Wake Forest University
Norfolk St
Women's Basketball Defeats Norfolk State, 75-46
2/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women??s basketball team notched its 11th victory of the season with a 75-46 win over Norfolk State on Wednesday night at Joel Coliseum.
The win improves Wake??s record to 11-15 on the season, equaling its win total from a year ago. Norfolk State halts a three-game win streak and drops to 17-7 in the first meeting between the two teams.
Wake Forest??s graduating seniors ?V Adell Harris (High Point, N.C.), Val Klopfer (Albany, N.Y.), LaTisha Pearson (Birmingham, Ala.) and LaChina Robinson (Alexandria, Va.) ?V were honored in a pre-game ceremony as they played their final game at Joel Coliseum. The senior quartet also started the game along with sophomore guard Tonia Brown (Roanoke, Va.).
??We were looking to see if LaTisha [Pearson] and LaChina [Robinson] can play together,?? said Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis. ??We wanted to find out if we could play two big players at the same time. We were looking at different lineups tonight and I liked what I saw.??
Wake Forest jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, thanks to three-pointers by Harris and Brown. The Spartans came back with a 7-0 run, but the Deacs responded with an 11-0 scoring spree of their own to go up 17-7. Wake Forest owned a 10-point lead, 36-26, at the half.
The Deacon defense clamped down tighter in the second half, holding the Spartans to just 20 points. The 46 points scored by Norfolk State equals a season low by two other Wake Forest opponents, UNC Asheville and Clemson.
Brown and freshman Erin Ferrell (Gaithersburg, Md.) both posted double figures for the Deacons, as Brown scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Ferrell finished the night with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Both Brown and Ferrell pulled down six rebounds, tying with junior Tiffani Listenbee (Clinton Township, Mich.) for the team high.
Norfolk State senior forward Suwana Taylor led the Spartans in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. She was the only Spartan in double figures. Senior forwards Shavonne Burke and Lawanda Newman tied with a game-high seven rebounds as the Spartans outrebounded the Deacs, 43-39.
Every player in uniform saw action for Wake Forest, as the Deacons finished the night shooting 48 percent (29-of-61) to NSU??s 29 percent (18-of-63) from the field.
??I was really pleased that we could honor our seniors by playing as well as we did tonight,?? Curtis said. ??I think the underclassmen should take pride in playing for their seniors. This win helps build momentum going into final conference game.??
Wake Forest plays its final regular season game against the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. at the Coliseum Annex. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC regional television network.
