Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Takes On No. 1 Duke
1/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Jan. 15, 2003
- WAKE FOREST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NEWS & NOTES
Game 15
Thurs., Jan. 16, 2003
Wake Forest (10-4, 1-3 ACC) vs. #1/1 Duke (15-0, 3-0 ACC)
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)/Durham, N.C.
Tipoff: 7:00 pm
Radio: Broadcast on the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com. Carter Blackburn calls the action, with Roper Halverson providing color analysis.
Records: WFU is 10-4 and 1-3 in the ACC with a close, two-point loss to Maryland in its last outing on Sunday. Duke is perfect with a 15-0 record and a 3-0 mark in league play.
The Series: Thursday??s game is the 57th meeting between the two teams. Duke leads the series 38-18 and has won 20 straight, dating back to the 1993-94 season, entering this week??s tilt.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis is in her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 52-101 record. Her 17-year career has produced a 214-251 mark. Duke coach Gail Goestenkors is 252-82 in her 11th overall season as a head coach, all with the Blue Devils.
Up Next: Wake Forest does not play again for a week, when it hosts NC State at Joel Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 23. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m.
Wake Forest Faces Challenge At No. 1 Duke
The Wake Forest women??s basketball team, which has lost two straight games for the first time all season, looks to get back on the winning track this Thursday at ACC-rival Duke (7:00 p.m/Internet broadcast).
That??s a tall order, however, as the Blue Devils are the nation??s No. 1 team and have been all season long. Duke enters Thursday night??s game with a perfect 15-0 record, and a 3-0 league mark.
Wake??s trip down I-40 marks the second time in a week that the Deacons have gone to the Triangle area to face a nationally-ranked squad. Wake fell at No. 10/9 North Carolina, 86-56, last Thursday.
The Demon Deacons, who have actually dropped three of their last four games, faced Maryland at home last Sunday. Trying to shake off the disappointing showing at UNC, the Deacs performed better than they did in Chapel Hill, but still came up short, suffering a heartbreaking two-point loss to the Terps (75-73).
Under sixth-year head coach Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest 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 over three-fourths of the way to reaching that win total this season.
Last Outing: WFU Comeback Falls Short At The Buzzer
Down seven points with 47 seconds remaining, Wake Forest staged an impressive comeback, but simply ran out of time in their final possession, falling to Maryland 75-73 at the Joel Coliseum Annex.
In a game that was back and forth nearly the entire way, the Terrapins led by three points, 37-34, at halftime, but took their biggest lead of the game, 71-64 with 47 seconds left in the contest. Deacon freshman Cotelia Bond-Young hit two huge three-pointers to keep Wake in the game. WFU actually got the ball with 5.5 seconds left as Eafton Hill grabbed the defensive rebound on a missed Maryland free throw. But the Deacs couldn??t get up court quick enough to get off a shot, and Maryland went on to win the game.
Hill and Tiffani Listenbee each scored 15 points, while Bond-Young finished with 11.
Facing Number One
Thursday??s meeting with Duke will mark the seventh time in school history that the Demon Deacons have faced the nation??s number one team. It will also mark the third straight season WFU has played the top-ranked squad. Wake played a home-and-home series with Connecticut the last two seasons, falling to the Huskies, 107-52, in Storrs in December 2000 and at home, 88-38, last November. Last year??s UConn squad went undefeated and won the NCAA title. Overall, the Deacs are 0-6 when playing the No. 1 team.
Brown Nets 100th Three-Pointer
Junior guard Tonia Brown scored just one three-pointer against Maryland on Sunday, but that was all she needed to notch her 100th career trey. Already listed on WFU??s career three-pointers chart, Brown is the sixth player in school history - and first since Alisha Mosley (1997-00) - to reach the century mark in that category. Brown also ranks fifth all-time at WFU with 315 career three-point attempts, and her .315 percentage ranks ninth.
After setting the school??s single-season record with 62 three-pointers last season, Brown??s shot versus the Terps was her 18th of the 2002-03 campaign. Freshman Cotelia Bond-Young leads the squad with 30.
Miller Back On The Court
After missing all of the 2001-02 campaign with a back injury, senior forward Heather Miller has returned to the court in 2002-03. Also serving as a team captain, Miller provides veteran leadership on the floor and is currently averaging 3.3 points, 2.0 rebounds.
Miller has been especially impressive in the team??s last two outings, scoring eight points and tying her career high with eight rebounds at North Carolina. She scored nine (on three three-pointers) versus Maryland.
