University of North Carolina Athletics
Game Notes On The Women's Basketball Meeting with ODU
November 24, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2000
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Tipoff
North Carolina meets Old Dominion University Saturday afternoon at 2 at the Dean E. Smith Center. The Carolina women are playing a home game outside Carmichael Auditorium for the first time since 1998.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Children 12 and under are free. UNC students and employees free with a UNC One Card. All seats are general admission.
Monday, the Tar Heels are back in Carmichael, hosting East Tennessee State at 7 p.m.
Quick Facts on the Tar Heels
2000-01 Record: 2-1
1999-2000 Record: 20-13
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell
Hatchell's Career Record: 563-227 (26th year)
Hatchell's Record at UNC: 291-147 (15th year)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Williams, Sylvia Crawley
Team Captains: LaQuanda Barksdale, Juana Brown, Leah Sharp
National Rankings: Not ranked in either poll
Sports information contact: Dana Gelin
Phone/email: (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC website: www.TarHeelBlue.com
On the Air
Saturday's game will be broadcast on radio by the Carolina Women's Basketball Network. The flagship station is 1360-AM WCHL. Stephen Gates will handle the play-by-play.
News to Note
* Carolina is 2-1 coming off a 101-33 win over North Carolina A&T last Tuesday.
* Through three games, the Tar Heels are averaging 90.3 points.
* Old Dominion leads the series with UNC, 10-3.
* The Tar Heel roster boasts two preseason candidates for the Naismith National Player of the Year Award in seniors LaQuanda Barksdale and Juana Brown.
Scouting the Lady Monarchs
Old Dominion is 0-2 on the season following losses to Penn State (99-72) on Nov. 12 at the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Hartford, Conn., and to Syracuse (85-84 in double overtime) in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 17. ODU has not played in the past eight days.
The Lady Monarchs are led by senior forward Hamchetou "Tanty" Maiga, who is averaging 23.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Okeisha Howard is scoring 18.0 points per game and averaging 6.0 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kim Giddens is tied for the rebounding lead with 7.0 per game.
ODU is coached by Wendy Larry, who is in her 14th season at the school and her 17th season as a head coach. She was selected as the National Coach of the Year by several organizations in 1997, after leading the Lady Monarchs to a 34-2 record and an NCAA runner -up finish. That season, ODU lost 68-59 to Tennessee in the championship game.
* ODU and UNC have had one common opponent this season, Syracuse. On Nov. 17, the Lady Monarchs lost their home opener to Syracuse 85-84 in double overtime. Two days later, UNC came back from a 38-34 halftime deficit to beat the Orangewomen 81-68 in Syracuse.
* ODU is without senior forward Lucienne Berthieu, the Colonial Athletic Association's Preseason Player of the Year and the Lady Monarch's top scorer and rebounder the past two seasons. Berthieu underwent knee surgery on Nov. 16 to repair a torn ACL and will miss the season.
UNC vs. Old Dominion
The Tar Heels and Lady Monarchs have met 13 times over the years, but only twice in the past decade. ODU leads the series 10-3 and won 10 in a row from 1977-87, but UNC has won the two most recent meetings.
The last three meetings have come in NCAA Tournament play in Chapel Hill:
* On March 20, 1994, the host Tar Heels beat Old Dominion 63-52 in a second-round game to continue their march toward the `94 NCAA title.
* On March 18, 1992, host UNC won a first-round NCAA game 60-54.
* On March 14, 1987, Old Dominion defeated host UNC 76-58 in a second-round game. The Tar Heels have not lost an NCAA Tournament home game since.
Last Time Out
The Tar Heels won their home opener, 101-33 against North Carolina A&T State. The 68-point margin of victory was three points shy of the UNC record margin of 71 points, set in 1997 against South Carolina State (106-35).
Sophomore point guard Coretta Brown set a UNC single-game record by passing out 16 assists. She topped the old mark of 15, set by Nikki Teasley against Georgia Tech on Jan. 24, 1999. Brown's 16th assist came with 8:08 to play on a pass to Cherie Lea, whose field goal put UNC up 95-26.
Home Away from Home
Today's game is the Carolina women's basketball team's first home game outside of Carmichael Auditorium since the 1997-98 season. That year, the Carmichael floor was damaged when the building's roof caught fire in February of 1998. The Tar Heels hosted Georgia Tech at the Smith Center on Feb. 8 (UNC won 85-55) before a temporary floor was installed at Carmichael.
