Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Seeks ACC Sweep In Trip to Clemson
2/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2002
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NEWS & NOTES
Game #25
Sun., Feb. 17, 2002
Wake Forest (10-14, 4-10 ACC) vs. Clemson (14-10, 6-7 ACC)
Littlejohn Coliseum (11,020)/Clemson, S.C.
Tipoff: 2:00 pm
Radio: No local broadcast.
Records: Wake Forest is 10-14 overall and sits in ninth place in the ACC standings with a 4-10 league mark. The Tigers, 14-10 overall and 6-7 in the ACC, are currently in fifth place in the league standings after falling to North Carolina, 86-76, on Thursday.
The Series: Clemson leads the overalls series 36-8, but the Deacons halted a nine-game Tiger win streak last month with a 12-point win over the Tigers in Winston-Salem.
The Rankings: Neither team is ranked. Clemson is receiving a few votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
The Coaches: WFU head coach Charlene Curtis is 40-95 in her fifth season with the Deacons, and owns a 202-245 career mark in her 16th season as a head coach. Clemson's Jim Davis is 332-156 in his 16th season as a head coach and 313-148 in his 15th season with the Tigers.
Up Next: Wake Forest returns home for an out-of-conference matchup with Norfolk State on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 pm. It will be Senior Night at Joel Coliseum as the Deacons honor their four graduating players.
Demon Deacons Seek ACC Sweep Down at Clemson on Sunday
The Wake Forest women's basketball team (10-14, 4-10 ACC) seeks its first sweep of an ACC opponent in five seasons when it travels to Clemson, S.C. to take on the Clemson Tigers on Sunday, Feb. 17. Tipoff is set for 2:00 pm at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons picked up its first win over Clemson since 1996-97 and halted a nine-game Tiger win streak with a 58-46 win back in January. Littlejohn Coliseum may prove to be a tougher test, however, as the Deacs have not won on the road in this series since the 1990-91 campaign.
In that earlier meeting on Jan. 17, Wake's pair of Browns - Bianca and Tonia - each scored 12 points as head coach Charlene Curtis notched her 200th career victory.
Wake Forest enters Sunday's game looking to halt a three-game losing streak and pick up its fifth ACC victory, the most in six seasons. The Deacs suffered a heart-breaking overtime loss to Virginia, 61-55, in its last outing. Clemson is on a two-game skid of its own and currently sits in the middle of the ACC standings with a 6-7 league mark.
The 2001-02 campaign marks the 31st season of women's basketball at Wake Forest University. The Demon Deacons' all-time record is 325-451.
All-ACC Candidate Tonia Brown - A Three-Point Threat
Wake Forest shooting guard Tonia Brown continues to rank as one of the top three-point shooters in the ACC. She has drained a team-high 55 three-pointers through 24 games in 2001-02, including a single-game career best six versus Florida State on Jan. 10.
Divide the season in half and notice the increase in her numbers just over the course of this season. Brown hit 11 total treys in the first 10 games of the season. But over the second half of the season (14 games), Brown has connected on 44 three-pointers (3.14 per game).
Her streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer now stands at 13. Just midway through her sophomore year, Brown already ranks in sixth place on Wake's career three-pointers list (75), sixth in three-point attempts (240) and ninth in career three-point percentage (.313).
Brown currently ranks third in the ACC in three-pointers per game (2.29) as well as fifth in three-point shooting percentage (.335). In conference games only, she is second in the league in three-pointers per game (3.00) and sixth 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.
ACC Notables
* After moving up to seventh place in the league standings last week, Wake Forest has slipped back to ninth after Maryland picked up its fourth win Thursday night over Georgia Tech.
* The Deacons have been weekend warriors this season, as they been on the road in ACC play five of the last seven weekends.
* With two conference games left on its slate, Wake Forest has posted four ACC wins, its highest total in the win column in six seasons. After going 3-5 in its first round robin last season, the Deacs did not win any games on the backstretch of 2001, finishing the season with a 3-13 in conference play for the third straight year.
