Women's Basketball Travels Down the Road to High Point
12/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #8
Sun., Dec. 16, 2001
Wake Forest (3-4) vs. High Point (4-6)
Millis Center (2,565)/High Point, N.C.
Tipoff: 2:00 pm
Broadcast: No broadcast
Records: Wake Forest is 3-4, halting a four-game losing streak with a win over UNC Wilmington in its last outing. High Point is 4-6 on the season and has lost four straight.
The Series: Sunday's game marks the 16th meeting between the two teams. High Point leads the series 10-5, but Wake has won the last three.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is 33-85 in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 195-235 career mark in her 16th season as a head coach. The Panthers' Tooey Loy is 4-10 in his first overall season at High Point and as a head coach.
Noteworthy: WFU senior Adell Harris will play in front of a hometown crowd as she hails from High Point and is a graduate of T. Wingate Andrews.
Up Next: Wake Forest will host UNC Asheville on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at Joel Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. as middle schools from around the area will be attending the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable Deacon Lineup vs. High Point
Pos. # Player Ht. Cl. GP/GS PPG RPG Noteworthy
F 24 Tiffani Listenbee** 6-1 Jr. 7/6 6.1 4.6 Had team-best eight rebounds at UNC
F 22 Tracy Alston* 5-10 So. 7/2 3.7 4.4 Has started two of the last three games
C 34 LaChina Robinson*** 6-4 Sr. 7/7 8.0 8.6 Ranks second in ACC in rebound average
G 30 Tonia Brown* 5-10 So. 7/7 13.7 3.3 Set career high with 20 points vs. UNCW
G 23 Adell Harris*** 5-8 Sr. 7/1 3.9 2.0 Owns 1.5 asst-to-turnover ratio (20-13)
After Exam Break, WFU Travels Down the Road to High Point
The Wake Forest women's basketball team (3-4, 0-1 ACC) looks to build a winning streak as it goes for its second consecutive victory at High Point on Sunday, Dec. 16. Tipoff is set for 2:00 pm at HPU's Millis Athletic Center. After dropping four straight games, the Deacons got back on the winning track with a 68-60 over UNC Wilmington in its last outing. That was last Friday, Dec. 7, however, as the team is currently breaking from action while taking final exams.
High Point, currently 4-6 on the season, is looking to halt a skid of its own, as the Panthers have dropped four straight. HPU will no doubt seek revenge as well against the Deacons, as Wake Forest overcame a first-half deficit to defeat the Panthers, 60-52, last season.
High Point leads the overall series 10-5, but Wake Forest has won the last three meetings.
High Point is the second of three Big South Conference teams Wake Forest will face this season. The Deacs defeated Radford, 79-65, earlier this season and will take UNC Asheville in their next outing on Dec. 18. High Point is also the fifth of eight opponents from North Carolina that WFU competes against this year.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of Wake Forest women's basketball. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 318-441.
Injury Update
* The team's leading scorer, sophomore forward Eafton Hill, has missed the last three games with a broken bone in her right foot. She has been making progress and could be cleared to play soon after being re-evaluated next week.
* Junior forward Heather Miller remains out of action with a stress fracture in her back. She will also be re-evaluated later this month.
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. Although she is currently sidelined with a broken foot, Hill is the team's second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg). A strong shot-blocker, Hill was averaging an ACC-high 2.0 blocks per game before not having enough games to qualify for the rankings.
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 93 appearances and 74 career starts. She reached a milestone in the Deacs' win over Radford, posting her first double-double with 15 points and 20 rebounds. She leads the team and ranks second in the ACC in rebounding (8.6 rpg). 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 and High Point native Adell Harris has presented a strong challenge for playing time at the point as well as the shooting guard position, currently averaging 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and a team-high 2.9 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 versus ASU. Junior Johanna Bj?rklund is the tallest player on the team (6-5) and will provide depth at center as she is returning from an ankle sprain suffered in preseason. A third junior, 5-10 forward Heather Miller, is 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 has been challenged by the two seniors. Shooting guard Tonia Brown is counted on heavily for point production, and has already delivered already breaking her career high twice this season. She is currently the team's leading scorer (13.7 ppg) with double-figures in five of seven outings this season, including a 20-point performance in the last game. Forward Tracy Alston, a 5-10, is a smothering defender and strong rebounder at the small forward position who got her first starting nod in place of Hill at Western Carolina. Alston had a career-best night against UConn, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds and dishing five assists.
