Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Radford On Wednesday Night
11/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2001
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WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #2
Wed., Nov. 21, 2001
Wake Forest (1-0) vs. Radford (0-2)
Joel Coliseum (14,665) - Winston-Salem, NC
Tipoff: 7:00 pm
Broadcast: Live over the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com. Alan York will call the play-by-play, with Roper Halverson providing color commentary.
Records: Wake Forest is 1-0 after opening the season with a 70-66 win over App State on Monday night. Radford is 0-2 after falling to two future WFU opponents, NC State and UAB, last weekend.
The Series: Wednesday's game marks the sixth meeting between WFU and Radford. Wake leads the series 3-2 and has won the last two meetings.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 193-231 career mark. Former Highlander assistant Kristen Holt is serving as Radford's interim coach this season.
Noteworthy: WFU's Curtis is a graduate of Radford and inductee of the school's athletic Hall of Fame. This marks her first game coaching against her alma mater.
Up Next: Wake travels for the first time this season, heading to UAB for a Saturday 7:00 pm tipoff.
Probable Deacon Lineup vs. Radford
Pos. # Player Ht. Cl. GP/GS PPG RPG Noteworthy
F 40 Eafton Hill* 6-1 So. 1/1 15.0 3.0 Keyed Wake's 2nd-half comeback vs. ASU
F 24 Tiffani Listenbee** 6-1 Jr. 1/1 15.0 9.0 Scored 12 of WFU's first 20 pts. in opener
C 34 LaChina Robinson*** 6-4 Sr. 1/1 6.0 5.0 Most experienced Deac in starting lineup
G 30 Tonia Brown* 5-10 So. 1/1 19.0 7.0 Set career-high with 19 points vs. App
G 3 Bianca Brown* 5-8 So. 1/1 2.0 3.0 Had career best five steals in opener
Wake Forest Hosts Radford in Non-Conference Matchup
After tipping off the 2001-02 campaign with a victory, the Wake Forest women's basketball team hosts the Radford Highlanders in a 7:00 pm tipoff at Joel Coliseum.
Wake opened the year with a 70-66 win over Appalachian State, overcoming a four-point deficit late in the game to pull out the victory.
Wake Forest and Radford have faced each other five times, but not since the 1985-86 season. In fact, the last time these teams met, Wake head coach Charlene Curtis was on the other bench, serving as the head coach of the Highlanders. Curtis is a graduate of the Roanoke, Va. school and spent six seasons (1984-90) there as its head coach.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of Wake Forest women's basketball. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 316-437.
Demon Deacon Details
Wake Forest returns 11 letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad which produced an 11-17 record, its best in four seasons. The team's top returning scorer a year ago, 6-0 forward Eafton Hill, returns for her sophomore campaign after earning ACC All-Freshman honors. Hill, from Boone, N.C., averaged 11.4 points and ranked second on the squad with 5.9 rebounds last season.
The senior class consists of two point guards and two centers. LaChina Robinson, who stands 6-4, is the most experienced Deacon in the middle with 87 appearances and 68 career starts. Another 6-4 senior, LaTisha Pearson, has seen limited action in her career but has shown flashes of strong rebounding and defense. Val Klopfer, a 5-4 senior, is the team's most experienced point guard (2.4 apg last season), but classmate Adell Harris will challenge for playing time at the point as well as the shooting guard position.
Junior Tiffani Listenbee will play a much bigger role this season. A 6-1 forward, Listenbee was the team's Most Improved Player last season (3.3 ppg/3.5 rpg) and already broke her career scoring record with 15 points in the season opener vs. ASU. Junior Johanna Bj?rklund is the tallest player on the team (6-5) and will provide depth at center, once she returns from a ankle sprain suffered in preseason. A third junior, 5-10 forward Heather Miller, is also sidelined in the early goings with a nagging back injury.
In addition to Hill, the sophomore class consists of three other players who saw significant action last year. Point guard Bianca Brown has gotten early starting nod, although she will be challenged by the two seniors. Two guard Tonia Brown will be counted on for point production, and has already delivered with a career-best 19 points in the season opener. Forward Tracy Alston, a 5-10, is a smothering defender and strong rebounder at the small forward position.
This year's freshman class consists of 5-9 shooting guard Meredith Bell, 6-0 post player Erin Ferrell and 6-1 guard/forward Jennifer Johnson. All three will have a chance to see action and make an impact.
