Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Travels to Georgia Tech
2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #21
Sun., Feb. 3, 2002
Wake Forest (9-11, 3-7 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech (13-7, 6-4 ACC)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum (9,191) * Atlanta, Ga.
Tipoff: 2:00 pm
Radio: Locally on the flagship station of WFU athletics, WBRF 98.1 FM. Carter Blackburn calls the action with Roper Halverson providing color commentary. Also available worldwide on the internet at: www.WakeForestSports.com
Records: Wake Forest is 9-11 overall with a 3-7 mark in the ACC. The Deacs are on a two-game skid, having fallen to Maryland and NC State in its last two games. Georgia Tech is 13-7 overall and is in third place in the ACC standings with a 6-4 league record. The Jackets had a six-game winning streak halted against Duke on Thursday.
The Series: Georgia Tech leads the series 25-18 and has won two straight, including a nine-point victory last month.
The Rankings: WFU is not ranked. Georgia Tech is receiving votes in both the ESPN/USA Today and AP polls.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is 39-92 in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 201-242 career mark in her 16th season as a head coach. The Jackets' Agnus Berenato is 260-246 in her 18th season as a head coach, and 200-191 in her 14th season at Georgia Tech.
Up Next: Wake Forest returns home to host Duke on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7:00 pm.
Deacons Try to End Three-Game Road Swing with Win at Georgia Tech
The Wake Forest women's basketball team (9-11, 2-7 ACC) plays its final game of a three-game road swing as it travels to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Sunday., Feb. 3. Tipoff is set for 2:00 pm at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons wrap up their longest road stretch of the season in Atlanta, and are hoping to snap a two-game skid in the process. Wake fell to Maryland, 57-46, in its final trip to Cole Field House on Thursday, Jan. 24, and after a week layoff, fell to NC State, 69-57, in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Deacs and the Ramblin' Wreck played each other earlier this season, with Georgia Tech prevailing, 65-56, at Joel Coliseum in early January. Tech guard Milli Martinez scored a game-high 25 points in what a relatively close contest.
A win at Georgia Tech on Sunday would mark Wake Forest's ACC first road win in two seasons. Wake appeared to be on its way to notching that long-awaited win at Maryland after building a 16-point halftime lead against the Terps. Maryland stormed back, however, protecting its homecourt with a come-from-behind victory. Since defeating Maryland on the road on Feb. 20, 2000, Wake Forest has dropped 24 straight ACC road games.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of women's basketball at Wake Forest University. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 324-448.
Trying to Turn the Tide on the Road
A win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta would be momentous for the Deacons for many reasons, but above all it would halt a 24-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 four games at Georgia Tech, as the Yellow Jackets lead the series 16-4 in Atlanta. Wake's last win there was a 70-52 victory in the 1989-90 campaign.
Wake Forest is 0-5 in ACC road games so far this season, and have won just two away games in 2001-02 - at High Point and Western Michigan.
Tonia Brown - The Three-Point Threat
Guard Tonia Brown has drained a team-high 46 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 35 three-pointers (3.2 per game) over the last 11 contests. She is shooting 35.7 percent (35-of-98) from beyond the arc in that same stretch. For the entire season she is shooting 33.1 percent from long range (46-of-139).
Just midway through her sophomore year, Brown already ranks in seventh place on Wake's career three-pointers list (66), seventh in three-point attempts (215) and is hovering around the top 10 in career three-point percentage (.307).
Brown currently ranks third in the ACC in three-pointers per game (2.30) as well as fourth in three-point shooting percentage (.331). In conference games only, she leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.30) and ranks fourth in percentage (.359).
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.
Head Coach Charlene Curtis
Head coach Charlene Curtis (Radford '76) is in her fifth season at the helm of the Demon Deacon program. Her career coaching record of 201-242 (39-92 at WFU) also includes stints at her alma mater, Radford, as well as Temple.
Curtis' head coaching career began at Radford, where she posted a 121-53 mark in six seasons and was twice named Big South Coach of the Year. She then spent four seasons at Temple, producing a 41-97 record and four Atlantic-10 All-Rookie players. Before coming to WFU, Curtis spent two seasons at the University of Connecticut, serving as an assistant coach under Geno Auriemma and helping guide the Huskies to two BIG EAST titles and an NCAA Final Four appearance.
Curtis' coaching career also includes stints as an assistant coach at Virginia (1981-83), Georgetown (1984) and USA Basketball (1989-92, '94).
As a player at Radford, Curtis was the school's first 1,000-point scorer and was inducted as a charter member of RU's Hall of Fame in 1995. She earned a master's degree from UVa in 1982.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech has been one of the surprises in this year's ACC race, as the Yellow Jackets are currently in third place in the league standings with a 13-7 overall mark (6-4 ACC). The Ramblin' Wreck defeated Wake Forest, 65-56, in Winston-Salem on Jan. 4, and followed that up with a loss at NC State. Tech then reeled off six straight wins - including five against ACC opponents - before falling 86-50 at Duke in its last game.
