University of North Carolina Athletics
Women's Hoops Set To Take On Wake Forest
January 15, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2000
Tipoff
oth the Tar Heels and Demon Deacons are in need of a win as the teams meet on Sunday: Wake has lost its last three and UNC its last four. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Next up for Carolina is a home game against Florida State. The Seminoles visit Carmichael Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 20, for a 7 p.m. game.
Quick Facts on the Tar Heels
Record: 9-6 overall, 1-4 ACC
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell
Hatchell*s Career Record: 550-219 (25th year)
Hatchell*s Record at UNC: 278-139 (14th year)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Ann Hancock, Tracey Williams
National Rankings: #15 AP, #12 USA Today
Sports information contact: Dana Gelin
Phone/email: (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC website: www.TarHeelBlue.com
On the Air
The Wake Forest game will be broadcast on radio by the Carolina Women*s Basketball Network. The flagship station is 1360AM-WCHL. Stephen Gates handles the play-by-play and Jan Boxill provides color commentary.
News to Note
Junior forward LaQuanda Barksdale, who will played in her hometown of Winston-Salem on Sunday, continues to lead the ACC in scoring and rebounding, with 18.4 points and 9.7 boards per game.
Junior guard Juana Brown is second on the team with 11.2 points per game. Junior center Jackie Higgins is the second-leading rebounder with 8.9 per game.
After four consecutive losses, the Tar Heels are still looking for their first win of 2000.
UNC vs. Wake Forest
Sunday's game is the 52nd meeting between UNC and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels lead the series 43-8 and have won the last 18 matchups, including both of last year*s meetings. On Jan. 2, 1999, UNC won 100-75 at Wake Forest as Winston-Salem product LaQuanda Barksdale scored a career-high 26 points. The Demon Deacons visited Chapel Hill on Jan. 31 and UNC won that game 88-66.
Scouting the Demon Deacons
Wake Forest is 5-10, 1-3 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons beat visiting Florida State 64-59 on Jan. 3, but have lost three straight since then, most recently 82-48 at Duke on Thursday.
Senior guard Alisha Mosley comes off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 9.7 points per game. Junior forward Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick averages 9.3 points and leads the team in rebounds with 7.0 per game. Wake averages 58.4 points per game.
Last Time Out
UNC lost 55-44 at Georgia Tech on Thursday, equalling its lowest scoring output of all time. The Yellow Jackets, led by 17 first-half points from Danielle Donehew, were up 24-15 at halftime and Carolina never got closer than seven in the second half.
Teasley Takes Leave of Absence
Coach Sylvia Hatchell announced on Jan. 9 that junior guard Nikki Teasley will take an indefinite leave of absence from the University of North Carolina women's basketball team. Teasley will remain on scholarship and is enrolled in classes this semester. There is no set timetable for her return to the team.
"This is not a disciplinary action," Hatchell said. "We're just trying to do what's best for Nikki and for the team."
Teasley, from Washington, D.C., is averaging 14 points per game this season and leads the team in steals and assists. She appeared in the team's first 12 games, starting eight of them.
Y2K Glitch?
Heading into their fifth game of 2000, the Tar Heels are still looking for their first win of the new year. Since the turn of the calendar, UNC has dropped games to NC State (Jan. 3), Virginia (Jan. 6), Clemson (Jan. 10) and Georgia Tech (Jan. 13). All four of those were conference games and the team*s current mark of 1-4 is its worst ACC start since the 1990-91 season.
The Tar Heels had lost not lost four in a row since the 1990-91 season.
Closing in on 500
The Tar Heels are four wins away from registering the 500th win in the history of the varsity program. Women*s basketball became a varsity sport at UNC for the 1974-75 school year and the Tar Heels played their first game on Jan. 13, 1975, winning 74-47 against NC State in Raleigh.
Now in its 26th year as a varsity program, UNC sports an alltime record of 496-269, a winning percentage of .648.
Barksdale Breaks Out
After a solid sophomore season in which she led the team in rebounding, junior forward LaQuanda Barksdale has emerged as one of the top players in the ACC. She currently leads the league in scoring with 18.4 points per game and in rebounding with 9.7 boards per game. She ranks fifth in the conference in field goal percentage and fourth in free throw percentage.
arksdale earned ACC Player of the Week honors on Dec. 13 after averaging 30 points and 18.5 rebounds in the week's two games. She set a career high with 31 points against Georgia Southern on Dec. 7, then came back with 29 against Radford on Dec. 11.
