Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Travels to Raleigh to Face NC State
1/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2002
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RELEASE
Game #20
Thurs., Jan. 31, 2002
Wake Forest (9-10, 3-6 ACC) vs. NC State (10-9, 4-4 ACC)
Reynolds Coliseum (12,400)/Raleigh, N.C.
Tipoff: 7:00 pm
Radio: Broadcast worldwide on the web at www.WakeForestSports.com. Carter Blackburn will call the play-by-play, with Roper Halverson provding color commentary.
Records: Wake Forest is 9-10 overall with a 3-6 mark in the league. The Deacs dropped their last outing at Maryland on Jan. 24. NC State is 10-9 overall, with an even 4-4 conference record. The 'Pack defeated Maryland in its last outing on Monday evening.
The Series: NC State leads the series 45-6 and has won 11 straight dating back to 1996-97, including an earlier meeting this season.
The Rankings: Neither team is ranked. NC State, which was ranked earlier this season, received seven votes in the most recent ESPN/USA Today poll.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is 39-91 in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 201-241 career mark in her 16th season as a head coach. The Wolfpack's Kay Yow owns a 30-year career record of 621-262, including a mark of 564-243 in her 27th season at NC State.
Up Next: Wake Forest travels to Atlanta - the third of three straight road games - to take on Georgia Tech Sunday at 2:00 pm.
Deacons Look to Reverse History on the Road at NC State
The Wake Forest women's basketball team (9-10, 2-6 ACC), in the midst of a three-game road swing, travel east down I-40 to Raleigh to take on the NC State Wolfpack on Thursday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons are in their longest road stretch of the season, and are coming off a week layoff. Wake fell to Maryland, 57-46, in its final trip to Cole Field House last Thursday, and will travel to Atlanta this weekend to face Georgia Tech.
Wake Forest has not fared well in NC State's Reynolds Coliseum, despite the familiar name (Reynolds Gym on the WFU campus was a former home of the Deacon women's squad). The Deacs have won just one game in Raleigh, defeating the 'Pack 75-64 in the 1995-96 season.
A win at NC State on Thursday would also mark Wake Forest's ACC first road win in two seasons. Wake appeared to be on its way to notching that long-awaited win last week after building a 16-point halftime lead against the Terps. Maryland stormed back, however, protecting its homecourt with a come-from-behind victory.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of women's basketball at Wake Forest University. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 324-447.
Trying to Turn the Tide on the Road
A win over NC State in Raleigh would be momentous for the Deacons for many reasons, but above all it would halt a 23-game ACC road losing streak. The Deacons have not won an ACC game on its' opponent homecourt since Feb. 20, 2000, posting a 57-54 win over Maryland in College Park.
In fact, Wake's last two road victories in league play have both occurred at Cole Field House, as the Deacs also won at Maryland during the 1998-99 campaign. Prior to that, Wake's last ACC road victory was Feb. 23, 1997 at Florida State.
Wake Forest has won just one game in Raleigh during its entire series history with the Wolfpack, defeating NC State 75-64 in the 1995-96 season.
Other ACC Notables
* Just over halfway through its conference slate, Wake has posted three ACC wins, matching its total in the win column from a year ago. After going 3-5 in its first round robin last season, the Deacs did not win any games on the backstretch of 2001, finishing the season with a 3-13 in conference play for the third straight year.
* One more ACC win would give Wake head coach Charlene Curtis her best ACC record during her tenure at Wake. After an 0-16 season during her first year with the Deacons (1997-98), Curtis' teams have compiled a 3-13 mark in each of the last three seasons.
* Wake Forest's win over North Carolina on Jan. 24 marked the third straight season the Deacs have defeated the Tar Heels in Winston-Salem. After halting an 18-game UNC win streak in the 2000, the two teams have split the last six meetings, with the home team emerging as the winner in those games.
* Wake Forest actually played North Carolina for the second time this season before it had faced all eight league opponents for the first time. The Deacs will faced Maryland for the first time this season last Thursday, and will begin its "round robin" with the other seven teams in the league, starting with NC State Thursday night.
Low-Scoring Games Working in Wake's Favor
Wake Forest has struggled with putting points on the board on a consistent basis this season. The Deacs rank last in the ACC in scoring offense, averaging 60.9 points per game and have not reached 80 points in a game this season - 79 versus Radford is the season high thus far.
But on the flip side, the team has proven that it can win games without scoring a lot of points, relying on its defense and rebounding to limit the opponents' scoring opportunities. In Wake's nine victories this year, its victims have averaged just 58.4 points per game. Only one team (Florida State in a 77-73 loss) put more than 70 points on the board while two teams (Clemson and UNC Asheville) were held under 50 points.
In Wake's last victory, a one-point win over North Carolina, the Deacs held the ACC's most potent offense to 64 points (its fourth-lowest total of the season), 66 field goal attempts (tying a season low) and 31.8 percent shooting (its third-lowest of the year.)
