Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Basketball Looks For ACC Sweep In Charlottesville
2/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2003
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WAKE FOREST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NEWS & NOTES Game 20
Thurs., Feb. 6, 2003
Wake Forest (10-9, 1-8 ACC) vs.Virginia (9-11, 3-6 ACC)
University Hall (8,394)/Charlottesville, Va.
Tipoff: 7:30 pm
Broadcast: None.
Records: WFU is 10-9, 1-8 in the ACC, and currently on a seven-game skid after falling at Florida State on Sunday. Virginia is 9-11 overall, 3-6 in ACC play, and have won four of their last six outings.
The Series: Thursday??s game is the 53rd meeting between the two schools. Wake Forest halted a 49-game UVa win streak with a 77-66 win when the teams met earlier this season in Winston-Salem. That was also WFU??s last victory.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis is in her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 52-106 record. Now in her 18th season, her career has produced a 214-256 mark. Cavalier coach Debbie Ryan is 570-221 in her 26th season as a head coach, all with the Cavaliers.
Up Next: Wake Forest returns home to host top-10 ranked North Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1:00 p.m. at Joel Coliseum. The game will be televised on the ACC regional network.
WFU Strives For Lone ACC Sweep of Season At Virginia
The Wake Forest women??s basketball team, in search of a much-needed win, travels to Virginia to face the Cavaliers on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in University Hall.
The Demon Deacons are currently riding a seven-game losing streak, their longest such slide since a nine-game streak closed out the 2000-01 campaign.
A win would also give Wake Forest a sweep over the ACC-rival Cavaliers. The Deacons defeated UVa 77-66 at home on Jan. 5. It would be WFU??s first sweep of a league opponent since taking two against Florida State in the 1996-97 campaign.
Virginia is 9-11 overall with a 3-6 ACC mark. After dropping their first four conference games of the season, the Cavaliers appear to be on the upswing, winning four of their last six. All four of victories have also come at home.
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 need just two more wins to reach that win total this season.
Last Outing: Triple Overtime Thriller In Tallahassee
Wake Forest came back from a 10-point second-half deficit to force not one, not two, but three overtime periods versus the Seminoles in Tallahassee last Sunday. In the end, foul trouble doomed the Deacs as FSU sunk 4-of-6 free throws in the third OT to hang on for a two-point win, 62-60.
Freshman Cotelia Bond-Young, after a scoreless first half, put up 11 in the second to go with 10 rebounds, notching her first career double-double. Tonia Brown and Erin Ferrell also put up 11, while Tiffani Listenbee had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Working ??Overtime?? To Come Up With These Notes
With Wake Forest??s triple-overtime loss at FSU on Sunday:
* It marked just the second triple overtime game in school history and first in ACC play. The Deacs took UNC Charlotte to a third extra period on Dec. 19, 1993 before losing, 90-87.
* It was the second-lowest scoring overtime game in school history. WFU fell to Virginia, 61-55 in one overtime period last season.
* It was just the fourth game in school history that went beyond one extra period. The Deacs have played two double-overtime game, defeating James Madison in 1997 and losing at Virginia in 2001.
* Wake Forest??s record in overtime contests now stands at 9-12, and the Deacons have lost four straight such games, all against conference opponents.
Oh, So Close!
After cruising through the months of November and December with just one game decided by 10 points or less, the Demon Deacons have been through some battles since the start of the New Year.
After defeating UNC Wilmington by six, 65-59, on Dec. 29, Wake Forest has game 0-5 in games decided by 10 points or less. All five losses have come against ACC opponents.
Overall, five of the Deacs nine ACC games so far this season have been decided by a close margin.
That stretch includes a pair of two-point losses to Florida State, a two-point loss to Maryland, a four-point loss to Georgia Tech, and a 10-point at then No. 1-ranked Duke (which was a two-point game with less than a minute remaining).
Taking This Show On The Road
The Demon Deacons have not won on their opponents?? home court since a 65-59 win at UNC Wilmington on Dec. 29, going 0-4 on the road in that span. The first two were day trips to the home courts of national top 10 teams, as they fell to No. 9 UNC and top-ranked Duke. Over the last two weekends, the Deacons have dropped road games at Clemson and Florida State.
Wake Forest has hosted 11 home games so far this year (record: 7-4) while playing seven on the road (2-5).
Wake Forest won just one ACC road game last season -- at Georgia Tech -- after not winning at any league opponent??s home court in 2001. The Deacs?? last win at Virginia??s University Hall was a one-point win, 60-59, on Jan. 13, 1978.
