University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Women's Basketball Hosts Kentucky Wednesday
November 27, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2001
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Tipoff
The 24th-ranked University of North Carolina women's basketball team (5-1) hosts Kentucky (2-1) on Wed., Nov. 28. Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Norfolk, Va., to play Old Dominion, currently ranked 17th in the Associated Press poll and 19th in the coaches' poll, on Sunday. Carolina's next home game is its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, Dec. 5 vs. Wake Forest.
Tickets
Tickets to UNC women's basketball games are $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors. There is no charge for admission for children 12 and under.
North Carolina students, faculty and staff are admitted free with their UNC One Cards.
Tickets may be purchased at the door or from the UNC ticket office by calling (919) 962-2296 or (800) 722-4335.
On the air
The UNC-Kentucky 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: 5-1
Current Rankings: 24th AP, 24th USAToday/ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record : 581-241 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 309-161 (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
UNC ticket office: (919) 962-2126, (800) 722-4335
News of note
* UNC moved into the national rankings this week and currently sits at No. 24 in both polls.
* The Tar Heels lead the series with Kentucky 2-0.
* With two three-pointers against Winthrop, Nikki Teasley moved into third place on UNC's career three-pointers list with a total of 170. Coretta Brown also hit a pair of threes in that game, moving her into ninth place on the list with a career total of 79.
* Brown is currently tied for second on UNC's career three-point percentage list (35.6), while Teasley ranks seventh (33.1).
Scouting the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky, a member of the Southeastern Conference, is 2-1 on the season following wins over Temple (64-55) and Sam Houston State (100-55) and a loss at Memphis (63-55).
Sophomore center Selia "SeSe" Helm leads the team in scoring with 19.0 points per game and also is Kentucky's top rebounder, averaging 7.7 per game. Also scoring in double figures is junior guard Rita Adams with 16.7 points per game.
Kentucky averages 73.0 points per game and has allowed 57.7 to opponents.
The Wildcats finished 6-21 last season, 2-12 in the SEC. All five starters return from that team.
The North Carolina-Kentucky series
UNC and Kentucky have met twice in women's basketball with the Tar Heels winning both games. Both matchups have been at neutral sites.
The most recent UK-UNC game was Dec. 31, 1993, when Carolina won 80-75 in overtime at the Citrus Sports Travel Holiday Classic in Orlando, Fla. The game was UNC's only overtime contest in a season that saw the Tar Heels finish 33-2 and earn the program's first NCAA Championship.
The teams' first matchup was on Jan. 7, 1978, in Raleigh, where the Carolina won 73-65.
UNC vs. the SEC
The Tar Heels carry a 20-32 record against Southeastern Conference teams into the matchup with Kentucky. UNC has played every SEC team except Arkansas and leads its series with Alabama (6-3), Florida (3-1), Kentucky (2-0) and Mississippi (1-0). The Tar Heels' series with Mississippi State (1-1), South Carolina (5-5) and Vanderbilt (1-1) are tied. UNC trails in the series with Auburn (0-3), Georgia (0-5), LSU (0-1) and Tennessee (1-12).
Wednesday's game is the first of two Carolina matchups with SEC teams in the next month. On Dec. 20, the Tar Heels will play South Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Last time out for UNC
Nov. 24: North Carolina 84, Winthrop 43
ROCK HILL, S.C.--Sophomore center Candace Sutton scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead UNC to an 84-43 win over Winthrop in the Winthrop Lady Eagle Classic. With a pair of wins in the weekend event (UNC defeated Howard 117-57 on Friday), the Tar Heels improved to 5-1 on the season.
Sutton scored the Tar Heels' first seven points and UNC went on to a 42-25 halftime lead, despite being outrebounded 23-22 by the Lady Eagles (0-3). "Winthrop was well-prepared and the first half gave us all we could handle," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "At halftime, the sermon was rebounding. Our focus was to get on the boards in the second half. We did and that made a big difference."
The Tar Heels finished the game with a 57-40 rebounding edge. Sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist led UNC with 10 boards and also had a career-high four blocks.
Brown scored 14 points and tallied six assists, five rebounds and one turnover in 33 minutes of play. Teasley struggled from the field, hitting two three-pointers in 11 field goal attempts, but was 7-for-8 from the free throw line for 13 points and added five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Freshman guard Leah Metcalf also scored in double figures for UNC with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field.
Senior guard Charlotta Wennefors led Winthrop with 14 points. The Lady Eagles shot 23.1 percent from the field to the Tar Heels' 44.4.
Tar Heels move into the polls
Following a 5-1 start to the season, North Carolina moved into both national polls at No. 24. The Tar Heels had not been ranked since the start of the 2000-01 season, when a season-opening loss at Buffalo knocked them out of both polls.
Balance in the ranks
Three times in this season's first six games, the final box score has shown six UNC players in double figures. In wins over Evansville, Western Carolina and Howard, nearly half of the 13-member team scored between 10 and 23 points.
Prior to this season, the Tar Heels had not seen six in double digits since the end of the 1999-2000 season, when four starters and two subs hit that mark in a 73-64 upset of No. 9 Duke on Feb. 27, 2000.
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 North Carolina high school state champion in the 100-meter dash, ranks second on the UNC team in scoring with 14.8 points per game. The 5-7 point guard from Charlotte is shooting 43.3 percent (13-30) from three-point range and hit five threes in the games against Evansville and Connecticut.
2001-02 Awards and honors
Leah Metcalf
* Preseason WNIT All-Tournament Team
* ACC Player of the Week (Nov. 19)
* Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Nikki Teasley
* MVP of Winthrop Lady Eagle Classic
* Preseason All-ACC
Coretta Brown
* Winthrop Lady Eagle Classic All-Tournament Team
* Preseason All-ACC
Candace Sutton
* Winthrop Lady Eagle Classic All-Tournament Team
