University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Women's Basketball To Host Evansville Sunday
November 10, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2001
Tipoff
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team plays a second round Preseason WNIT game Sunday, hosting Evansville for a 2 p.m. tipoff at Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels defeated George Mason 77-59 Friday evening to advance in the single-elimination tournament. Evansville advanced with a 76-70 win at Temple on Friday.
Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the teams.
On the air
Sunday's game between UNC and Evansville will be broadcast live on radio by the Tar Heel Radio Network. The flagship station is 1360-AM WCHL. Stephen Gates is Carolina's play-by-play announcer. Jones Angell will provide color commentary.
Quick facts on UNC
2001-02 Record: 1-0
Current Rankings: Not ranked
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record : 577-240 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 305-160 (in her 16th season)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Williams, Sylvia Crawley
Sports information contact: Dana Gelin
Phone/email: (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC athletics website: www.TarHeelBlue.com
News of note
* Sunday's game is the first-ever women's basketball meeting between Evansville and North Carolina.
* The winner of Sunday's game will face the winner of the second round game between Connecticut and Florida International, also scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.
* Senior guard Nikki Teasley heads into Sunday's game just seven assists from capturing the UNC career record in that category.
* Evansville's roster boasts seven seniors, while North Carolina's has just one, Teasley.
In the Preseason WNIT
UNC is one of 16 teams competing in the Preseason Women's National Invitational, a single-elimination tournament that began with first-round games on Friday and will end with a championship game on Nov. 18 or 19.
Joining UNC in this year's field were Colorado, Connecticut, Eastern Kentucky, Evansville, Fairfield, Florida International, George Mason, Loyola Marymount, New Mexico, Oral Roberts, Oregon State, Pacific, Stephen F. Austin, Temple and Vanderbilt.
First round scores:
Connecticut 93, Fairfield 50
Florida International 74, Stephen F. Austin 57
Evansville 76, Temple 70
North Carolina 77, George Mason 59
New Mexico 81, Pacific 54
Colorado 78, Oral Roberts 49
Oregon State 65, Loyola Marymount 58
Vanderbilt 91, Eastern Kentucky 62
Last time out for UNC
Nov. 9: North Carolina 77, George Mason 59
Tar Heel freshman Leah Metcalf led all scorers with 20 points as UNC advanced to the second round of the Preseason WNIT. Metcalf, the Atlantic Coast Conference's Preseason Rookie of the Year, was 12-for-15 from the free throw line and had six assists, five steals and five turnovers in 34 minutes of play in her collegiate debut. Sophomore center Candace Sutton had 14 points and nine rebounds and junior guard Coretta Brown added 12 points for Carolina.
Sophomore guard Vernessa Neamo led George Mason with 16 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Jen Derevjanik added 12 points to go with seven assists. Junior guard Shelbylynn McBride was the third Patriots player in double figures with 10 points.
George Mason (0-1) jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a three-pointer by freshman Laura Kooij and a basket by junior Khalilah Smith and led by seven, 10-3, three minutes into the game. UNC then went on a 15-2 run and pulled away from the Patriots for good. The Tar Heels led 35-21 at halftime, and GMU got no closer than 11 in the second half.
Metcalf, who averaged 19.5 points in the Tar Heels' two exhibition games, was joined in the starting lineup by Sutton, Brown, freshman forward Nikita Bell and sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist. Brown played the entire first half, but saw only nine minutes in the second because of leg cramps.
UNC shot 33.3 percent (14-42) from the field in the first half, but improved to 50 percent in the second, 40 percent for the game. George Mason shot 33.3 percent (20-60) for the game.
Teasley back on the court
Senior guard Nikki Teasley will return to the court Sunday for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Teasley spent the 2000-01 academic year away from school and had to sit out this season's first game while serving a one-game suspension for a violation of the NCAA's outside competition rule during her year away from UNC.
Teasley is a preseason candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year Award and was selected as a member of the Preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team, as well as being named to several preseason All-America teams. She was named MVP of the 2000 ACC Tournament.
Scouting the Purple Aces
Evansville was the only school to win on the road in the first round of the Preseason WNIT, advancing to the second round with a 76-70 win at Temple.
Senior guard Latasha Austin led Evansville with 25 points, 14 of them from the free throw line. She also had six assists and five steals. Also in double figures were senior forward Shyla McKibbon-Puelston with 17 points and a team-leading eight rebounds and senior guard Shinko Ono with 12 points. The Purple Aces shot 39.6 percent from the field, just better than Temple's 39.3, and outrebounded Temple 42-33.
The top returning scorer for Evansville, which finished 15-13 in 2000-01, is junior center Jenna Hayes, who averaged 10.8 points per game last season while leading the Missouri Valley Conference in field goal percentage (59.6 percent) and blocks (43).
The roster boasts a total of seven seniors, four of whom were in the starting lineup against Temple.
The Purple Aces are coached by Tricia Cullop, a 1993 graduate of Purdue who has a career record of 15-14 in her second season at Evansville.
Possible semifinal opponents
Should North Carolina win its second-round game, the Tar Heels would meet the winner of Sunday's matchup between Connecticut and Florida International. The two tipoff Sunday at 2 p.m. in Storrs, Conn.
UNC is 2-1 all-time against Connecticut. The Huskies won the teams' most recent meeting, 77-62, in the Central Fidelity Classic in Richmond, Va., on Dec. 2, 1995.
UNC has met Florida International just once, in a second-round game in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Carolina won the contest 85-72 in Chapel Hill.
ACC Predictions
In voting by the media at ACC Operation Basketball on Nov. 4, UNC was predicted to finish second in the conference race, behind Duke and ahead of NC State.
Leah Metcalf was selected as the conference's Preseason Rookie of the Year, while senior guard Nikki Teasley and junior guard Coretta Brown were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
Teasley on Naismith, All-America lists
For the third time in her career, senior guard Nikki Teasley is a preseason candidate for the Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year. Teasley also was included on the preseason list before her sophomore and junior years.
The candidates for the award were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors, comprised of coaches, journalists and analysts. The Naismith Awards program is in its 34th year.
* Teasley has been named to several preseason All-America teams, including those of Gballmag.com (first team) and Women's Basketball News Service (second team).
