Women's Basketball, 5-1, Hosts UAB Blazers
12/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game 7
Sun., Dec. 15, 2002
Wake Forest (5-1) vs.UAB (2-4)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665)/Winston-Salem, N.C.
Tipoff: 1:00 pm
Broadcast: None
Records: Wake Forest is 5-1 and has won four straight, all at home, dating back to Nov. 26. UAB is 2-4 on the season and is coming off a 43-57 loss at Northwestern on Dec. 7.
The Series: Sunday??s game is the fourth meeting between the two schools, and second in as many years. UAB won last season in Birmingham, but WFU owns the edge overall, 2-1.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis begins her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 47-98 record. Her 16-year career has produced a 209-248 mark. Blazer coach Jeannie Milling is 250-196 in her 16th season at UAB, 411-306 in her 26th season as a head coach.
Noteworthy: A win over UAB will give Wake Forest a five game win streak, something the Deacs have done since a seven-game streak in the 1996-97 campaign.
Up Next: The Deacons play the last of a six-game homestand when they host Western Carolina onWed., Dec.18 at 11:30 a.m.
WFU Gets Back Into Action; Hosts UAB
After a 10-day break for final exams, the Wake Forest women??s basketball returns to the hardwood to host UAB on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 1:00 pm in Joel Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons enter Sunday??s contest on a three-game win streak in which they??ve averaged nearly 26 points in the margin of victory. Sunday??s game will be the fourth meeting in the series with the Blazers, and WFU will be looking to avenge an 80-61 loss in Birmingham last season.
Wake Forest, under sixth-year head coach Charlene Curtis, is 5-1 in the young season and looking to continue its steady improvement of the last few years. The Deacons posted a 12-16 record last year, their best mark in six seasons.
This 2002-03 campaign marks the 32nd season of women??s basketball at Wake Forest University. The program owns an all-time record of 332-454.
Deacons Drive Jaguars Out of Town In Last Outing
IUPUI used a press defense that gave the Deacons some early problems, but WFU settled down and used a trapping, smothering defense to cruise a 73-60 victory over the Jaguars, its fourth straight victory.
That win took place 10 days ago, as the Deacons took a break for final exams last week.
Four Wake Forest players scored in double figures, led by Tiffani Listenbee and Tonia Brown, who each had 14 points. Listenbee shot 6-of-7 from the field in addition to pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.
Deacs Set School Records in Three-Pointers, Attempts
Wake Forest started off the new season with a bang, breaking the school??s single-game record for three-pointers in the 2002-03 opener against La Salle. The Deacs drained 15 treys (25 attempts) against the Explorers, shattering the previous school record of 13 set on Dec. 3, 1993 against Butler.
Wake??s best performance from beyond the arc in all of last season was nine against FSU.
The Deacs followed the La Salle game with nine three-pointers versus SMU, and tied the school mark of 27 attempts, originally set against Georgia Tech in 1999.
Through six games, Wake is the ACC??s top three-point shooting teams, averaging 8.0 three-pointers a game and shooting a league best 38 percent (48-126) from beyond the arc.
WFU postes the second-best season three-point total in school histoy in 2001-02 with 151 treys. Through six games this year Wake Forest has already nearly a third of last years total with 48 three-pointers. The school record is 172, set by the 1998-99 squad.
Scouting the Blazers
UAB, who handed Wake Forest its first defeat of the 2001-02 season last year in Birmingham, is off to a 2-4 start to the 2002-03 campaign. The Blazers have posted wins over Jacksonville State and Central Michigan, with losses to Chattanooga, Alabama State, at Auburn and at Northwestern.
Two players are averaging close to a double-double for UAB -- junior forward Natasha Thomas leads the Blazers with 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while senior center Michelle Smith (6-3) currently averages 14.8 points and 8.2 boards. A third player, sophomore guard Chantell Thomas is scoring 10.7 points a contest. Together, this trio is putting up over 69 percent of UAB??s points per game (40.5 of 58.5 points).
Freshmen Put Up Big Numbers Early
Two players of Wake Forest??s four-member freshman class have made an immediate impact in the early goings of the season. Guard Cotelia Bond-Young has been particularly impressive. In her collegiate debut, she scored 18 points against La Salle, including 5-of-6 from three-point range. She tallied five steals against Marshall, scored 24 points versus Appalachian State and 12 against High Point. She??s currently the team??s third-leading scorer (12.3 ppg) while seeing quite a bit of playing time (26.2 mpg).
Guard/forward Liz Strunk scored nine points -- all three-pointers -- versus La Salle, shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. She played more of an all-around role against SMU, pulling down six rebounds and two assists while scoring seven points. She dished a team-high six assists versus Marshall and tied her scoring high with nine points against High Point. She??s currently the team??s fifth-leading scorer (6.5 ppg).
Pouring in the Points
One of Wake Forest??s keys to success this season is to put more points on the board. The Deacs averaged just 60.8 points a game last year, and have not averaged more than 64 points in a season since the 1995-96 campaign.
What a difference a year makes -- Wake Forest is currently one of the ACC??s top teams in scoring at 78.0 points per game. The Deacs have already scored at least 80 points in three of six games, after not reaching the 80-point mark at all last season.
Wake??s 88 points against Appalachian State on Dec. 1 were the most posted by a Deacon squad since the 1995-96 campaign.
Twenty Points Times Five
Through five games this season, Wake Forest has already tallied five 20-point games -- three by Eafton Hill and one apiece by Tonia Brown and Cotelia Bond-Young.
The Deacs have already tied their 20-point game total from all of last year. In the 2001-02 season, Brown posted four 20-point games while Bianca Brown tallied one.
Trivial Tidbit
A win over UAB would give Wake Forest its best start to a season (6-1) since the 1992-93 campaign, when it opened the season 11-1.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest, nearing the end of a six-game homestand, will host Western Carolina on Wed., Dec. 18 in Joel Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday??s game is the second annual ??Middle School Day?? as nearly 5,000 middle-school children will be in attendance at the game.
