller displayed her sharpshooting skills with nine points in four minutes of action at Richmond and scored a team-high 12 at Clemson.
The Wake Forest freshman class has already played a key role in the team winning nine games in the early goings of the season. Tracy Alston, a 5-10 forward, has proven to be a tenacious defender, often drawing the top defensive assignment, and is averaging 2.7 rebounds a game and has grabbed seven steals. Tonia Brown, a 5-10 guard, is a scoring threat, averaging 6.1 ppg and netting a team-high 17 three-pointers. Bianca Brown, at 5-8, gives the Deacs depth at the point guard spot along with tough defensive skills - including a team second-best 19 steals. Starting small forward Eafton Hill, who has been the team's leading scorer for most of the season, is currently averaging 9.4 ppg, and is the second-leading rebounder (5.3 rpg). She also has a team-high 14 blocked shots.
As a team, the Deacs had been averaging over 70 points a game through the first eight games of the season before dipping just below that level following the UConn loss. WFU is currently scoring 64.6 ppg, and is outperforming its opponents in field-goal percentage (.416 to .393), three-point percentage (.317 to .302), assists (14.6 to 14.1), and blocks (3.5 to 2.5).
Head Coach Charlene Curtis...
Head coach Charlene Curtis (Radford `76) is in her fourth season at the helm of the Demon Deacon women's basketball team, bringing a wealth of experience, a commitment to excellence, and a contagious enthusiasm to the program. Before coming to Wake, Curtis was an assistant coach at national powerhouse Connecticut for two seasons, helping guide the Huskies to a 67-5 record, two BIG EAST titles and a Final Four appearance. Curtis was also head coach at Temple (1991-95), where she compiled a 41-97 record and coached four Atlantic-10 All-Rookie players, and her alma mater, Radford, (1985-90), where she was Big South Coach of the Year twice and posted a 121-53 record. Curtis has also served as an assistant with Georgetown (1984), Virginia (1982-83) and USA Basketball, and was a floor coach for the Olympic Trials.
As a player at Radford, Curtis was the school's first 1,000-point scorer and was inducted as a charter member of RU's Hall of Fame in 1995. She earned a master's degree from UVa in 1982.
Curtis has compiled a 28-71 record at Wake Forest and is 190-221 overall.
Scouting the Terrapins...
Head coach Chris Weller's 26th edition of the Maryland Terrapins is currently 10-6 on the season with a 1-4 ACC mark. The Terps opened ACC competition in December with a loss to UNC, but defeated Clemson, then ranked 18th, in overtime. Since that win, UM has dropped three straight - to Virginia, Florida State and Duke. Prior to the Duke loss, the Terrapins were undefeated on their home court.
Junior guard Marche' Strickland leads the team and ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring with 13.9 points per game. Sophomore guard Renneika Razor is third in scoring with 11.3 points and leads the Terps with 6.6 rebounds a contest. Razor also has a team-high 38 steals.
In the ACC statistics as of Jan. 16, Maryland leads the league in steals in ACC games only with 10.0 an outing.
Weller has used different starting lineup over the course of the season, but as Strickland is the only player to have started all 16 games. Warley and guard Terri Daniels have both earned the starting nod in 13 contests, while forward Rosita Melbourne and guard Kiki Wimbush have posted 12 starts.
The Series with Maryland...
Maryland holds a 36-10 led in a series which in the 1976-77 season, although Wake Forest has won three of the last five meetings.
The Terrapins opened the series by winning the first 14 meetings, the longest winning steak between the two teams. Wake's longest winning streak is four games, from 1994-96.
Wake has actually won more games on the road than at home in this series. The Deacs have posted six wins at Maryland, with the last road win a 57-54 victory last season.
A Look Back: Road Team Wins 1999-2000 Meetings...
Winston-Salem, NC/Jan. 19, 2000 - Five Terrapins scored in double figures as Maryland handed Wake Forest a 73-61 defeat Joel Coliseum.
Maryland jumped out to an 8-0 lead as the Deacs missed their first seven shots of the game. WFU then used a 12-3 run to take the lead. Renneika Razor answered with a jump shot from the left corner to restore the Terps' lead, and Maryland never trailed again. The Terrapins led 37-23 at halftime and went up by as many as 17 in the second period. Wake cut the lead to seven on a Heather Miller layup with 2:47 to go, but could not get any closer.
The Terps scored nearly half of their points at the foul line, converting 33 of 47 free throws. A combined total of 50 personal fouls were called in the game, and five WFU players, including four starters, finished the game with four fouls apiece. Wake outrebounded Maryland 49-39, including a 33-13 differential in the second half, but the Deacs committed 20 turnovers and shot just 35 percent from the floor.