Tonia Brown - The Three-Point Threat
Guard Tonia Brown has drained a team-high 44 three-pointers, including a single-game career best six versus Florida State on Jan. 10. After hitting 11 treys in the first nine games of the season, Brown has connected on 33 three-pointers (3.3 per game) over the last 10 contests. She is shooting 37.1 percent (33-of-89) from beyond the arc in that same stretch. For the entire season she is shooting 34 percent from long range (44-of-130).
Just midway through her sophomore year, Brown already ranks in ninth place on Wake's career three-pointers list (64), ninth in three-point attempts (206) and ninth in career three-point percentage (.311).
Brown currently ranks third in the ACC in three-pointers per game (2.32) as well as fourth in three-point shooting percentage (.338). In conference games only, she leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.44) and ranks fourth in percentage (.373).
Brown finished her rookie season last year as the Deacons' leader with 20 total three-pointers, and had already passed that mark by the 13th game of this season.
Scouting the Wolfpack
Preseason ranked among the nation's top 10, the NC State Wolfpack have had an up-and-down season. After jumping to a 6-0 start, the 'Pack dropped five straight games, all to non-conference opponents. That streak was halted with a win over Wake Forest in the AC opener for both teams on Dec. 30. Since that last meeting, NC State has gone 4-4 against the league - defeating Georgia Tech, UNC and Maryland while losing to Virginia, Duke, FSU and Clemson. The Wolfpack is currently not ranked, but receiving a few votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Sophomore 6-3 center Kaayla Chones currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.0 points as well as a team-high 7.2 rebounds an outing. Chones has really stepped up her game in the second half of the season, as she's put together a string of seven straight double-figure games heading into Thursday night's contest. Four of those games were also double-doubles for Chones.
The team's leading scorer in the early goings of the season, 6-1 junior forward Carisse Moody, was sidelined for three weeks (four games) with a sprained ankle. She returned this past Monday night in a win over Maryland, playing 23 minutes and scoring six points.
The Series with NC State
The series with NC State is one Wake's oldest rivalries, as the two teams have met 51 previous times on the hardwood ... the Wolfpack leads the series 45-6, and are riding an 11-game winning streak against the Deacs. ... the teams first met in the 1972-73 season, with Wake winning the first matchup, 65-50 ... the rivals have met at least once every year since the 1974-75 campaign ... Wake Forest's last victories over the 'Pack were a two-game sweep in the 1995-96 season ... the Deacs won 76-72 in the first meeting that year in Winston-Salem, then posted a 75-64 victory at NC State in Reynolds Coliseum ... that game was WFU's first and only win in Raleigh in the series ... NC State leads 24-1 in games in Raleigh ... head coach Charlene Curtis is has not yet defeated NC State during her tenure at WFU.
Deacon-Wolfpack Connections
Wake Forest assistant coach Sharon Manning was a standout player for the Wolfpack from 1988-91 and was MVP of the 1991 ACC Tournament ... Wake Forest freshman forward Tracy Alston is a Raleigh native who grew up an NC State fan ... Alston helped lead Southeast Raleigh High School to the 4A state championship in 1999 ... NC State assistant coach Charisse Mapp served as an assistant coach for four years under Wake Forest coach Charlene Curtis at Temple University ... current NC State senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator, Nora Lynn Finch, served as Wake Forest's women's basketball coach during its first two seasons of existence (1971-73) ... Finch directed the Deacons to a 17-10 record during those seasons.
Free Throw Woes - Until the Game is on the Line
Wake Forest has struggled from the charity stripe this season, connecting on just 59.0 percent of its shots from the line. The Deacons' opponents are averaging nearly 69 percent from the stripe, and have gone to the line 110 more times than WFU (422-312).
Wake's best performance from the foul line this season came on Dec. 30 against NC State, when it shot over 78 percent (18-of-23). But the team followed that up with a 47 percent outing against Georgia Tech (7-of-15). After averaging around the 60 percent mark in the next three games, the Deacs enjoyed a solid outing against Clemson, shooting 75 percent (12-16). Against Carolina the squad dropped back down to its average, hitting 9-of-15 (.600) from the stripe, then fell to a 41.7 percent performance at Maryland in its last outing.
Despite the lack of consistency, the Deacons have gotten some clutch performances at the line in all three of its ACC victories so far this year. Two Deacons - junior Tiffani Listenbee and sophomore Bianca Brown - took advantage of their opportunities at the line in the closing seconds of the Florida State game to help seal a four-point victory. After missing two free throws earlier in the game, Listenbee hit two straight with 27 seconds left, then Brown followed up with two of her own at the 0:14 mark. Brown further proved her worth at the line against Clemson, nailing four straight foul shots in that victory as well.
Senior Adell Harris perhaps gave the most impressive performance at the line against North Carolina. After Wake led for nearly the entire game, the Tar Heels owned a one-point lead with 18 seconds remaining. On Wake's next possession Harris drove the lane and was fouled, sinking her two shots to lift WFU to a one-point victory. It was her only trip to the line that game.
Wake's two Browns - Bianca and Tonia Brown - are tied for the team lead in free throw percentage, both shooting 72 percent. Bianca has made 18 of 25, while Tonia has connected on 36 of 50.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest travels to Atlanta to take on the league's current second-place team, Georgia Tech, on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2:00 pm.