The Yellow Jackets were dealt a blow on Jan. 20, when junior point guard Nina Barlin, the ACC's leader in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, tore the ACL in her knee against Florida State. She has been sidelined for the season after undergoing surgery on Jan. 29. Barlin had been averaging 7.94 assists and owned a 2.21 assist-to-turnover ratio prior to the injury. In the first WFU-Georgia Tech game this season, Barlin tallied eight points, three rebounds and eight assists.
Junior center Sonja Mallory currently leads the Jackets in both scoring and rebounding with 14.1 points and 8.1 boards a game. Mallory has also blocked a team-best 40 shots. Senior forward Regina Tate is not far behind, averaging 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds. Senior guard Milli Martinez, who scored a game-high and then personal-best 25 points against Wake in the earlier meeting this season, is also averaging double figures with 11.6 points per game with a team-high 27 steals.
As they have been all season long, the Yellow Jackets are the top rebounding team in the conference, averaging 43 boards per game and outrebounding its opposition by 9.8 boards.
A key to Wake's success against Georgia Tech will be point production, as Tech is allowing just 62.8 points a contest and owns a 9-1 record when holding its opposition to under 60 points a game.
The Series with Georgia Tech
Sunday's game marks the 44th meeting between the conference rivals ... Georgia Tech leads 25-18 over WFU in a series that began in the 1979-80 season ... the two teams have met every year since then ... the Deacons have enjoyed success at home against the Yellow Jackets, with a 14-7 lead in games played in Winston-Salem ... WFU has not fared as well in Atlanta, however, winning just four games on Tech's court ... the Deacons' last road victory in the series came in the 1989-90 season, a 70-52 win ... Wake's longest winning streak in the series is four games (1984-86), while Tech's longest such streak is six games (1996-98) ... the teams split last year's meetings, with each one winning its home game ... seven of the last nine meetings have been decided by 11 points or less ... Charlene Curtis is 2-8 against the Jackets as Wake's head coach ... WFU's 79-71 victory over Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem last Jan. 25 turned out to be its final victory of the 2000-01 campaign.
Deacon-Yellow Jacket Connections
* Three players from Sweden are on the rosters of Wake Forest and Georgia Tech ... Wake's Johanna Bj?rklund and Georgia Tech's Jasmina Pacariz both hail from Stockholm, while Yellow Jacket Nina Barlin is from Katrineholm, Sweden.
* Wake Forest assistant coach Sharon Manning and Georgia Tech assistant Kisha Ford played together on the WNBA's Miami Sol team in 2000.
Tonia Brown Stepping Up Her All-Around Game
Sophomore Tonia Brown's three-point shooting has already been mentioned, but it's also worth noting that the 5-10 guard has emerged as the team's top scorer this season, averaging 14.1 points per game (16.2 ppg in ACC contests). With last year's leading scorer, Eafton Hill, sidelined for eight midseason games with an injury, Brown took on a greater responsibility of producing points and responded well.
After serving as a backup to senior starter Kristen Shaffer last season, Brown stepped into the starting shooting guard position this year and has been the team's top scorer in 15 of 20 games this season and has posted 16 double-figure outings, including a career-best 28 points in the win over Florida State on Jan. 10.
"We've been very pleased with her progress," said coach Curtis of Brown. "She showed moments last year in a support role, but this year we've really handed the reins to her as she's done well. The toughest thing for her is that we haven't gotten her any help. We're still looking for a consistent second and third option to go to."
Brown, who has natural point guard abilities as well, ranks second on the team with an average of 2.45 assists per game. She's also stepped up her rebounding numbers, averaging 4.5 boards - a mark which currently ranks third on the team. She also leads the squad with 47 steals (2.4 spg), including a career-best and team single-game season high six thefts against NC State on Jan. 31.
In fact, in ACC games only, Brown appears among the league's top 10 players in four different statistical categories, including scoring, three-point field goals, three-point percentage and steals.
Youth Movement
Even with four seniors on the roster, the overall makeup of the WFU women's basketball team is still quite young. One of Wake's most common starting lineups so far this season has consisted of one senior, one junior and three sophomores, while a pair of sophomores - Eafton Hill and Tonia Brown - lead the Deacs in scoring.
Of the 4,000 minutes of court time logged by the Demon Deacons so far this season, Wake's sophomores and freshmen have accounted for 59.2 percent of those minutes, playing 2,368.
Also, a freshman or sophomore has led the Deacs in scoring in 18 of 20 games this season. In fact, 26 of Wake's 38 points scored against top-ranked UConn were posted by either sophomores or freshmen.
Two members of this year's freshman class - Meredith Bell and Erin Ferrell - have each led the Deacs in scoring at least once this season.
Last year's freshman class of Hill, Brown, Tracy Alston and Bianca Brown is proving the experience they gained last season is paying dividends, as all four have started at least five games this year and have each led the Deacs in either scoring, rebounding or assists at least once so far this year. In fact this sophomore group provided the spark for the Deacons' win over Clemson, as they were the top four scorers, Hill was the leading rebounder, and Alston and Tonia Brown led the team in assists.
Coming Up Next
After three straight road games, Wake Forest returns home to the friendly confines of Lawrence Joel Coliseum - where it's posted a 7-3 record this season - to host the ACC top team, Duke, in a 7:00 pm tipoff on Thursday, Feb. 7.
