Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Hoops Hosts #6 North Carolina
2/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Feb. 8, 2003
WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NEWS & NOTES
Game 21
Sun., Feb. 9, 2003
Wake Forest (10-10, 1-9 ACC) vs.#6/7 North Carolina (20-2, 9-1 ACC)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665)/Winston-Salem, N.C.
Tipoff: 1:00 pm
Television: Broadcast live on FOX Sports Net South, Comcast Sports Net, & Sunshine Network. Beth Mowins calls the pay-by-play, while Debbie Antonelli provides color analysis.
Radio: Broadcast on the internet at www.WakeForestSports.com. Carter Blackburn calls the action, with Roper Halverson with color commentary.
Records: WFU is 10-10, 1-9 in the ACC after falling at Virginia on Thursday. UNC is 20-2, 8-1 with a win at NC State on Friday.
The Series: Sunday??s game is the 60th meeting between the two schools. UNC leads the overall series, 48-11, but the home team has won the last seven meetings.
The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis is in her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 52-107 record. Now in her 18th season, her career has produced a 214-257 mark. Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell is 622-251 in her 28th season as a head coach, 350-171 in her 17th season with the Tar Heels.
Up Next: Wake Forest travels to Maryland to take on the Terrapins on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:00 p.m.
WFU Returns Home to Host North Carolina on Sunday
The Wake Forest women??s basketball team, after a two-game road swing, returns home to host sixth-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net South, Comcast Sports Net and Sunshine Network.
The Demon Deacons are currently riding a eight-game losing streak, their longest such slide since a nine-game streak closed out the 2000-01 campaign.
WFU fell to North Carolina, 86-56, last month in Chapel Hill -- the Deacons?? worst loss of the season. Wake has fared well against the Tar Heels at home recently, however, winning three straight against UNC in Winston-Salem.
North Carolina is at its highest ranking of the season, currently sixth nationally. The Tar Heels notched their 20th victory of the season two days ago at NC State, holding on for a 66-63 victory in Raleigh.
Jamming The Joel
Sunday??s game with North Carolina is Wake Forest??s annual ??Jam Joel?? game. Tickets sell for just $1.00 as the Deacs try to break their home attendance record. WFU actually broke the record earlier this season, when it hosted ??Middle School Day?? versus Western Carolina on Dec. 18. A crowd of 4,786, made up mostly of middle-schoolers, attended the event.
The previous school record was 4,457, set Jan. 4, 2001 versus North Carolina -- also a ??Jam Joel?? game. The Deacs won that contest, 73-71.
Last Outing: Second-Half Slide in Charlottesville
Wake Forest built an early nine-point lead, then owned a one-point halftime advantage, but couldn??t hang on against an aggressive Virginia squad in the second half, falling to the Cavaliers, 64-44, in Charlottesville on Thursday evening.
The Deacons were seeking their only ACC sweep of the season after defeating the Wahoos at home in the first round of conference games. Senior Tiffani Listenbee was the only Deacon in double figures with 11. The Cavaliers outrebounded WFU 44-28.
Home Sweet Home
The Demon Deacons should be excited about returning to Joel Coliseum after two straight road trips. Although it??s the only time during the conference schedule WFU will play two straight on the road, the team has had some trials in travel during the last week!
Scheduled to fly to Tallahassee last Saturday, the Deacs were grounded due to plane problems. The team ended up flying on Sunday (the day of the game), playing a triple-overtime game against the Seminoles, then flying back that night. In all, a 13-hour whirlwind trip to Tallahassee.
Later in the week, the Deacons bussed to Charlottesville. A snowstorm blew through during the Thursday night game, and road conditions were too tough to drive back that night. So WFU spent an extra night in Charlottesville and headed home on Friday.
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 gone 0-5 in games decided by 10 points or less. All five losses have come against ACC opponents.
Overall, five of the Deacs?? 10 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).
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 a candidate for ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
The 5-7 guard is currently the ACC??s second-leading freshman scorer with 10.6 points per game, a mark that also ranks second on the Deacon squad. She is also the league??s 17th leading scorer overall. Her 37 three-pointers this season ranks third in the ACC in treys per game (1.85), while her three-point shooting percentage (.359) 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 (3.35 apg) as well as sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63). 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 (10.9 ppg) and Mistie Bass of Duke (8.3 ppg). In ACC games only, Bond-Young leads all rookies and had been the only rookie putting up double-figure scoring, but is currently under that mark with 9.1 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 four 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.
Listenbee: The Iron Deac
On Jan. 23 against NC State, senior forward Tiffani Listenbee played in her 100th career game as a Demon Deacon. In fact, Listenbee has not missed a game during her entire collegiate career (currently 104). She is the only current player on the squad who can claim this accomplishment.