With teammate Jackie Higgins, then the ACC*s leading rebounder, on the bench with back pain, Barksdale picked up the slack with 18 boards against Georgia Southern and 19 (tying her career high) against Radford. She has scored in double figures in 27 of the past 31 games. She has 16 career double-doubles, six this season.
Tar Heel Honors
*Freshman forward Jennifer Thomas was named ACC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season on Dec. 20. Thomas scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in a Dec. 19 win over Michigan State, the Tar Heels* only game of the week.
She also earned the honor on Dec. 6 after averaging 15.3 points in the previous week*s three games. Thomas shot 54.2 percent (13-24) from the field and 80.0 percent (20-25) from the free throw line. She also contributed 4.7 rebounds per game in an average of 18.7 minutes on the floor.
* Junior forward LaQuanda Barksdale was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 13 after averaging 30 points, 18.5 rebounds in the two games of the week.
* Barksdale was named to the all-tournament team at the Wachovia Women*s Invitational Tournament after averaging 19.5 points in UNC*s 99-86 loss to Notre Dame and 106-80 win over Richmond. Barksdale was perfect from the free throw line in the tournament, hitting all 12 of her attempts.
Battling the Injury Bug
* Freshman guard Courtney Chambers has been diagnosed with mononucleosis and is expected to miss several weeks of play. She has appeared in six games this season, averaging 4.5 minutes per game.
* Carolina's numbers were sparse in some December games as players battled a variety of injuries and illnesses.
* Junior guard Juana Brown missed three games (Richmond, Georgia Southern, Radford) because of back spasms and junior center Jackie Higgins missed two games (Georgia Southern, Radford) with back pain.
* Sophomore center Maggie Goloboy missed the Radford and Georgia Southern games with bronchitis. Freshman guard Courtney Chambers sat out the game against Radford with an illness and junior guard Leah Sharp missed that game with a pulled groin, suffered against Georgia Southern. All were back in action for the Dec. 19 game against Michigan State.
Sharp Shooters
UNC continues to lead the ACC in three-pointers per game with an average of 6.4.
As a team, UNC is shooting 34.3 from three-point range, fourth in the ACC.
UNC in the Polls
The Tar Heels began the season ranked in the top 10, but fell out of the single digits after losing to Notre Dame on Dec. 4. They have spent the season ranked between eighth and 15th in both polls.
The Tar Heels' current ranking of 15th in the AP poll is their lowest spot in that poll since the week of Jan. 6, 1997, when they were ranked No. 16.
Carolina has been ranked in both polls since the week of Dec. 2, 1996.
AP USA Today Preseason 9 8 11/15 8 -- 11/22 10 11 11/29 9 12 12/6 11 14 12/13 10 11 12/20 10 11 12/27 9 10 1/3 9 9 1/10 15 12
In Remembrance
Each Tar Heel jersey bears a black patch with the letters "MH" this season in memory of UNC Chancellor Michael Hooker. Hooker, a 1969 Carolina graduate and chancellor since 1995, succumbed to non-Hodgkins lymphoma on June 29th.
In his four years as chancellor, Hooker made a tremendous impact on the university. He was a staunch supporter of the Carolina athletic programs, both at home and on the road. All 28 varsity teams will wear black patches this season in his memory.
Not a Senior in the Bunch
For the first time in Sylvia Hatchell's 14 years as the UNC coach, Carolina doesn't have a single senior on the roster. This year's team is made up of seven juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen.
Preseason Play
The Tar Heels split their preseason exhibition games, losing to the Russian Junior National Team 82-77 on Nov. 3 and beating Makos CKB Cassovia (Slovakia) 71-64 on Nov. 14.
Junior forward LaQuanda Barksdale led the team in both games, with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the first and 23 points, 14 rebounds in the second. Junior Jackie Higgins, who started at center, also turned in impressive performances, with 15 points, nine rebounds against Russia and 18 points, 13 rebounds against Slovakia.