Deedee Warley led the Terrapins with 18 points, 12 of which came at the foul line. Tiffany Brown added 15 points, while Marche' Strickland had 13 and Vicki Brick added 11. Razor posted a double-double for the Terps with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick led Wake Forest with 18 points and 11 rebounds, collecting her third double-double of the year. LaChina Robinson added 14 points for the Deacs and Alisha Mosley contributed 12.
College Park, MD/Feb. 20, 2000 - Maryland shot 32 percent from the floor and just 8 of 19 from the foul stripe as Wake Forest used 13 points from Alisha Mosley to notch a 57-54 come-from-behind victory. The win, snapped an eight-game losing skid for WFU.
Maryland saw a seven-point lead slip away in the second half, shooting just 9 of 32 from the floor in the final period and connecting on just two of six free throw attempts. A pair of Wake Forest free throws by Val Klopfer staked the Deacs to a 57-54 lead with nine seconds to play and Tiffany Brown's last-second 3-pointer fell off the rim as Wake avenged an earlier loss to Maryland.
Mosley was the only Wake Forest player in double-figure scoring, though Heather Miller contributed nine points and Johanna Bjorklund registered a career-high 10 rebounds.
A Deacon Doubleheader in College Park...
University of Maryland fans will probably get their fill of Wake Forest over the next two days. The eighth-ranked Wake Forest men's squad faces the Terrapins in Cole Field House Wednesday at 9:00 pm, while the Wake women invade less than 24 hours later.
Maryland returns the favor a month from now, as the Terp men play at Joel Coliseum on Feb. 17, and the women's team travel south for a Feb. 19 matchup.
Last Time Out: WFU Revives its Offense in 79-69 Win over FSU...
Wake Forest posted its best three-point shooting percentage in two seasons and hit a season-high 25 free throws to defeat Florida State, 79-69, at Joel Coliseum.
After Florida State's April Traylor hit a three-pointer to open the scoring 11 seconds into the game, Wake Forest's Eafton Hill scored a trey of her own to tie it up 25 seconds later. Wake tied it again at 5-5, then never looked back. Senior Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick gave WFU its first lead at 7-5 with two free throws, and the Deacons led the rest of the way. Wake Forest owned a 14-point lead, 41-27, at halftime, and led by as much as 18 after the break.
Florida State kept things interesting, however, reducing its deficit to five points with 6:11 remaining. WFU senior Kristen Shaffer then drained two straight three-point buckets to give the Deacs a 65-54 lead. The Seminoles were down by just eight points with 37 seconds left, as WFU was unable to put the game away, hitting just 4-of-13 free throws down the stretch. Kirkpatrick nailed her final foul shot with 16 seconds left to make the score 79-69, and FSU missed its final three field goal attempts as time expired.
Wake Forest set several notable milestones in the win. Shaffer finished with a career-high 26 points, which is the most by a Deacon player since Heidi Coleman scored 27 points against Campbell on Dec. 20, 1997. Shaffer's 5-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc tied a school record, also set by Coleman versus James Madison on Dec. 17, 1997. Deacon senior Olivia Dardy recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Junior Adell Harris tied a team season-high with seven assists.
Wake Forest and Florida State combined for 54 fouls and 76 shots from the line. As a team, the Deacons shot a season-best 61.5 percent from three-point range.
Dean's List Deacs...
Six members of the women's basketball team were among the 101 WFU student-athletes named to the Fall 2000 Dean's List, including seniors Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, Kristen Shaffer and Janae Whiteside, junior Val Klopfer, and freshmen Bianca Brown and Eafton Hill.
Senior Class Stepping Up...
There are three seniors on Wake Forest's active roster, and the trio has played an integral role in the Deacons' nine wins so far this season. The three seniors - Olivia Dardy, Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, and Kristen Shaffer - are the team's top three scorers (Shaffer 11.1, Kirkpatrick 9.6, Dardy 9.5 ppg) while also holding two of the team's top three rebounding numbers. Kirkpatrick leads the squad with 5.8 boards a game, while Dardy is third with 4.8. A senior has led the team in scoring in 12 of 16 games, and has been the rebounding leader six times. The three have also posted some of the team's best numbers from the line, and combined they are shooting 80 percent from the stripe (94-of-118).
In the key games or crucial situations, it is usually one or all three members of the senior trio that has stepped up to make the big plays...