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 significant action already this season and are making an impact. Ferrell was the team's top scorer with a 16-point effort at WCU and is shooting a team-best 58 percent from the field (19-33). Johnson is contributing 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds an outing, and had her best game of the season thus far with 16 points at North Carolina. Bell is a strong shooter who has already knocked down nine three pointers this season and is averaging 6.0 points per game.
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 five wins shy of reaching the 200 career victories plateau. Her career coaching record of 195-235 (33-85 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.
Scouting the Panthers
High Point, under first-year head coach Tooey Loy, has put together a 4-6 record so far this season. After winning four of their first six games, the Panthers have dropped four straight, to Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, UNC Wilmington and Minnesota.
Senior center Mary Brewer is the team's leading scorer through 10 games, averaging 15.3 points a game. Guards Misty Brockman and Narelle Henry are also averaging double figures, 11.9 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Junior center Stephanie Scott owns a team-best 6. 4 rebounds per game while Brewer is pulling down 6.3 with a team-high 19 blocks.
Wake Forest and High Point have faced one common opponent this season. The Deacons defeated UNC Wilmington in its last outing, 68-60, while the Seahawks topped High Point at home, 66-53, just before visiting WFU.
High Point is shooting 43 percent from the field and scoring nearly 70 points a game. The Panthers are averaging one more rebound per game than the Deacs (39.9 to 38.9) but are being outrebounded by their opponents by 4.6 boards an outing.
Although the Panthers are not as youthful as last year's squad which lost to the Deacs by eight points (seven of the 14 players on last year's roster were freshmen), this year's team is still relatively young, as HPU fields just two seniors and half the squad are sophomores or freshmen.
The Series with High Point
Wake Forest and High Point have met 15 previous times on the hardwood, with the Panthers owning a 10-5 lead in the series ... after playing 10 times during the first 10 years of existence of Wake women's basketball, the two teams renewed their series 1999-2000 after an 18-year hiatus ... the current crop of Demon Deacons has never lost to High Point, as Wake has won the last three meetings, including a two-point victory in 1980-81, a 31-point win in 1999-2000 and an eight-point win last season ... Wake will look to even the series at High Point this weekend, as the Panthers own a 3-2 edge in games known to have taken place in High Point.
The Last Meeting ... Nov. 27, 2000
Wake Forest withstood an aggressive High Point team, defeating the Panthers 60-52 at the Millis Center last season.
HPU, trying to avenge a 31 point loss from the previous year, led most of the first half, only to fall behind by one point at the break (31-30) and trail from then on. After struggling from both the line and three-point range in the first half, the Deacs converted on 10-of-13 free throws in the second half and wore down a smaller, less experienced Panther team for the win.
The Demon Deacons were led by Olivia Dardy, who had a team high 15 points, coming off the bench to shoot 6-of-7 to go along with five rebounds. LaChina Robinson used her height advantage in the post to score 12 points and pull down five rebounds. Eafton Hill had a solid night, scoring seven points and grabbing a team-high six boards (all defensive).
High Point native Adell Harris also gave a good performance, going 2-of-2 from the field (including a three-pointer) and hitting two key free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
High Point Homecoming for Harris
For the second straight year, Wake Forest senior guard Adell Harris has the opportunity to play in front of a hometown crowd, as she hails from High Point. A graduate of T. Wingate Andrews High School, Harris was the 1998 Guilford County Player of the Year, finishing her high school career with 1,746 points.
Harris gave a good performance in her hometown last season, scoring seven points, including a five-point second half in which she converted two free throws and grabbed a key steal to help the Deacs post an eight-point victory.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest returns to Joel Coliseum to host another in-state rival, UNC Asheville, on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Tipoff is set for 11:30 am as middle schools children from around the area will be coming to the game as a special promotion.