Returning Core
North Carolina returns its top three scorers and four of its top five >from the 1998-99 season. Guard Nikki Teasley led the team in scoring last season with 15.4 points per game, guard Juana Brown added 14.6 points and forward LaQuanda Barksdale scored 13.9. Departed senior Chanel Wright scored 13.7 points per game.
The Tar Heels also return the majority of their rebounding, with four of the top five back. Barksdale led the team with 7.8 per game. After Wright's 5.3 per game, UNC got 5.2 from Brown and 5.1 from forward Jackie Higgins. Great Expectations
At the ACC media day in October, the Tar Heels were picked as the favorite to win the conference championship. UNC was listed first on 22 ballots, compared with 14 for NC State and two for Virginia.
Carolina's Nikki Teasley was named to the Preseason All-Conference team, along with Georgia Tech's Niesha Butler, Virginia's Erin Stovall and North Carolina State's Summer Erb and Tynesha Lewis.
Newcomers
The 1999-2000 roster lists six new additions to the UNC team'two juniors and four freshmen.
The juniors are guard Jasmyn Huntington, who redshirted last season after transferring from Nevada, and center Jackie Myers, who is a member of the UNC track and field team and decided this fall to walk on to the basketball team.
The freshmen are guards Coretta Brown (Statesville, Ga.), Courtney Chambers (Asheville, N.C.) and Cherie Lea (Blanch, N.C.) and forward Jennifer Thomas (Lathrup Village, Mich.)
Next Year's Additions
The Tar Heels signed three players during the early signing period in November.
Chrystal Baptist: A 6-2 guard/forward from Farmville, N.C., she scored 23.4 points per game last season for Farmville Central and averaged 16 rebounds. She is attending Charlotte Christian School for her senior year.
Carrie Davis: A 6-4 forward/center from Franklin, Tenn., she averaged 16 points and nine rebounds last season for Brentwood High. She was named district MVP and was a member of the all-region team.
Candace Sutton: A 6-5 center from Kettering, Md., she averaged 17 points and 9.1 rebounds for Largo High last season.
Looking Back at 1999
The Tar Heels finished the season 28-8, reaching the Sweet 16 before falling to Purdue 82-59 in the Midwest Regional semifinal. For the second year in a row, UNC was ousted from the NCAA Tournament by the eventual champion. (Carolina was knocked out in the regional final by Tennessee in 1998.)
UNC spent the entire season ranked in the AP poll, with a high spot of fifth and a low of 14th at the season's end.
The Tar Heels finished tied for third in the ACC during the regular season and as the runner-up in the ACC Tournament. They surpassed the 25-wins mark for the fifth time in six years.
ACC Honors
Three Carolina players'Juana Brown, Nikki Teasley and Chanel Wright'were named to the All-ACC Tournament first team in 1998-99. Teasley was also named to the All-ACC second team, while Brown and LaQuanda Barksdale were selected for the the third team.
UNC reached the ACC Tournament finals for the fifth time in the past six years, but lost to Clemson 87-72 in the championship game.
Named for the Naismith
oth Nikki Teasley and LaQuanda Barksdale are listed among the preseason candidates for the Naismith Award, given to college basketball's player of the year. Teasley is listed among the top 10 candidates, while Barksdale is on the 'Best of the Rest' list.
Teasley also was among the candidates for the award last season.
Barksdale Brings Home Silver
LaQuanda Barksdale spent part of her summer competing as a part of the USA Basketball World University Games team, which won a silver medal in Spain in July. Barksdale started all six games of the competition and averaged 11.8 points (second on the team) and 4.5 rebounds.
Team Captains
Juniors LaQuanda Barksdale and Jasmyn Huntington were selected to serve as team captains for the 1999-2000 season.
Coach Sylvia Hatchell
Sylvia Hatchell is in her 14th year as Carolina's coach and her 25th year as a head coach. A North Carolina native, Hatchell has led the team to an average of 20.7 wins per year over the past 13 seasons and to 26.6 wins per year over the past six.
She is the only coach to have won women's basketball national championships on the NCAA, NAIA and AIAW levels. Besides the 1994 NCAA Championship at UNC, Hatchell led Francis Marion to the NAIA national championship in 1986 and to an AIAW title in 1982.
