Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Travels to Birmingham to Face UAB
11/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2001
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #3
Sat., Nov. 24, 2001
Wake Forest (2-0) vs. UAB (2-1)
Bartow Arena (8,500)/Birmingham, Ala.
Tipoff: 7:00 pm (EST)
Broadcast: Televised live on Comcast Charter Sports South on various cable systems throughout the Southeast.
Records: Wake Forest is 2-0 for the first time in eight seasons with wins over Appalachian State and Radford. UAB is 2-1 with wins over Radford and Alabama A&M and a loss to Drake.
The Series: Saturday's game marks the third meeting between WFU and UAB. Wake won both previous meetings.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 194-231 career mark. Blazer coach Jeannie Milling owns a 238-177 mark in her 15th season at UAB and is 399-287 in 25 seasons as a head coach overall.
Noteworthy: Wake senior LaTisha Pearson is a native of Birmingham, and the Deacons are playing in her home state for the first time during her career.
Up Next: Wake Forest returns home to host No. 1-ranked Connecticut on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 pm in Joel Coliseum.
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Probable Deacon Lineup Versus UAB
Pos. # Player Ht. Cl. GP/GS PPG RPG Noteworthy
F 40 Eafton Hill* 6-1 So. 2/2 11.5 4.0 Keyed Wake's 2nd-half comeback vs. ASU
F 24 Tiffani Listenbee** 6-1 Jr. 2/2 13.5 6.5 Scored 12 of WFU's first 20 pts. in opener
C 34 LaChina Robinson*** 6-4 Sr. 2/2 10.5 12.5 Double-double (15 pts/20 rebs) vs. RU
G 30 Tonia Brown* 5-10 So. 2/2 16.0 5.0 Set career-high with 19 points vs. App
G 3 Bianca Brown* 5-8 So. 2/2 3.5 2.0 Had career best five steals in opener
Wake Forest Hits the Road for the First Time in 2001-02
After tipping off the 2001-02 campaign with two straight victories at home, the Wake Forest women's basketball team takes a Thanksgiving trip to Birmingham, Ala. to take on UAB on Saturday, Nov. 24.
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. Two nights later, the Deacons defeated Radford by a 15-point margin (79-65).
Wake Forest and UAB are meeting for just the third time, and the first time in nine seasons. The Deacons won both previous matchups.
Saturday's game also marks the first time this season the Deacons will appear on TV, as Comcast Charter Sports South will broadcast the game to a regional audience.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of Wake Forest women's basketball. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 317-437.
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, and has nearly matched that in the first two games this year, averaging 11.5 points and 4.0 boards. A strong shot-blocker, Hill has already swatted away six shots in the first two games.
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 88 appearances and 69 career starts. She reached a milestone in the Deacs' last outing, posting her first double-double with 15 points and 20 rebounds. Another 6-4 senior, Birmingham native 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 has presented a strong challenge for playing time at the point as well as the shooting guard position, currently averaging 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Junior Tiffani Listenbee has already stepped into a much larger role this season. A 6-1 forward, Listenbee was the team's Most Improved Player last season 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. Brown has dished six assists with just three turnovers so far. 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. She is currently the team's leading scorer (16.0 ppg). 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 have seen action in the first two games and have made an impact.
Head Coach Charlene Curtis
Head coach Charlene Curtis (Radford '76) is in her fifth season at the helm of the Demon Deacon program and just six wins shy of reaching the 200 career victories plateau. Her career coaching record of 194-231 (32-81 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 season opening win over App State improved the Deacons' record to 22-9 all-time in season lid-lifters. The victory over Radford marked the 11th time - and first since 1993-94 - that Wake Forest has opened a season 2-0. The Deacs have not opened a season 3-0 since the 1990-91 campaign. Wake's best start to a season occurred in 1987-88, when it opened the year 10-0.
Wake-UAB Connections
* Deacon senior LaTisha Pearson is a Birmingham native and graduate of Woodlawn High School.
