Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens 2002-03 Season In Dallas
11/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2002
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Wake Forest (0-0) vs. La Salle (0-0)
SMU "Hoops for the Cure" Tournament
Moody Coliseum/Dallas, TX
Tipoff: 6:00 pm (EST)
Broadcast: None
Records: Friday's game marks the season opener for both teams. La Salle posted a 6-22 record last season. WFU was 12-16 in 2001-02.
The Series: Friday's game marks the first meeting between the two teams.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis begins her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 42-97 record. Her 16-year career has produced a 204-247 mark. La Salle coach John Miller owns a 287-176 record after 16 seasons as a head coach, all with the Explorers.
Noteworthy: Wake Forest women's basketball is making its first-ever appearance in the state of Texas.
Coming Up: The winner of WFU-La Salle will face the SMU-Stony Brook winner in the tournament championship game. The loser of each game will also play. Both games are set for Saturday.
Demon Deacons Tip Off 2002-03 Season in the Big "D"
The 2002-03 edition of Wake Forest women's basketball begins in Dallas, Texas this weekend at SMU's "Hoops for the Cure" Tournament. The Demon Deacons open the season versus La Salle on Friday at 6:00 p.m., with the winner of that game taking on the SMU-Stony Brook winner on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. The losers of the first-round games will play at 6:00 p.m. Saturday (all times Eastern).
The Demon Deacons, under sixth-year head coach Charlene Curtis, are looking to continue their steady improvement of the last few seasons. Wake posted a 12-16 record last year, its best mark in six seasons.
Friday's game tips off the 32nd season of women's basketball at Wake Forest University. The program owns an all-time record of 327-453.
Back In Action
Nine letterwinners and three starters return from the 2001-02 squad which posted a 12-16 mark and 5-11 ACC record. Junior guard Tonia Brown, the team's leader in scoring, three-pointers, steals and minutes played last season, headlines the returning cast. Brown was a 2002 All-ACC third team selection and set the school's single-season record with 62 three-pointers a year ago. Senior forward Tiffani Listenbee, also a returning starter, averaged 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds last season, and will look to provide a more productive presence in the post this season. The third returning starter, junior forward Tracy Alston, will rejoin the team in mid-December.
The Demon Deacons appear to be in better shape, health-wise, than they were a year ago. Junior forward Eafton Hill, after a stellar rookie season that earned her ACC All-Freshman team honors, was plagued by injuries last year. She appears to be back at full speed this season. Senior forward Heather Miller has been impressive in the preseason after missing all of the 2001-02 campaign with a back injury.
Replacing the Graduates
Wake Forest lost four seniors to graduation last spring, including two starters off the 2001-02 squad. Center LaChina Robinson was a four-year starter and the team's top rebounder a season ago (6.1 rpg). She will be replaced by 6-5 senior Johanna Bj?rklund, who has shown great signs of improvement this fall after seeing limited action over her first three years at WFU. Graduate Adell Harris has vacated her starting spot at the point guard position, but junior Bianca Brown should have no problem stepping up in the role, as she's actually started 14 games over the course of her career and was named the team's Most Improved Player at the conclusion of last year.
Season-Opening Stats
Wake Forest has traditionally fared well in season openers, compiling a 22-9 all-time record in annual lid-lifters ... the Deacs have won two consecutive and five of the last six season openers ... the lone loss in that stretch came at home against Fairfield, 63-56, in 1999-2000 ... Wake is opening up with a neutral-site contest for the first time since 1996-97, when it defeated California, 61-58, in the Old Dominion Dial Classic in Norfolk, Va.
Scouting the Tournament Field
Wake Forest's Friday night opponent, La Salle, is coming off a 6-22 record in 2001-02, including a 2-14 mark in the Atlantic 10. La Salle played two exhibition games to open this season, defeating the New York Gazelles 96-53 and falling to a Melbourne, Australia squad, 86-57.
Junior forward Kat Foley is the La Salle's top returning scorer, contributing 11.4 points a year ago. Sophomore forward Monica Garrido Sanz, an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team pick last season, is the squad's top returning rebounder (4.9) and led the Explorers with a .456 field goal percentage in 2001-02. Sophomore guard Jill Marano was La Salle's top scorers in its two exhibition games, averaging 14.0 points.
SMU compiled a 12-18 mark last season, including a 6-12 ledger in WAC games. The Mustangs, however, return nine letterwinners and all five starters from that squad.
Stony Brook posted a winning record last season -- 16-14 -- but finished seventh in the America East conference with a 7-9 mark. The Seawolves return just two starters from the 2001-02 team.
Both SMU and Stony Brook posted exhibition victories to start the 2002-03 campaign.
First-Time Opponents
The SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament features two teams Wake Forest has never faced -- La Salle and Stony Brook. The Deacons have played the host Mustangs just once, defeating SMU, 81-65, in the 1989-90 Alaska Northern Lights Invitational in Anchorage.
Sax Supplements the Roster
Wake Forest added a walk-on to its roster in October. Sophomore Kara Sax, a 5-6 guard from Glastonbury, Conn., joined the squad. Sax, who wears No. 21, assisted with the women's basketball managerial staff last season.
A New Look on the Bench
The WFU women's basketball coaching staff underwent some changes over the summer. Following the departure of Wray Cannaday, a three -year assistant under Charlene Curtis, Jamie Hovda joined the fold as an assistant coach. Hovda is a 2000 Pepperdine graduate who recently earned his master's degree from WFU. During his two years of grad school, Hovda served as a male practice player and coach's assistant for the Deacs.
Alston To Miss First Part of Season
Due to a violation of team policy, Tracy Alston, a 5-10 junior forward from Raleigh, N.C., is not participating with the squad this fall. At the conclusion of the fall semester (Dec. 14), she will rejoin the team and immediately be eligible to participate in practice and games.
Alston, one of the team's three returning starters, scored 4.2 points per game a year ago and is the Deacs' top returning rebounder entering this season, averaging 4.8 boards a game.
Jones May Miss Rookie Campaign With Injury
The Deacs may be without the services of highly-regarded freshman Porsche' Jones this season. The 5-3 point guard who hails from Winston-Salem (Carver HS) injured her left knee this summer before entering Wake Forest, suffering cartilage damage and undergoing surgery in September. According to her rehabilitation schedule, she is projected to be integrated into the team's practices around Jan. 1, 2003 at the earliest. A decision will be made at that time whether she will redshirt the season.
Jones is the first local player to join the Deacon roster since Sonya Henderson played for WFU from 1982-85.
Oh Captain, My Captain
For the first time in a few seasons, the Wake Forest women's basketball team elected season captains prior to the start of the 2002-03 campaign. Seniors Tiffani Listenbee and Heather Miller as well as junior Bianca Brown were chosen as team captains.
Scheduling Notes
All home games, with the exception of two, will be played at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum ... the Jan. 12 game with Maryland and the Jan. 31 Georgia Tech game will take place at the Coliseum Annex ... the Deacons' host their second annual "Middle School Day" on Wednesday, Dec. 18 with the game versus Western Carolina tipping off at 11:30 a.m.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest returns to Winston-Salem for its 2002-03 home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The Deacons take on Marshall at Joel Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. The matchup with the Thundering Herd kicks off a six-game homestand which extends into mid-December.
