University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Women's Hoops Hosts Clemson
February 13, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2002
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Tipoff: UNC hosts Clemson, Feb. 14
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (19-6, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) returns to Carmichael Auditorium Thursday for a home game with Clemson (14-9, 6-6 ACC). Tipoff is 7 p.m.
UNC is ranked 20th in this week's Associated Press poll, 22nd in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Clemson is not ranked, but is receiving votes in the coaches' poll.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a road trip to Georgia Tech. UNC takes on the Yellow Jackets Sunday at 2 p.m.
On the air
Thursday's game 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. The radio broadcast is also available via the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com.
Quick facts on UNC
2001-02 Record: 19-6 (8-4 ACC)
Current Rankings: 20th A.P., 22nd USA Today/ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 595-246 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 323-166 (in her 16th season)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Williams, Sylvia Crawley
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
* Thursday's game is the 61st meeting between North Carolina and Clemson. UNC leads the series 34-26 after an 89-85 win at Clemson on Jan. 13 in the teams' first meeting of the season.
* The last seven regular-season games between UNC and Clemson have been decided by an average margin of 3.4 points. UNC has won five of those games.
* In this year's first game against Clemson, the Tar Heels hit a season high 13 three-pointers.
* Junior guard Coretta Brown scored the 1,000th point of her career in Sunday's game at NC State. She is the 20th UNC player to reach that landmark.
* Senior guard Nikki Teasley was named ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 11 for the second time this season and the seventh time in her career. She averaged 17.3 points and 5.0 assists as UNC three games.
* UNC has won its last five games since snapping a three-game losing streak with the Jan. 27 game against Virginia.
* NC State, which UNC defeated 80-71 on Sunday, is the first team to shoot 50 percent against the Tar Heels this season. The Wolfpack was 25-for-50 from the field. The team's 50 attempts were a season low by a UNC opponent.
* In thirteen games this season, including the win over NC State, UNC has totaled more assists than turnovers. The Tar Heels are 12-1 in those games, with the only loss coming to Georgia Tech.
* Junior Coretta Brown's current career three-point shooting percentage of 36.4 is the best in school history. She is shooting 50.0 percent (18-36) from long range over the last five games.
* With three blocks against NC State, sophomore Candace Sutton moved into fifth place on UNC's career list with a total of 98. She passed Henrietta Walls, who had 96 from 1980-83.
* With 219 career three-pointers, senior guard Nikki Teasley ranks seventh in Atlantic Coast Conference history in that category and is second all-time at UNC. She needs two more to take over sixth place in the ACC, nine to become Carolina's leader.
* Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell is five wins away from recording her 600th career victory.
* Brown and Teasley rank among the ACC's top five in scoring, three-point percentage, three-pointers made, assists and assist-turnover ratio.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Coretta Brown (16.2 points per game)
Rebounding: Chrystal Baptist (8.2 per game)
Assists: Leah Metcalf (4.7 per game)
Steals: Leah Metcalf (2.4 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (2.4 per game)
Field goal percentage: Jennifer Thomas (56.7, 51-90)
Three-point percentage: Nikki Teasley (41.4, 60-145)
Free throw percentage: Nikki Teasley (84.9, 73-86)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (33.7 per game)
UNC players in the ACC rankings
Through games of Feb. 11
Scoring: 3. Coretta Brown (16.2), 5. Nikki Teasley (15.6), 18. Candace Sutton (11.3)
Rebounding: 3. Chrystal Baptist (8.2), T11. Candace Sutton (6.1), 18. Coretta Brown (5.2)
Field goal percentage: 3. Candace Sutton (47.2), 9. Coretta Brown (44.2)
Free throw percentage: 2. Nikki Teasley (84.9)
Three-point percentage: 2. Nikki Teasley (41.4), 3. Coretta Brown (38.9)
Assists: 2. Leah Metcalf (4.68), 3. Nikki Teasley (4.65), 4. Coretta Brown (3.92)
Steals: 3. Leah Metcalf (2.40), T4. Nikki Teasley (2.26), 7. Nikita Bell (1.84)
Blocks: 1. Candace Sutton (2.42), 9. Chrystal Baptist (0.76)
Three-pointers made: 1. Nikki Teasley (2.61), 2. Coretta Brown (2.60), 9. Leah Metcalf (1.40 per game)
Assist/turnover ratio: 3. Nikki Teasley (1.57), 5. Coretta Brown (1.44), 6. Leah Metcalf (1.33)
UNC in the NCAA rankings
Through games of Feb. 11
Team
Fourth in scoring offense (82.1), 16th in three-pointers per game (6.9), 18th in scoring margin (14.6), 37th in won-loss percentage (76.0, 19-6)
Individuals
Candace Sutton:16th in blocks per game (2.4)
Nikki Teasley: 29th in three-pointers per game (2.60), 39th in three-point percentage (41.4), 40th in free throw percentage (84.9)
Coretta Brown: T31st in three-pointers per game (2.61)
Scouting the Clemson Lady Tigers
Clemson is 14-9 on the season, 6-6 in the ACC, following a 77-69 loss at Duke on Sunday. The Lady Tigers are 4-2 over their last six games.