Scouting Duke
After beginning the 2002-03 season as the nation??s No. 1 team, the Duke Blue Devils have lived up to those lofty expectations thus far, entering Thursday??s contest with a 15-0 record, 3-0 in ACC play.
After outscoring its non-conference opponents by over 40 points per game, Duke??s first three conference contests have been a little bit tougher, as the Blue Devils have actually trailed at the half of all three ACC games.
A look at the Duke personnel has to start with All-America and 2002 ACC Player of the Year Alana Beard. Beard, a junior, leads the league in scoring with 24.5 points per game -- nearly seven points more than the second-place scorer. Beard also tops the ACC in field goal percentage (.579).
Junior guard Vicki Krapohl leads the league in both three-point percentage (.481) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4). Another junior, forward Iciss Tillis, is a strong rebounder (6.3 rpg) who also has excellent range on her shot (14.7 ppg, 38 percent from three-point range).
The Blue Devils lead the ACC in the majority of the statistical categories. Duke and Wake Forest rank 1-2 in the league in both turnover margin (11.5 to 5.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5 to 1.1). Wake Forest actually has an edge in three-pointers made per game, scoring 6.3 to Duke??s 5.9.
The Series With the Duke
Duke is Wake Forest??s second-oldest rivalry (behind North Carolina) as Thursday??s game marks the 57th meeting between the two schools (Wake and UNC have met 59 times) ... Duke leads the series 38-18, and has won 20 consecutive contests, dating back to a 70-69 Wake win in the 1993 ACC Tournament ... the first meeting between the two schools took place in the 1974-75 season, a year before Duke??s women??s program became an official varsity sport ... the two teams have met at least once every year since the 1976-77 campaign ... Wake??s longest winning streak in the series is five games (1987-90), while Duke??s longest streak is its current 20-game streak ... the two teams have had some close battles over the years, as 14 games have been decided by five points or less ...none, however, went into overtime before the opening-round battle in the 2001 ACC Tournament ... in the last eight meetings Duke??s average margin of victory has been 25 points ... Duke leads the series 16-9 in games played at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Deacon-Devil Connections
Wake Forest sophomore Erin Ferrell and Duke??s Monique Currie were high school teammates at The Bullis School in Maryland, where Ferrell??s father, Wayne, coached them to a 27-2 record and back-to-back conference championships during their senior season (2001).
The Last Meeting with Duke ... February 7, 2002
Duke made 18 of 31 shots in the first perioed to take a 45-30 halftime lead and never looked back, defeating the Demon Deacons at home, 83-60.
Wake Forest was within five points at 22-17, but Blue Devil Alana Beard had a three-pointer and three straight layups in a span of 1:04 as Duke pushed the lead to 38-19 with 4:52 left before the break.
Duke outscored Wake Forest 44-22 inside and shot 53 percent.
Tonia Brown led Wake Forest with 17 points and four assists. Bianca Brown added 11 points.
A Balanced Scoring Attack
Last season, guard Tonia Brown was the Deacons?? leading scorer with 13.9 points per game -- and she was the only WFU player in double figures. This year, she??s averaging 11.2 points per game, but she??s also getting a lot more help with offensive production. Look at these numbers: * Three players are averaging doubles figures in scoring, including Brown, Eafton Hill (12.8 ppg) and Cotelia Bond-Young (11.7). * A fourth player, Tiffani Listenbee, is averaging 9.2 ppg after putting up double figures in five of the last seven outings. * Ten of the 14 active members of the roster have posted at least one double-figure scoring game this season. Five have posted at least five such games. * Twice this season -- versus High Point and Virginia -- the Deacons have had five players with double figures in points.
Bond-Young: ACC Freshman Scoring Leader
Wake Forest rookie Cotelia Bond-Young is currently the ACC??s top scoring freshman with 11.7 points per game, a mark that also ranks second on the Deacon squad and 14th among all league players. Her 30 three-pointers this season also ranks first in the ACC in treys per game (2.14).
Bond-Young has quickly proven to be a solid all-around player, as she also ranks among the league??s leaders in assists (11th), field-goal percentage (14th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th).
Only three ACC freshman rank among the league??s top 30 scorers, including Bond-Young, 16th-place La??Tangela Atkinson of UNC (11.2 ppg) and Mistie Bass of Duke (19th with 10.1 ppg). In ACC games only, Bond-Young is the only freshman putting up double-figures in scoring (10.8).
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest will enjoy a rare week-long break in the schedule, returning to action next Thursday, Jan. 23 versus NC State. The game will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. at Joel Coliseum, and will be broadcast on the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com.
