Wake Forest University
UAB
Women's Basketball Breaks Down the Blazers, 72-58
12/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - With a strong performance from its bench, the Wake Forest women's basketball team picked up its fifth straight win and sixth of the season with a 72-58 victory over the UAB Blazers on Sunday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.
The victory extends WFU's winning streak to five games, its longest such streak since a seven-game run in the 1996-97 season. WFU's 6-1 start is also its best opening to a season in a decade, as the 1992-93 Deacons began that season 11-1.
After a 10-day layoff to take final exams, the Deacons looked a little rusty from the outset, as UAB jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. Wake Forest suffered nearly a five-minute scoring drought before freshmen Liz Strunk (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Cotelia Bond-Young (Landover, Md.) hit back-to-back three-pointers to make the score 10-8 at 12:58. WFU took the lead for the first time, 15-14, with another Strunk jumper at the 9:30 mark. At that point of the game, the two rookies had combined for 13 of WFU's 15 points.
The Blazers came right back, going on a 14-3 run to lead 28-18 at the 4:04 mark. Wake Forest, however, scored the final five points of the half, including a three-pointer by center Johanna Bj?rklund (Stockholm, Sweden), to go the lockerroom down three, 28-25, at the break.
UAB held on to the lead for the first three minutes of the second stanza, going up by as much as four points, 31-27. Deacon Erin Ferrell (Gaithersburg, Md.) made good on a free throw at the 17:04 mark to make the score 34-33, and WFU owned the lead from that point on.
The Blazers were able to keep the margin hovering around 10 points for most of the final 10 minutes of the game by converting on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch. But Wake Forest did its job from the stripe as well, connecting of 11-of-12 in the second half. With the score 60-52 at the 5:41 mark, Wake put the finishing touches on the victory with a 10-0 run, then ran out the clock for the 72-58 win.
Three Demon Deacons posted double-figure scoring, all in a reserve role. Bond-Young finished with 17 points, while Strunk totaled 16 on 6-of-12 shooting. Ferrell chipped in 13, with 11 of those coming in the second half. Led by that trio, the bench scored 50 of Wake's 72 points. Strunk and senior Tiffani Listenbee (Clinton Township, Mich.) each grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
Wake Forest turned the ball over seven times within the first five minutes of the game, but committed only five the rest of the game to finish the day with 12 turnovers, a season low. The Deacs also posted season bests in blocked shots (6) and free throw shooting (.786), while winning the battle of the boards, 45-35.
UAB's Michelle Smith posted game highs in both scoring (18 points) and rebounds (9), while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor. The Blazers also got double-figures in scoring from Natasha Thomas with 17 points and Chantell Thomas with 10.
"I'm very pleased with our progress," said head coach Charlene Curtis, when asked about the team's strong start to the season. "It's great to be 6-1 with the one loss in overtime on the road. We're an exciting team to watch."
The Demon Deacons remain at home this week, hosting Western Carolina on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 a.m. It will be "Middle School Day" at Joel Coliseum, with over 4,000 students from area schools expected to attend. Admission is free to all spectators.
Other Notes:
? Wake Forest has scored at least 70 points in four straight games, a feat they have not accomplished since posting five straight 70-plus scoring games at the start of the 1998-99 campaign.
? With two blocked shots today and seven on the season, senior Tiffani Listenbee currently ranks ninth all-time at WFU with 46 career rejections. Junior Eafton Hill ranks eighth on the list with 52 career blocked shots.
