Women's Basketball, 6-1, Hosts Western Carolina
12/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Dec. 17, 2002
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NEWS & NOTES
Game 8
Wed., Dec. 18, 2002
Wake Forest (6-1) vs. Western Carolina (6-1)
"Middle School Day"
Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665)/Winston-Salem, N.C.
Tipoff: 11:30 pm
Broadcast: On the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com. Carter Blackburn calls the play-by-play with Roper Halverson providing color analysis.
Records: Wake Forest is 6-1 and has won five straight, all at home. WCU has an identical 6-1 record and brings a three-game win streak into Joel Coliseum.
The Series: Wednesday's game is the 19th meeting between the two schools, and second in as many years. WCU won last season in Cullowhee, owns the overall lead in the series, 11-7.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis begins her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 48-98 record. Her 16-year career has produced a 210-248 mark. Catamount coach Beth Dunkenberger is 36-27 in her third season as a head coach, all at WCU.
Noteworthy: A win over WCU will mark the second straight game Wake Forest would avenge a loss from last season. WFU defeated UAB in its last outing on Sunday.
WFU Hosts Western Carolina; Second-Annual Middle School Day
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Wake Forest women's basketball team plays the final game of a six-game homestand when it hosts Western Carolina on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 a.m. in Joel Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons will look to improve to 7-1 on the season and avenge an eight-point loss to the Catamounts a year ago.
Wednesday's game is also "Middle School Day", where over 4,000 students from the Winston-Salem and surrounding areas will attend the game. Educational exhibits and programs will be available for the students in the Coliseum prior to the game.
Wake Forest, under sixth-year head coach Charlene Curtis, is 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, and are already halfway to that win total this season.
This 2002-03 campaign marks the 32nd season of women's basketball at Wake Forest University. The program owns an all-time record of 333-454.
Streaky Deacs
Wake Forest's win over UAB in its last outing extends the Deacons' 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.
In addition, Wake Forest has scored at least 70 points in four straight games, a feat it has not accomplished since posting five straight 70-plus scoring games at the start of the 1998-99 campaign.
Deacon Bench Sparks Wake To Win Over UAB
Wake Forest used a stellar performance from its bench to blow by the UAB Blazers, 72-58, at Joel Coliseum on Sunday. UAB jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before Deacon freshmen Cotelia Bond-Young and Liz Strunk took control, coming off the bench to score 13 of the team's first 15 points.
Although the Deacs were down three points, 28-25, at halftime, Wake shot 11-of-12 from the line in the second half and used a 10-0 run late in the game to seal the 14-point win. Bond-Young (17) and Strunk (16) were WFU's leading scorers, with Strunk and Tiffani Listenbee each grabbing a team-best eight rebounds.
A Quick Look at the Lineup
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. Once again, she's making an all-around impact, currently averaging a team-high 13.6 points and 4.6 assists, while shooting team-best 49 percent from the field, 45 percent from the arc.
Senior forward Tiffani Listenbee, also a returning starter, helps fill Wake's needs in the post with her strong rebounding skills. She has simproved upon her season averages from a year ago, currently scoring 7.3 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. After getting off to a slow start this season, Listenbee has really made her presence known as of late, averaging 8.8 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last four games.
The third returning starter from last season, junior forward Tracy Alston, rejoined the team this week (see note on next page).
The Demon Deacons are 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 in freshman-year form, earning All-Tournament honors at the SMU Classic and leading the team with 6.7 rebounds a game while putting up 13.4 points.
Senior center Johanna Bj?rklund, at 6-5, has inherited the responsibility of replacing graduate LaChina Robinson, a four-year starter and the team's top rebounder a season ago (6.1 rpg) at center. Bj?rklund has shown great signs of improvement this fall after seeing limited action over her first three years at WFU. She's currently averaging 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds an outing, and even hit her first career three-pointer against UAB.