If Listenbee should play in every game the rest of the season, she will become the second Demon Deacon in as many years to see action in every outing of her career. Last season, LaChina Robinson closed out her career playing in all 112 games possible, a mark that ties for seventh at WFU in career games played. Depending on the team??s progress in the postseason, Listenbee could do no worse than tie that mark.
Ferrell On The Offensive
Sophomore forward Erin Ferrell played a new role for the Deacs in the team??s last three 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 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, 2.2 points and 1.7 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 The Tar Heels
Ranked sixth (AP) and seventh (coaches?? poll) nationally, North Carolina comes into Winston-Salem as the highest ranked team to visit the Deacs so far this season. The Tar Heels enter the game with a 20-2 mark, 9-1 in ACC play and are coming off a three-point win at rival NC State, 66-63, on Friday night.
The Tar Heels boast a deep squad, as four players are averaging double-figures in scoring. UNC is led by All-ACC guard Coretta Brown with 13.4 points per game. Brown has stepped up in ACC play, averaging 14.3 points per contest. Center Candace Sutton is scoring 11.1 points per game, while ranking second in the league in blocked shots. Sophomore guard/forward Nikita Bell has been strong as of late, averaging 12.0 points (13.0 in conference games). Freshman La??Tangela Atkinson, the preseason pick for ACC Rookie of the Year, is putting up 10.9 points while ranking second in the ACC with 8.6 rebounds per game.
North Carolina is the nation??s second-best team in rebound margin (+11.3), pulling down 47.3 boards per game to its opponents?? 35.9. The Tar Heels also ranks first in the ACC in field goal defense (.347 from the field, .272 from three-point range).
The Series With North Carolina
North Carolina is Wake Forest??s most-played rivalry, as the two teams meet for the 60th time ... after first meeting in the 1973-74 campaign, the Deacs and Tar Heels have played at least one time every year since ... UNC won the first 25 games, with Wake then reeling off six straight victories from 1987-1990, its longest winning streak in the series ... Carolina then won 18 straight from 1991-99 ... the home team has pulled off the victory in the last seven meetings ... North Carolina owns a 23-3 advantage on its home court and a 17-7 series lead at WFU, although the Deacs have won their last three home games against the ??Heels ... Sylvia Hatchell is 25-11 versus Wake as UNC??s head coach ... WFU??s Charlene Curtis is 3-8 against the Tar Heels.
A Look At The Rookies
Sunday??s game will provide a head-to-head look at two of the ACC??s top freshman -- WFU??s Cotelia Bond-Young and UNC??s La??Tangela Atkinson. The duo leads all league rookies in scoring (Atkinson 10.9, Bond-Young 10.6 ppg), while Atkinson is tops in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and Bond-Young ranks first in assists (3.35 apg).
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, both players scored 14 points. Atkinson finished with seven rebounds while Bond-Young pulled down five.
A Roller-Coster Ride From Beyond the Arc
Wake Forest was the ACC??s top three-point shooting team in terms of both percentage and three-pointers per game for most of the early season, but its three-point shooting has fluctuated wildly in ACC play. It their first three conference games, the Deacons shot just 10-of-61 shooting from beyond the arc (16.4 percent). The next three games showed an upward trend, as WFU converted on 22-of-60 (37 percent) from long range. That was followed up by its second-worst three-point shooting performance of the season, connecting on just 1-of-20 (5 percent) at Clemson. Versus Georgia Tech, Wake connected on its season average -- six three-pointers -- while shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc (6-15). At FSU, Wake set a school record with 30 attempts, but connected on just seven for 23 percent.
On the defensive side of the three-point shooting battle, the Deacs had done a fairly good job of keeping their opponents from scoring a lot of treys -- until the Cavaliers went 10-of-18 from beyond the arc in the team??s last outing at Virginia. Through the first nine games of the ACC season, WFU has held seven opponents to 33 percent or lower from beyond the arc. (Top-ranked Duke shot 33 percent, while the other five teams shot 23 percent or worse.)
Another Three-Point Note
Going into the Jan. 2 Florida State game, Wake Forest had scored at least two three-pointers in 54 consecutive games, dating back to an 0-of-10 performance from beyond the arc at Duke on Jan. 2, 2001 -- exactly two years to the date. But, the Deacs connected on just one three-pointer against the Seminoles. WFU still owns a streak, however, of 64 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer.
Individually, freshman Cotelia Bond-Young had a team season-long streak of nine straight games with at least one three-pointer, but it was halted with an 0-of-1 performance versus Georgia Tech on Jan. 31.
Coming Up Next
Wake Forest will take its first trip to Maryland??s new Comcast Center when it heads up to College Park on Thursday, Feb. 13. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. as the Deacs will try to avenge a two-point loss from earlier this season.