Head Coach Charlene Curtis
Head coach Charlene Curtis (Radford '76) enters her fifth season at the helm of the Demon Deacon program just eight wins shy of reaching the 200 career victories plateau. Her career coaching record of 193-231 (31-81 at WFU) also includes stints at her alma mater, Radford, and Temple.
Curtis' head coaching career began at Radford, where she posted a 121-53 mark in six seasons and was twice named Big South Coach of the Year. She then spent four seasons at Temple, producing a 41-97 record and four Atlantic-10 All-Rookie players. Before coming to WFU, Curtis spent two seasons at the University of Connecticut, serving as an assistant coach under Geno Auriemma and helping guide the Huskies to two BIG EAST titles and an NCAA Final Four appearance.
Curtis' coaching career also includes stints as an assistant coach at Virginia (1981-83), Georgetown (1984) and USA Basketball (1989-92, '94).
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.
Starting Off Strong
The win over App State improved the Deacons' record to 22-9 all-time in season openers. With a win over Radford, Wake Forest would go 2-0 to open a season for the 11th time in its 30-year history. Wake's best start to a season occurred in 1987-88, when it opened the year 10-0.
The Series with the Highlanders
The series between Wake and Radford began in the 1973-74 season, when current Deacon head coach Charlene Curtis was a player on the Highlander team and radio analyst Roper Halverson was an assistant coach for Wake ... Wake won the first meeting, 52-45 ... Radford took the next two in the series ... Curtis was Radford's head coach for the last two meetings, as the Highlanders fell to the Deacons in 1984-85 and 1985-86.
Wake-Radford Connections
* Wednesday's game marks the first time Charlene Curtis will coach against her alma mater.
* Deacon sophomore Tonia Brown and Highlanders Brandy Allen and Sherri Rickman all hail from Roanoke, Va., although all three attended different high schools.
Scouting the Highlanders
Radford, a member of the Big South Conference, is 0-2 in the young season after opening its season at the NC State Tournament last weekend. The Highlanders fell to the host Wolfpack in the first game, 84-47, then dropped a one-point game to UAB, 69-68.
NC State and UAB are also opponents on Wake's 2001-02 slate, as the Deacons will face the Blazers in their next outing on Nov. 24.
Radford junior guard Ludmila Nicheporchuk currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.5 a game. She also leads the squad in steals (3.0 spg) and rebounding (4.5 rpg), along with sophomore forward Amanda Neby.
Radford is coming off a 2000-01 campaign in which it posted a 10-18 record, including a 5-9 mark in the Big South.
Tough Schedule
Wake Forest faces a tough schedule in 2001-02. Four opponents on this year's slate are currently ranked among the top teams in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll. For the second straight year, WFU will face No. 1 UConn. ACC opponents Duke (No. 9/7) , NC State (No. 10/10) and Maryland (No. 22/24) also appear in the poll.
Playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference presents a monumental task in itself as every other team in the league - North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia - are among those currently receiving votes in the poll.
On the Air
Wake Forest women's basketball will be on the air several times during the 2001-02 season. Seven games will be broadcast on the 100,000-watt flagship station of the Wake Forest ISP Sports Network, WBRF 98.1 FM. All WBRF games, plus eight other contests, will be broadcast live on the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com.
Wake Forest women's basketball will also make several TV appearances during the 2001-02 campaign. Comcast Charter Sports South will televise the Deacons' Nov. 24 game at UAB, Connecticut Public Television will show the Wake-UConn game from Joel Coliseum on Nov. 26, and Sunshine Network will broadcast the WFU-FSU game in Tallahassee on Feb. 9. Wake Forest will also be featured on two ACC TV games, broadcast throughout the region on FOX Sports Net South and Sunshine. Home games versus North Carolina (Jan. 21) and Maryland (Feb. 24) will be shown live on ACC TV.
Scheduling Notes
All home games, with the exception of two, will be played at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum ... the Jan. 21 game versus North Carolina and Feb. 24 game versus Maryland will both take place at the Coliseum Annex ... the women's team will play a doubleheader with the men's team on Friday, Dec. 7, hosting UNC Wilmington at 5:00 pm in the first of two games at LJVM that night ... the Tues., Dec. 18 game with UNC Asheville will tip off at 11:30 am as the Deacons host school-age children from around the area.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest makes its first road trip of the season, traveling to Birmingham, Ala. to take on the UAB Blazers on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7:00 pm (EST).
Wake senior LaTisha Pearson will be making a trip home, as she hails from Birmingham. The team will actually arrive in Alabama on Thursday afternoon and celebrate Thanksgiving together at the Pearson home.