* That fourth ACC win also gave Wake head coach Charlene Curtis her best ACC record during her tenure at Wake. After an 0-16 season during her first year with the Deacons (1997-98), Curtis' teams have compiled a 3-13 mark in each of the last three seasons.
* Wake Forest's win over North Carolina on Jan. 24 marked the third straight season the Deacs have defeated the Tar Heels in Winston-Salem. After halting an 18-game UNC win streak in the 2000, the two teams have split the last six meetings, with the home team emerging as the winner in those games.
* Wake Forest actually played North Carolina for the second time this season before it had faced all eight league opponents for the first time. The Deacs faced Maryland for the first time this season on Jan. 24, and began its "round robin" with the other seven teams in the league with the NC State game on Jan. 31.
* The Deacons have one more non-conference game remaining on its regular-season slate, as they host Norfolk State on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at Joel Coliseum.
Sophomore Sensations
Last year's freshman class of Eafton Hill, Tonia Brown, Tracy Alston and Bianca Brown saw significant action last season. And this year they are proving the experience they gained last season is paying dividends, as all four have started at least seven 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 on Jan. 17, as they finished as Wake's top four scorers, Hill was the leading rebounder, and Alston and Tonia Brown led the team in assists.
Scouting the Tigers
Clemson, 14-10 overall with a 6-7 mark in conference play, has dropped its last two games to Duke and North Carolina by an average of nine points.
The Tigers boast one of the nation's most experienced and talented backcourts with junior Chrissy Floyd and senior Krystal Scott. The duo currently ranks 1-2 as Clemson's top scorers, with Floyd putting up 16.8 points and Scott 11.0 points per game. Floyd ranks second in the ACC in scoring, while Scott is one of the league's assist leaders (3.62 apg).
Sophomore forward/center Maggie Slosser leads a young inside game, ranking 14th in the ACC in rebounding, averaging 5.4 boards per game.
While Clemson and Wake Forest rank 8-9 in the ACC in field goal percentages (Clemson .398 to Wake's .375), a key task for the Demon Deacons will be to keep the Tigers off the free throw line, as Clemson ranks second in the league, shooting over 69 percent (366-of-530) from the stripe. In the first meeting between the two teams, Wake actually made two more trips to the line, shooting 12-of-16 while the Tigers went 9-of-14.
The Series with Clemson
Wake Forest and Clemson have met 44 previous times on the hardwood, with the Tigers holding a 36-8 lead in the series ... Clemson won nine straight meetings before Wake halted that streak with a 58-46 win in Winston-Salem earlier this season ... the Deacs have not won at Clemson since a 59-58 victory in the 1990-91 campaign ... the two teams first met in the 1977-78 season ... scores tend to be relatively low when these two teams meet, as the victor has scored over 70 points only three times in the last 13 meetings ... Clemson dominated the series in the early years, winning the first 11 meetings by an average margin of 30 points ... the Tigers and Deacs have only played regular season contests, never meeting in the ACC Tournament or on a neutral court.
Deacon-Tiger Connections
* Clemson sophomore Kanetra Queen hails from Fayetteville, N.C. Queen played in the 2000 East-West All-Star Girls Basketball Game in Greensboro, and one of her teammates on the East team was current WFU sophomore Tracy Alston. Another Demon Deacon, Eafton Hill, played on the West squad in that game.
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 14.2 points per game (15.6 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 18 of 24 games this season and has posted 19 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 2.4 assists per game. She's also stepped up her rebounding numbers, averaging 4.4 boards - a mark which currently ranks fourth on the team. She also leads the squad with 53 steals (2.2 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.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest returns home for an out-of-conference matchup with Norfolk State on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 pm. It will be Senior Night at Joel Coliseum as the Deacons honor their four graduating players.
