University of North Carolina Athletics
Despite Icy Weather, Women's Game On For 7 p.m. At Smith Center
December 4, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Tipoff: No. 16 UNC hosts Appalachian State
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (4-1) plays its third home game of the season on Thursday, when it hosts Appalachian State at 7 p.m. The game has been moved to the Dean E. Smith Center because UNC is hosting NCAA Tournament volleyball games Thursday and Friday in Carmichael Auditorium.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a home game against Old Dominion on Sunday. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at Carmichael.
On the air
The game between UNC and Appalachian State 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 and Jones Angell provides color commentary. Game action also is available via the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com.
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 for the matchup with ASU may be purchased at the Smith Center ticket window prior to the game or through the UNC ticket office by calling (919) 962-2296 or (800) 722-4335.
Quick facts on UNC
2002-03 Record: 4-1
2001-02 Record: 26-9 (11-5 ACC)
Current Rankings: 16th AP, 15th USAToday/ ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 606-250 (in her 28th season)
Record at UNC: 334-170 (in her 17th season)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Williams, Charlotte Smith-Taylor
Team captains: Coretta Brown, Courtney Chambers, Jennifer Thomas
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
* La'Tangela Atkinson is the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week following a standout performance at the Rainbow Wahine Classic. She averaged 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in UNC's three games and led the team with 19 points against Hawaii on Sunday as she made her first career start.
* Thursday's game against Appalachian State is UNC's third of the season against Southern Conference teams. The Tar Heels have defeated Davidson and East Tennessee State.
* Carolina is 11-8 all-time in games played at the Dean E. Smith Center. Thursday's game, which was moved early this week, is the only game that the women's team is scheduled to play at the Smith Center this season.
* The ASU roster includes two players who are products of Triangle high school: Sophomore guard Aisha Bryant played at Durham's Hillside High and freshman guard Laura Hamm at Raleigh's Leesville Road High.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: La'Tangela Atkinson (14.0 points per game
Rebounding: La'Tangela Atkinson (7.8 per game)
Assists: Coretta Brown, Leah Metcalf (3.2 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (3.2 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.4 per game)
Field goal percentage: Carrie Davis (57.1 percent, 8-14)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (31.8 per game)
Scouting the Appalachian State Mountaineers
Appalachian State, a member of the Southern Conference, is 1-3 on the season. The Mountaineers opened with a 64-56 loss at Campbell before picking up their first win, 68-35 against UNC Asheville on Nov. 25. Since then, ASU has lost at Charlotte (70-56 on Nov. 27) and at Wake Forest (88-59 on Dec. 1).
Sophomore guard Aisha Bryant, who is from Durham and played at Hillside High, leads the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game and is also tied for the rebounding lead with 5.8 per game. Junior guard Tiffani Johnson adds 10.0 points per game and freshman forward Jessica Jank averages 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. The team has started the same five for all four of its games, with freshman guards Michelle Conklin and Kiki Conyers joining Bryant, Jank and Johnson in the lineup.
The Mountaineers are coached by Adrienne Shuler, who is in her first season with the program.
* Carolina and Appalachian State have not faced a common opponent this season, but each has played at least one team from the other's conference.
ASU played an Atlantic Coast Conference team in its last outing, a 88-59 loss at Wake Forest on Sunday. UNC opened the season with games against a pair of Southern Conference teams, beating Davidson 68-46 on Nov. 22 and East Tennessee State 106-40 on Nov. 24.
The North Carolina-Appalachian State series
Thursday's game will be the 20th meeting between North Carolina and Appalachian State but the first since the 1988-89 season. UNC leads the series 15-4.
In the last meeting, on Dec. 29, 1988, Carolina won 84-82 at the Lady Hatter Classic in Deland, Fla. The Mountaineers' last victory in the series came during the 1977-78 season, when ASU beat the visiting Tar Heels 93-84 on Dec. 2, 1977.
Smith Center a second home
Thursday's game against Appalachian State was scheduled for Carmichael Auditorium, but was moved early this week after UNC was designated as a host site for NCAA Volleyball Tournament first and second round games. Those games will take place in Carmichael Auditorium on Thursday and Friday evenings, necessitating relocation of the women's basketball game.
The game will be UNC's first at the Smith Center since Jan. 10, 2002, when the Tar Heels lost 66-63 to NC State in an ACC matchup.
The UNC women first played at the Smith Center on Jan. 13, 1987, losing 82-76 to NC State during Sylvia Hatchell's first season as the Tar Heels' coach.
The Tar Heels are 11-8 overall in games at the Smith Center.
Carolina Blue Hawaii
UNC spent the week of Thanksgiving in Hawaii, playing in the Rainbow Wahine Classic, where the Tar Heels finished third with a 2-1 record. Coretta Brown and Candace Sutton were named to the all-tournament team.
Including players, staff, family and fans, the North Carolina group numbered nearly 100 people. The team left Chapel Hill on Nov. 25 and started the return trip from Hawaii on Dec. 2, arriving home on the evening of Dec. 3.
In addition to their three games and two practices, the Tar Heels had plenty of time to enjoy the island of Oahu. The team visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, attended a luau (where some found themselves on stage), snorkeled at Hanauma Bay and spent plenty of time on the beaches of Waikiki.
On the trip home, the players all answered the question, "What was your favorite part of the trip?" Here are their responses:
La'Tangela Atkinson - "The luau. I had fun dancing and it was a unique cultural experience."
Chrystal Baptist - "Snorkeling. I loved seeing all the fish."
Nikita Bell - "Snorkeling. I felt like I was in an aquarium."
Coretta Brown - "Vising Pearl Harbor, because of the historical value, and shopping at the Armani store, where I went so much that all the workers knew me."
Courtney Chambers - "Swimming with sea turtles while we were snorkeling."
Elizabeth Coughran - "Snorkeling. I hadn't done it in a long time, and it was the one active thing that I could do with my knee."
Carrie Davis - "Watching the sunrise from Diamond Head, visiting Pearl Harbor and snorkeling."
Jenni Laaksonen - "Snorkeling. It was the first time I had done it, and it was fun to see all those fish."
Kenya McBee - "Walking around in Waikiki and on the beach."
Leah Metcalf - "Chilling at the beach."
Jessica Sell - "Seeing the big waves on the North Shore. I also enjoyed the great view from our hotel."
Candace Sutton - "Snorkeling. I had never been before and it was fun to see all the fish and coral and sea urchins and everything."
Jennifer Thomas - "Snorkeling. It was cool to see the fish, and the water was really warm and calm. It's not something you get to do every day."
Tiffany Tucker - "Sitting on the beach, and sitting on our balcony listening to the water."
Sutton climbing blocks list
Though just beginning her junior year, center Candace Sutton already ranks among UNC's career leaders in blocks. She started the season with a total of 107 in 62 games for a 1.73 average, second best in school history. Both of her season totals rank on UNC's single season chart, with her freshman-year 40 tied for ninth and her sophomore-year 67 in fourth.
With seven blocks this year, Sutton now has 114, fourth on UNC's career list. She ranks 26th on the Atlantic Coast Conference's career list.
North Carolina's career leaders in blocked shots
1. Dawn Royster (1984-87) - 329 in 110 games (2.99 per game)
2. Gwendolyn Gillingham (1992-95) - 126 in 114 games (1.11)
3. Sylvia Crawley (1991-94) - 123 in 124 games (0.99)
4. Candace Sutton (2001-present) - 114 in 67 games (1.70)
5. Tresa Brown (1981-84) - 112 in 121 games (0.93)
Brown knocks 'em down
Last season, senior guard Coretta Brown hit 99 three-pointers to set school and conference single-season records in that category. After a slow start to this season - she hit just one in each of the team's first two games - she now has 11 on the year. Against DePaul on Nov. 29, she was 4-for-5 from three-point range, all in the first half.
With a current career total of 174, she ranks fourth place on UNC's all-time list. Her career three-point percentage, which currently sits at .369, is the best in school history.
North Carolina's career leaders in three-pointers
1. Nikki Teasley (1998-2000, 2002) - 236 in 125 games
2. Stephanie Lawrence (1992-95) - 227 in 128 games
3. Tonya Sampson (1991-94) - 194 in 123 games
4. Coretta Brown (2000-present) - 174 in 102 games
5. Juana Brown (1998-2001) - 168 in 124 games