Keep An Eye on Cotelia
Wake Forest freshman Cotelia Bond-Young has become an effective go-to player for the Demon Deacons this season, and, in doing so, has positioned herself as one of the top candidates for ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
The 5-7 guard is currently the ACC??s top scoring freshman with 11.1 points per game, a mark that also ranks second on the Deacon squad. She is also the league??s 16th leading scorer overall. Her 37 three-pointers this season ranks third in the ACC in treys per game (1.95), while her three-point shooting percentage (.370) is fourth among league leaders. She led both of those categories for much of the season.
Bond-Young has quickly proven to be a solid all-around player, as she also ranks first among ACC rookies and 10th among the overall league??s leaders in assists (3.42 apg) as well as eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59). That figure also ranks as the fifth-best season ratio in WFU history.
Only three ACC freshman rank among the league??s top 30 scorers, including Bond-Young, La??Tangela Atkinson of UNC (10.8 ppg) and Mistie Bass of Duke (8.6 ppg). In ACC games, Bond-Young has been the only rookie putting up double-figure scoring, but is currently just under that mark with 9.9 ppg.
She also owns a team-high 12 double-figure scoring games and has led WFU in scoring five times this season.
Although her scoring numbers have been below her average in Wake??s last three games, Bond-Young has stepped up in the rebounding category, leading the team in two of those outings. She pulled down team-highs 10 at Clemson and six versus Georgia Tech. She also had 10 at Florida State while notching her first double-double.
Ferrell On The Offensive
Sophomore forward Erin Ferrell played a new role for the Deacs in the team??s last two outings -- as a starter. The part seems suited for her, as she tied a career high and led the team with 16 points in her first start versus Georgia Tech and followed that up with 11 points, nine rebounds at FSU.
While Ferrell had appeared to have settled into her role as a defensive stopper off the bench, she??s been making some noise on the offensive end of the floor as well. She??s currently averaging 7.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, 2.4 points and 1.6 boards over her averages as a rookie last season.
Ferrell already has eight games of double-figure scoring this year, nearly tripling her mark of three double-figure games from all of last season. In the team??s win at UNC Wilmington, she set a new career high in rebounds (10) and recorded her first double-double with 12 points as well.
Scouting Virginia
Like in the first meeting between the two teams in January, Virginia comes into Thursday??s game with a rare losing record, as the Cavaliers are currently 9-11 with an 3-6 mark in the ACC. Virginia, however, appears to be on a upswing, winning four of the last six. The Cavs should be a formidable opponent at home, as those four victories have all taken place at University Hall.
A pair of Cavalier sophomores are averaging double figures in scoring -- sophomore guard Cherrise Graham (15.1 ppg) and forward Brandi Teamer (13.7), last season??s ACC Rookie of the Year. Teamer also has a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game (8.5 in ACC games only) and is shooting 49 percent from the floor. Graham also ranks among the ACC leaders in both free throw percentage (.828) and three-point percentage (.321).
The Series With Virginia
You can??t look at the overall series between Wake Forest and Virginia without noticing ??the streak?? -- 49 straight Cavalier victories ... that mark, however, was broken when the two teams met last month, as WFU came away with an 11-point victory ... the Demon Deacons have defeated UVa in Charlottesville just once (Jan. 13, 1978) during Debbie Ryan??s first year as head coach of the Wahoos ... three of the last four meetings have gone into overtime, including a three-point double overtime decision at University Hall in 2001.
Deacon-Cavalier Connections
* Wake Forest head coach Charlene Curtis served as an assistant coach under Debbie Ryan at Virginia from 1981-83. Curtis also earned her master??s degree from Virginia while working as a coach for the Cavs.
* Two current Deacons call Virginia their home state ?V Tonia Brown (Roanoke) and Heather Miller (Bassett). Coach Curtis is also a native of Roanoke.
* The coaching staffs of these two teams must have crossed recruiting paths in Maryland in recent years as eight players from the state of Maryland ?V all sophomores or freshmen ?V are on the rosters of these two teams, including Wake??s Meredith Bell (Waldorf), Cotelia Bond-Young (Landover), Keila Evans (Baltimore), Erin Ferrell (Gaithersburg), and Sandi James (Columbia), and Virginia??s LaTonya Blue (Baltimore), Jocelyn Logan-Friend (Cheverly) and Lynette O??Reggio (Laurel).
* Bond-Young and O??Reggio are former high school teammates from Elizabeth Seton, while Wake Forest??s Evans and Blue both graduated from St. Frances in Baltimore.
* The last (and only) time the Demon Deacons defeated Virginia in Charlottesville (Jan. 13, 1978), current WFU radio analyst Roper Halverson was an assistant coach on the Wake sideline.
Coming Up Next
After playing two straight ACC road games for the first time this seasOn, Wake Forest returns home to host nationally-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1:00 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC regional network.