* Although the Deacs lost by two to Western Michigan, Kirkpatrick shot a career-best 3-of-3 from three-point range. (She had only scored 10 treys in the previous three seasons combined.)
* At High Point, Dardy scored a team-high 15 to help the Deacs rally from a halftime deficit and win, 60-52.
* The three seniors were the team's top scorers (Shaffer 16, Dardy 15, Kirkpatrick 12) in the ACC opener versus Virginia, a game that WFU led at halftime.
* Dardy's 24 points and 10 rebounds keyed a 22-point, second-half comeback that resulted in a 77-68 overtime win at Quinnipiac.
* All three posted double-figure scoring in a 73-71 win over UNC, and Kirkpatrick's two free throws with eight seconds remaining helped seal the victory.
* The only double-figure Deacons versus FSU, were, you guessed it, the three seniors, as Shaffer set a team season-best with 26 points, and Dardy posted her 10th career double-double.
Kirkpatrick an All-Around Player...
Through the first half of the season, senior forward Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick has, at one point or another, topped the Deacs' cumulative stats in scoring, offensive rebounding, total rebounding, steals, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and minutes played. One of four Deacons to have started every game this season, "Mocky" currently leads the squad in five of those areas - average minutes (28.1), offensive rebounds (43), total boards (9.2, 5.8 pg), and steals (23). She also leads the Deacs in three-point percentage (6-of-12, .500), although she's taken significantly fewer shots than some of Wake's perimeter players.
Kirkpatrick is currently tied for 12th all-time at Wake Forest with 486 career rebounds, and needs just 14 more to crack the 500-rebound mark. Only 10 players in Wake Forest history have reached that level.
Statistical Bits `n' Pieces...
Two players will play their 100th game in a Wake Forest uniform on Thursday at Maryland - seniors Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick and Kristen Shaffer ... all seven of sophomore LaTisha Pearson's field goals have taken place on the road (App State, UConn, Arizona State, Duke and NC State), as she netted a career-high four points at both Duke and NC State... three Deacons have assist-to-turnover ratios of 1.0 or better - Val Klopfer (39-28, 1.4), Tonia Brown (24-24, 1.0) and Eafton Hill (23-22, 1.05) ... Tiffani Listenbee (20-of-33) is currently scoring on 60 .6 percent of her shots , a team-high ... although Wake's leading scorer for much of the season, Eafton Hill, was held scoreless for the first time all year at Arizona State, it gave her the chance to tie a team-high with three assists ... through 16 games, five different players have been the scoring leader, seven have been the rebounding leader and seven have led the squad in assists at least once ... Eafton Hill, Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick and Kristen Shaffer are the only three players who have led the team in all three categories.
Sharp-Shooting Shaffer...
The shift from the small forward position to shooting guard this year has proven to be a successful one for senior Kristen Shaffer. Shaffer, who stands 5-10, has posted 10 double-figure scoring games so far this season, matching her total from a year ago.
Included in those 10 games is a five-game double-figure scoring streak from Dec. 9 to Dec. 30. After leading the team with 16 points against Virginia on Dec. 9, she shattered her previous career-high of 17 with 22 points versus New Orleans. She then added a pair of 10-point performances against both Quinnipiac and Connecticut and contributed 17 at Arizona State. Over that five-game stretch, Shaffer shot a sizzling 59.3 percent from the field (32-of-54).
Shaffer scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting against UNC - a 77.8 shooting percentage which is the second-best performance by a Deacon player this season.
Her most recent outing was a career-best, as she scored 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range. The 26 points were the most by a Deacon in three seasons, and her three-point show tied a school record.
Shaffer is currently the Deacons' leading scorer with 11.1 points per game, and is shooting 47.7 percent from the floor (73-of-153).
Scheduling Notes...
Two site changes for home games were announced recently - the Jan. 22 game vs. Coastal Carolina has been moved to Reynolds Gym on campus, while the Jan. 25 contest with Georgia Tech will be at the Coliseum Annex ... the Deacs made their first television appearance at UConn, as the game was broadcast on CPTV (Connecticut Public Television) ... Wake was also on TV locally in Phoenix at Arizona State on COX9, while its game at Clemson was shown on tape delay by College Sports Southeast ... two home games will be shown on the ACC Regional Sports Network (FOX Sports South, Home Team Sports, Sunshine Network) - Sunday, Feb. 11 vs. Clemson and Monday, Feb. 19 vs. Maryland ... for the second straight year, the ACC Tournament takes place at the Greensboro (NC) Coliseum ... the Deacs posted a 3-1 (.750) record in November 2000, their best winning percentage in November since going 2-0 in the 1993-94 season.
