University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Women's Basketball Takes On Howard, Winthrop
November 22, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2001
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Tipoff
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (3-1) will spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Rock Hill, S.C., competing in the Winthrop Lady Eagles Classic. UNC will take on Howard Friday at 5 p.m. and the host Lady Eagles Saturday at 5 p.m. at Winthrop Coliseum.
Carolina's next home game is Nov. 28, when the Tar Heels will host Kentucky at Carmichael Auditorium. Tipoff is 6:30 p.m.
On the air
Carolina's games against Howard and Winthrop 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.
News of note
* Freshman guard Leah Metcalf earned the first ACC Player of the Week honor of the season, announced Monday. Metcalf also was named to the six-member Preseason WNIT All-Tournament Team.
* With three three-pointers against Western Carolina, junior guard Coretta Brown took over 10th place on UNC's career list. Her career total of 75 surpassed 74 by LaQuanda Barksdale and Tanya Lamb who were tied for 10th place.
* UNC leads the series with Howard 3-0 and the series with Winthrop 6-0.
* The Tar Heels won ACC Championships at Winthrop Coliseum in 1994 and 1995. The facility played host to the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament from 1992-96.
Scouting the Howard Bison
Howard, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, is 1-1 on the season following a 73-64 win over Austin Peay and an 85-77 loss to Eastern Michigan at the Eagle Classic in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Howard is led in scoring by junior guard Asia Petty, who is averaging 16.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Essence Coggins is adding 14.5.
The North Carolina-Howard series
UNC and Howard have met three times in women's basketball with Carolina winning all three. The most recent meeting was in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, when the Tar Heels won 91-71 in Chapel Hill. Then-freshman Nikki Teasley scored 15 points and handed out 11 assists as UNC advanced to the second round.
Scouting the Winthrop Lady Eagles
Winthrop is 0-1 on the season following a 72-54 loss to Wofford in its season opener on Nov. 21. Senior guard Charlotta Wennefors led the Lady Eagles with 20 points in the loss. Senior center Anne Hollensen was the team's rebounding leader with 10. Winthrop shot 31.5 percent from the field.
Winthrop will face Fairleigh Dickinson Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on the Tar Heels Saturday at 5.
The North Carolina-Winthrop series
UNC and Winthrop have met six times with Carolina winning all of the matchups. The most recent game between the two was last season, when the Tar Heels won 71-48 in Chapel Hill on Dec. 16, 2000. Senior forward LaQuanda Barksdale led UNC with 27 points and then-sophomore Coretta Brown added 17, including four three-pointers. Brown also pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
The Tar Heels' game at Winthrop was on Jan. 30, 1992, when they defeated the Eagles 116-58.
Carolina has enjoyed success at the Winthrop Coliseum since then, however. UNC won ACC Championships at the facility in 1994 and 1995.
ACC Championship memories
With the trip to Rock Hill, S.C., this weekend, UNC returns to the site of its 1994 and 1995 ACC Championships. At the Winthrop Coliseum, where the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament was held from 1992-96, the Tar Heels began a streak that would see them land four crowns over a five-year span.
In 1994, second-seeded UNC defeated top-seeded Virginia 77-60 to claim the program's first conference title since 1984 and its first under coach Sylvia Hatchell. Charlotte Smith earned MVP honors and Sylvia Crawley, currently a UNC assistant coach, was one of three other Tar Heels who earned All-Tournament honors.
In 1995, second-seeded Carolina made it two in a row with a 95-70 championship game win over No. 4 seed Duke. Smith was again named MVP of the tournament.
The Tar Heels went on to earn titles in 1997 and '98 in Charlotte.
Last time out for UNC
Nov. 20: North Carolina 100, Western Carolina 44
UNC jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 100-44 defeat of Western Carolina Tuesday evening at Carmichael Auditorium. Led by guards Coretta Brown and Nikki Teasley with 15 points each, Carolina (3-1) shot a season-best 52.0 percent from the field. The win marked the second time in this season's four games that six Tar Heels have hit double figures in the same game.
"Tonight was a great chance for us to play a lot of people and help them get experience," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I thought the players who came off the bench did some nice things for us. "
All 13 players on the UNC roster saw at least eight minutes on the court and no one played more than 25 minutes. Junior forward Jennifer Thomas came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points in 12 minutes of play. Freshman forward Kenya McBee added a career-high 10 points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Leah Metcalf, this week's ACC Player of the Week, had 10 points and eight assists. Sophomore center Candace Sutton, whose time was limited to 12 minutes by foul trouble, contributed 10 points.
Sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist led UNC on the boards with nine points as the Tar Heels outrebounded WCU 51-41. "Rebounding is a concern for us," said Hatchell, whose team was beaten on the boards 70-31 at Connecticut in its previous outing. "We've still got people not rebounding like we need them to."
Metcalf off and running
Freshman guard Leah Metcalf is the fastest player on UNC's roster, so perhaps the speed at which she has adjusted to the college game should come as no surprise. After the first three games of her college career, Metcalf was named ACC Player of the Week and also earned a spot on the six-member Preseason WNIT All-Tournament team.
Metcalf, a former state champion in the 100-meter dash, leads the Tar Heels in scoring with an average of 18.2 points per game. The 5-7 point guard from Charlotte, N.C. is shooting 45.8 percent (11-24) from three-point range and hit five threes in the games against Evansville and Connecticut. She also leads the Tar Heels from the free throw line with a percentage of 76.9 (20-26).