Another graduate, Adell Harris, vacated her starting spot at the point guard position, but junior Bianca Brown has had no problem stepping up in the role, as she's actually started 14 games over the course of her career prior to this season. Named the team's Most Improved Player at the conclusion of last year, Brown has kept up the momentum, scoring 5.7 points an outing and grabbing a team-high 18 steals through five games.
Senior forward Heather Miller was impressive in the preseason after missing all of the 2001-02 campaign with a back injury. She provides veteran leadership on the floor and is currently averaging 3.1 points, 1.6 rebounds.
Scouting the Catamounts
Western Carolina, who defeated WFU last season en route to a 17-11 overall record, has gotten off to another good start in 2002-03 with a 6-1 record entering Wednesday's contest. The Catamounts have one opponent, High Point, in common with WFU so far. WCU defeated the Panthers, 72-47, while Wake won 82-32. Western also defeated Radford, 78-68, a team that the Deacons will face later this week.
Junior forward Tiffany Hamm leads the Catamounts in scoring (13.9 ppg) while sophomore forward Jennifer Gardner has is pulling down a team-best 7.6 rebounds an outing. Gardner as also made more trips to the line (44) than anyone on the team and is shooting 80 percent from the stripe. Junior forward Janetta Heggins currently owns team highs in both assists (16) and steals (13).
One of WCU's team strengths is its rebounding -- the Catamounts are pulling down 42.1 boards per game, a +4.0 margin over their opponents.
The Series With Western Carolina
Western Carolina leads the overall series 11-7 ... the Catamounts' win last season was the first meeting between the two teams in 10 years ... it also halted a three-game Wake Forest win streak ... five of the last nine meetings have been decided by eight points or less ... WFU has lost at home to Western just once, in the 198-79 season.
Deacs Set Scool 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 seven games, Wake is the ACC's top three-point shooting teams, averaging 7.86 three-pointers a game and shooting a league best 38.5 percent (55-143) from beyond the arc.
WFU posted the second-best season three-point total in school histoy in 2001-02 with 151 treys. Through seven games this year Wake Forest already has a third of last years total with 55 three-pointers. The school record is 172, set by the 1998-99 squad.
Bond-Young Is ACC's Freshman Scoring Leader
Wake Forest rookie Cotelia Bond-Young is currently the ACC's top freshman scorer with 13.0 points per game, a mark that also ranks third on the Wake Forest squad and 12th among all league players. Her 16 three-pointers this season also ties for first in the ACC (with UNC's Coretta Brown) in three-pointers per game.
Bond-Young has quickly proven to be a solid all-around player, as she also ranks among the league's top 10 leaders in assists (9th), steals (7th),three-point percentage (6th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th).
Among the ACC's top five freshman scorers, another Demon Deacon, Liz Strunk, is fourth with 7.9 points per game.
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 77.1 points per game. That figure ranks third among ACC teams and 30th nationally.
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.
Listenbee Makes the List
With a team-high seven blocked shots so far this season, senior forward Tiffani Listenbee now ranks ninth on WFU's career blocked shot list with 46 total rejections. She is one of two Deacons who currently appear on the list as junior forward Eafton Hill ranks eighth with 52 career blocks.
Poll Particulars
In this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25 coaches' poll, Wake Forest is receiving two votes, marking its first appearance of any kind in the polls in quite some time. WFU's last national ranking in the Associated Press poll was Feb. 18, 1988 when it appeared at No. 20.
Wake Forest conference opponent Duke has been ranked No. 1 in both polls all season long, while North Carolina is currently ranked 13 th by AP, 14th in the coaches' poll. Other WFU opponents receiving votes in one or both polls include Georgia Tech, Clemson and Virginia.
In the RPI rankings, the Demon Deacons are listed 56th.
Coming Up Next
With the Western Carolina game, Wake Forest has wrapped up a six-game homestand. Next up is a trip to Radford, Va. to play Charlene Curtis' alma mater, Radford, on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2:00 p.m.