The first basketball game at the Dean E. Smith Center was on Jan. 18, 1986, when the UNC men beat Duke, 95-92. The UNC women first played there on Jan. 13, 1987, losing 82-76 to NC State during Sylvia Hatchell's first season as the Tar Heels' coach. Including that game, the UNC women are 10-6 at the Smith Center.
Career Highs
Although the season is only three games old, several Tar Heel veterans already have set new career highs.
* Sophomore guard Coretta Brown scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Syracuse to erase her old highs of 13 points and six rebounds. Against North Carolina A&T, she passed out 16 assists to set a school single-game record. Brown's previous high was 10, set against Richmond during the 1999-2000 season.
* Senior Juana Brown handed out eight assists against Buffalo, topping her old high of seven, set during her sophomore year.
* Sophomore Jennifer Thomas' 20 points (on 9-for-9 shooting from the field) and three steals against Buffalo bettered previous top performances of 18 points and two steals.
* Redshirt freshman Courtney Chambers, who appeared in six games last season, scored nine points against N.C. A&T to eclipse her former scoring high of four points. Her two assists and three steals against the Lady Aggies also were career bests.
Freshmen Step Up
All four true freshmen on the roster have seen action already, with center Candace Sutton starting all three games. Chrystal Baptist and Joy Hairston have appeared in two games each, and Carrie Davis saw her first action against North Carolina A&T.
Baptist shined on Tuesday in her home debut, coming off the bench to score 10 points and grab 10 rebounds in just 11 minutes of play. Hairston and Davis also scored their first points as Tar Heels in that game: Hairston was 2-for-4 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line for 6 points, and Davis was 0-for-1 from the field and 1-for-2 from the free throw line for 1 point.
Backfield of Browns
The Brown-Brown backfield duo, with Coretta at the point and Juana at shooting guard, has put up outstanding numbers through the team's first three games. Together, they are averaging 35.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 15.2 assists per game.
Coretta, a sophomore, scored a career-high 23 points against Syracuse and is averaging 18.3 per game, tied for the team lead. Juana, a senior, led the team with 26 points (two shy of her career high) against Buffalo and is averaging 17.3.
Coretta is averaging 10.6 assists per game, Juana Brown 4.7.
Balanced Attack
Through the first three games, four UNC players are scoring in double figures. Senior forward LaQuanda Barksdale and sophomore guard Coretta Brown lead the team with 18.3 points each. Senior guard Juana Brown is averaging 17.3 and freshman center Candace Sutton is averaging 10.0. Sophomore forward Jennifer Thomas is just shy of double digits, averaging 9.7 points.
arksdale also leads the team in rebounds with 8.3 per game. Coretta Brown is next, averaging 7.0.
Presence in the Middle
Freshman center Candace Sutton began her UNC career on Nov. 17 as a part of the starting lineup and has made the most of that opportunity. Over her first three games, Sutton is averaging 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds and playing 20.7 minutes per game.
Against Buffalo, in her first game as a Tar Heel, Sutton scored 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 18 minutes of play.
Sutton also has made an early difference for UNC in blocked shots. The Tar Heels averaged 1.5 per game last season and LaShonda Allen led the team with a total of nine. Through three games, Sutton already has six and the team has a total of 12, or 4.0 per game.
Familiar Face on the Bench
In addition to four freshmen on the roster, the Tar Heels have added a new face to the lineup on the bench. Sylvia Crawley, a former Carolina player who graduated in 1994, is in her first season on the coaching staff. As a UNC player, she captained the `94 NCAA championship team and now plays professionally, last season as a member of the WNBA's Portland Fire.
Season Ticket Sales Benefit Cancer Research
Coach Sylvia Hatchell, who is in her 15th season at UNC, has pledged to donate $5 to ovarian cancer research for each 2000-01 season ticket sold. Her donation will benefit the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she was treated last summer. Hatchell's saga began in May, when she underwent tests that revealed concerning abnormalities. She had surgery at UNC on June 2nd, knowing there was a possibility she would awaken to the news that she had ovarian cancer. The tumor the doctors found was benign, however, and she received a clean bill of health.
"What happened this summer has given me a new perspective and made me realize how fortunate I am," Hatchell says. "I was one of the lucky ones-I am not battling cancer. I'd like to help others fight it by doing what I can for the great programs here at UNC." For more information on the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and its programs, go to http://cancer.med.unc.edu.