* Wake Forest's volleyball team will also be in Alabama for the Thanksgiving weekend, as it competes in the University of Alabama's Turkey Classic in Tuscaloosa.
Scouting the Blazers
UAB, a member of Conference USA, is 2-1 in the young season after opening its campaign at the NC State Tournament in Raleigh last weekend. The Blazers fell to Drake in the first game, 76-58, then defeated Radford (Wake's last opponent) by one point, 69-68. In their most recent outing, the Blazers defeated Alabama A&M, 99-53, on Wednesday, Nov. 21.
UAB is coming off a 20-11 season in 2000-01, including a 10-6 record and second-place finish in the Conference USA National Division. The Blazers earned a berth in the WNIT, advancing to the third round.
Returning All-America Deanna Jackson, a 6-2 senior forward, highlights the UAB roster. The 2001 Conference USA Player of the Year ranked second in the nation last season in scoring (25.1 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (11.5 rpg). After missing the first two games of the year, Jackson returned to action against Alabama A&M last Wednesday, scoring 32 points and 16 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Natasha Thomas is also averaging a double-double this season, with 20.3 points and 13.7 rebounds.
The Series with the Blazers
Wake and UAB have met just twice on the hardwood, with both meetings in Birmingham and the Demon Deacons winning both contests ... their margin of victory over those two contests was 14.5 points ... Wake won 81-61 on Jan. 2, 1985 and 72-63 on Dec. 19, 1992 ... the Deacs have not played a game in Birmingham since that 1992 game, although they returned to Alabama two years later to compete in a tournament at Auburn ... head coach Jeannie Milling is 0-1 versus Wake Forest as the Blazers' head coach ... Deacon coach Charlene Curtis has not coached against UAB during her tenure at Wake.
The SWAT Team
Wake Forest ranked third in the ACC last season in the blocked shot category, averaging 3.71 rejections a game. Through two games this year, the Deacons have blocked 15 total shots, an average of 7.5 a contest.
Sophomore forward Eafton Hill has led the "swat" team, having blocked a squad-best 35 shots a year ago and six so far this season.
In fact, with just one full season plus two games of her collegiate career complete, Hill already ranks tied for eighth on Wake's career blocks list (41). Senior LaChina Robinson also appears on that list, in seventh place with 53.
Robinson "Posts" the Big Numbers vs. Radford
Center LaChina Robinson had a career-best night in a Deacon uniform on Wednesday versus UAB. The 6-4 senior notched her first career double-double with a 15-point, 20-rebound performance against the Highlanders. Robinson surpassed her previous rebounding high of 10 boards with over four minutes remaining in the first half, and tacked on another nine in the second half. And while it was not her career high in scoring, it was the most points she has posted since scoring a career-best 22 against Georgia Tech in the 1998-99 season.
Robinson became just the fourth player in WFU history - and first since 1995 - to pull down at least 20 rebounds in a single game. The school record is 22, set by Tracy Connor in 1993. Listed below are Wake's top rebounding performances:
20-Rebound Games
22 * Tracy Connor vs. NC State (Jan. 21, 1993)
21 * Barbara Durham vs. Duke (Nov. 24, 1979)
20 * RaeAnna Mulholland vs. Georgia Tech (Jan. 12, 1995)
20 * LaChina Robinson vs. Radford (Nov. 21, 2001)
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest returns to Winston-Salem to play its fourth game in eight days, hosting the Connecticut Huskies on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 pm in Joel Coliseum. UConn is currently 4-0 this season and ranked No. 1 in both major polls. Monday's game is a return trip, as the two teams met for the first time in Storrs, Conn. last December 22. The Huskies, who were ranked No. 1 at that time as well, defeated the Deacs, 107-52, their worst loss of the season. Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis served as an assistant coach at UConn before coming to Wake Forest, working with current Huskie head coach Geno Auriemma for two seasons.