Junior guard Chrissy Floyd leads Clemson and ranks second in the conference in scoring with 16.5 points per game. She paced the team with 19 points in its first matchup of the season with UNC. Senior guard Krystal Scott also averages double figures points with 10.7 per game, as does Senior guard Marci Glenney with 10.3. Glenney's average jumps to 13.8 points in ACC games.
Sophomore forward Maggie Slosser is the team's leading rebounder with 5.6 per game, 5.7 against ACC opponents.
The team is coached by Jim Davis, who is in his 15th year at Clemson.
The North Carolina-Clemson series
Thursday's game is the 61st meeting between UNC and Clemson. The Tar Heels lead the series 34-26 following an 89-85 win on Feb. 13 in the season's first meeting.
Close games have become the norm in the series, with the last seven regular season matchups decided by an average margin of 3.4 points and the last six decided by an average margin of 2.5 points
A look at the recent regular-season matchups:
Jan. 13, 2002, in Clemson: UNC 89, Clemson 85
Feb. 8, 2001, in Chapel Hill: UNC 100, Clemson 99, 2OT
Jan. 8, 2001, in Chapel Hill: UNC 71, Clemson 70
Feb. 10, 2000, in Clemson: Clemson 69, UNC 65
Jan. 10, 2000, in Chapel Hill: Clemson 60, UNC 59
Feb. 3, 1999, in Clemson: UNC 76, Clemson 72
Jan. 4, 1999, in Chapel Hill: UNC 87, Clemson 76
* North Carolina and Clemson also have met frequently in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The teams have played in the last six tournaments, with each winning three times. The Tar Heels and Lady Tigers played in three consecutive championship games, with UNC winning titles in 1997 and '98 and Clemson claiming the crown in 1999.
This season's first meeting
Jan. 13: UNC 89, Clemson 85
CLEMSON, S.C.-Coretta Brown scored a season-high 26 points, including a career-best six three-pointers, to lead UNC to an ACC victory over the Lady Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum. Carolina improved to 14-3 on the season, 4-1 in the ACC. Clemson fell to 10-6 (2-3).
The Tar Heels hit a season-high 13 three-pointers, one short of the school record. In addition to Brown's six, Leah Metcalf and Nikki Teasley contributed three each and Kenya McBee hit one.
With center Candace Sutton on the bench nursing a sprained right ankle, freshman McBee made the first start of her career and turned in her best game of the season. McBee scored 17 points and led the team with 12 rebounds, both career bests. Also in double figures were Teasley with 20 points and Metcalf with 15.
Chrissy Floyd's 19 points led Clemson, which had all five starters score in double figures.
UNC led by as many as 10 points midway through the first half, but was up by just four, 47-43, at halftime. Clemson quickly closed the gap and took a 58-53 lead with 14:30 to play. The Lady Tigers held the advantage as late as the 8:07 mark, when Brown hit a three to put UNC ahead for good. The Tar Heels hit eight of their three-pointers in the second half, six within a span of just over five minutes from 12:39 to 7:28 when Carolina went from two down to ahead by five.
Getting to the point
After playing mostly on the wing early in the season, senior Nikki Teasley has started the last five games at the point guard spot, and UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell couldn't be happier with the results. While Teasley's overall scoring has decreased, she has handled the ball well and led the team to four consecutive wins, three of them against conference teams.
In victories over Virginia and Maryland, Teasley averaged 11.0 points, down significantly from her season average of 15.4, but handed out 6.5 assists per game to just 2.0 turnovers. She averaged 58.3 percent from the field and 71.4 percent (5-7) from three-point range.
"She's not scoring big numbers, but she's running our team," Hatchell said after the Maryland game. "She's playing good team basketball. That's more important than having her score 20-something points a game."
Against Florida State and NC State, though, Teasley ran the team and scored 20-something. The senior guard poured in 22 points, including five of her seven three-point attempts, while handing out a season-high nine assists in the win over the Seminoles. She also had two blocks and two steals and committed just one turnover in 33 minutes of play. Against NC State, she scored 23 points, 15 in the second half, and added five assists with two turnovers.
Teasley suffered the same shooting woes as the rest of the team against Villanova, hitting 2 of 9 attempts from the floor and two free throws for seven points. She also had one assist and three turnovers in 34 minutes.
Teasley vs. Virginia
3-5 fg (60.0%), 2-3 3fg (66.7%), one rebound, seven assists, three turnovers, two steals, 10 points, 26 minutes
Teasley vs. Maryland
4-7 fg (57.1%), 3-4 3fg (75.0%), four rebounds, six assists, one turnover, one block, three steals, 12 points, 37 minutes
Teasley vs. Florida State
8-13 fg (61.5%), 5-7 3fg (71.4%), four rebounds, nine assists, one turnover, two blocks, two steals, 22 points, 33 minutes
Teasley vs. NC State
6-11 fg (54.5%), 5-10 3fg (50.0%), four rebounds, five assists, two turnovers, 39 minutes
* With Teasley handling the ball more, backcourt-mate Coretta Brown has flourished. She's averaging 20.5 points and shooting 56.0 percent from the field over the last three conference games.
Brown also led the team in scoring with 15 points (5-12 from the field) against Villanova.
Brown vs. Virginia
8-11 fg (72.7%), 4-6 3fg (66.7%)
Brown vs. Maryland
7-11 fg (63.6%), 3-6 3fg (50.0%)
Brown vs. Florida State
7-12 fg (58.3%), 4-9 3fg (44.4%)
Brown vs. NC State
6-16 fg (37.5%), 4-10 3fg (40.0%)
Mainstay in the lineup
Junior guard Coretta Brown is the only player to have started all 25 games for the Tar Heels this season, and was one of three to start all 29 last season.
After starting 10 games as a freshman and appearing in all 33, Brown moved into the starting lineup as UNC's point guard at the beginning of her sophomore season. This year, she shares guard duties with senior Nikki Teasley and freshman Leah Metcalf, both of whom have missed at least one start.
Brown has played in every game during her career at UNC, a total of 87 heading into the matchup with Clemson.
* With 23 points against NC State on Feb. 10, Brown became the 20th UNC player to hit the 1,000-point mark. She now has 1,002 for her career.
Hatchell closing in on 600th win
Sylvia Hatchell, head women's basketball coach at UNC since 1986, started the season just 24 wins away from her 600th career victory. With 576 wins heading into the 2001-02 slate, she ranked seventh among active Division I head coaches in all-time victories.
In her 27th season as a head coach, Hatchell's career record currently stands at 595-246.
She coached at Francis Marion College from 1976-85, compiling a 272-80 record and winning a pair of national championships. At UNC since the 1986-87 season, Hatchell has a record of 323-166 in her 16th season as coach of the Tar Heels. She has led the team to four Atlantic Coast Conference championships and to the 1994 NCAA Championship.
Hatchell is the only women's basketball coach to have led teams to national championships in the NCAA, NAIA and AIAW.
McBee steps up
With starting center Candace Sutton on the bench with a sprained ankle, freshman Kenya McBee was called upon to take her place in the Jan. 13 game at Clemson. The 6-3 freshman was averaging 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game and was coming off a poor outing against NC State, when she shot 0-for-4 from the field in the Tar Heels' loss.
But McBee responded to the challenge with the best game of her career. Making her first collegiate start, she scored 17 points and grabbed a team-leading 12 rebounds to help UNC to an 89-85 win. The scoring and rebounding totals both were career highs and combined to make the first double-double of her career. She played 33 minutes in the game, something of a homecoming for the Greenville, S.C., native.
For the season, she is averaging 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Keys to victory
This season, the Tar Heels are undefeated when:
* Leading at the half (18-0)
* Scoring 90 or more points (9-0)
* Shooting 50 percent or better (5-0)
* Holding opponents at 60 points or lower (8-0)
The Jan. 24 loss to Duke marked the first time this season that the Tar Heels have lost after shooting 40 percent and scoring more than 75 points.
Until the Jan. 21 loss at Wake Forest, Carolina had won every game this year in which it outrebounded its opponent. In that game and the next one, however, UNC won the rebounding battle but lost the scoring war. The Tar Heels beat the Demon Deacons 52-47 on the boards but lost 65-64, then outrebounded Duke 45-44 but lost 102-82.
Until the Villanova game, UNC had lost all six games in which it trailed with five minutes to play. The Wildcats held a one-point lead, their only advantage of the second half, at the five-minute mark, but Carolina retook the lead and hung on for the win.
Last time out for UNC
Feb. 10: No. 24 UNC 80, NC State 71
RALEIGH, N.C.-Coretta Brown and Nikki Teasley poured in 23 points each as UNC beat NC State 80-71 Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum. The win was Carolina's first in Raleigh since 1994.
UNC opened the game with a 9-0 run before Nanna Rivers dented the scoreboard for the Wolfpack 5:05 into the half. The first-half lead grew to as many as 12 at the 8:30 mark on two free throws by UNC's Kenya McBee. NC State cut the lead to four at 32-28 before Teasley answered with a a pair of free throws and a deep three to give North Carolina a 37-28 lead at the half.
After Kaayla Chones went to the Wolfpack bench with her fourth foul with 12:30 left in the game, the Wolfpack rallied behind freshman Rachel Stockdale who scored 13 of her career-high 19 points to pull the Wolfpack within two at 55-53 with 8:24 left to play.
Teasley then countered with back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead back out of reach. The senior guard had 15 points in the second half.
The win was North Carolina's fith in a row, while NC State dropped its third consecutive game.
