University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Women Travel To Georgia Tech
February 16, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2002
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Tipoff: UNC travels to Georgia Tech, Feb. 17
Coming off an 86-76 win over Clemson, the University of North Carolina women's basketball team (20-6, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) hits the road to face Georgia Tech (14-10, 7-7 ACC) in Atlanta on Sunday. Tipoff at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is 2 p.m.
UNC is ranked 20th in this week's Associated Press poll, 22nd in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll. Georgia Tech is not ranked, but is receiving votes in the coaches' poll.
Sunday's contest is the first of a two-game road swing for the Tar Heels. They'll face Virginia Thursday in Charlottesville.
On the air
Sunday's game will be televised live by Comcast Sports Southeast. Justin Kazana will provide play-by-play for the television broadcast and Debbie Palmore will add color commentary.
The game will not air locally on radio.
Quick facts on UNC
2001-02 Record: 20-6 (9-4 ACC)
Current Rankings: 20th A.P., 22nd USA Today/ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 596-246 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 324-166 (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
* Sunday's game is the 49th meeting between North Carolina and Georgia Tech. UNC leads the overall series 37-11, but the teams have split their last eight meetings.
* UNC and Georgia Tech rank first and second in the ACC in rebounding. The Yellow Jackets are tops in offensive rebounds, the Tar Heels in defensive.
* 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 during the week as UNC won three games.
* Carolina has won its last six games since snapping a three-game losing streak with the Jan. 27 game against Virginia.
* With 19 assists and 11 turnovers against Clemson, UNC boosted its season assists total above the one for turnovers and now has a 1.01 assist-turnover ratio. The Tar Heels are 13-1 this season in games in which they have more assists than turnovers, with the only loss coming to Georgia Tech on Jan. 17.
* Candace Sutton's next block will be the 100th of her career. The sophomore center already ranks fifth on UNC's all-time list, 14 blocks from taking over fourth place.
* Junior Coretta Brown's current career three-point shooting percentage of 36.9 is the best in school history. She is shooting 50.0 percent (24-48) from long range over the last six games.
* With 220 career three-pointers, senior guard Nikki Teasley currently is tied at sixth in Atlantic Coast Conference history in that category and is second all-time at UNC. She needs eight to become Carolina's leader.
* Teasley needs 22 points to climb onto UNC's list of top 10 career scorers. She currently has 1,694 points, tenth place on the list is held by Marion Jones, who scored 1,716 points during her three-year career at UNC.
* Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell is four 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 (16.3 points per game)
Rebounding: Chrystal Baptist (8.0 per game)
Assists: Nikki Teasley (4.8 per game)
Steals: Leah Metcalf (2.3 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (2.4 per game)
Field goal percentage: Jennifer Thomas (56.8, 54-95)
Three-point percentage: Nikki Teasley (40.1, 61-152)
Free throw percentage: Nikki Teasley (85.7, 84-98)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (33.7 per game)
UNC players in the ACC rankings
Through games of Feb. 14
Scoring: 3. Coretta Brown (16.3), 5. Nikki Teasley (15.5), 19. Candace Sutton (11.5)
Rebounding: 4. Chrystal Baptist (8.0), 11. Candace Sutton (6.1), 19. Coretta Brown (5.2)
Field goal percentage: 3. Candace Sutton (47.5), 9. Coretta Brown (43.5)
Free throw percentage: 2. Nikki Teasley (85.7)
Three-point percentage: 2. Nikki Teasley (40.1), 3. Coretta Brown (39.7)
Assists: 2. Nikki Teasley (4.83), 3. Leah Metcalf (4.62), 4. Coretta Brown (3.88)
Steals: 3. Leah Metcalf (2.31), T4. Nikki Teasley (2.21), 8. Nikita Bell (1.85)
Blocks: 1. Candace Sutton (2.36), 10. Chrystal Baptist (0.73)
Three-pointers made: 1. Coretta Brown (2.73), 2. Nikki Teasley (2.54), 7. Leah Metcalf (1.46 per game)
Assist/turnover ratio: 3. Nikki Teasley (1.66), 5. Coretta Brown (1.46), 7. 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 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 14-10 on the season and 7-7 in the ACC following an 81-70 loss in overtime on Thursday at Maryland. Sophomore forward Fallon Stokes led Georgia Tech with 32 points, shooting 15-for-24 from the floor. Junior center Sonja Mallory led the Yellow Jackets with 12 rebounds and also scored 10 points. Senior guard Milli Martinez added 10 points, playing all 45 minutes of the contest.
Georgia Tech has lost four of its last five games after winning six in a row, including 81-62 at UNC on Jan. 17.
On the season, Mallory is the team's leading scorer with an average of 13.8 points per game. Also in double figures are senior forward Regina Tate (12.6) and Martinez (12.3).
Mallory leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game, Tate is second with 7.5 and Martinez adds 6.5. All three rank among the ACC's top 10 in that category.
The Yellow Jackets are coached by Agnus Berenato, who is in her 14th year with the program.
The North Carolina-Georgia Tech series
Sunday's game is the 49th meeting between Georgia Tech and North Carolina. UNC leads the series, which dates back to 1980, 37-11.
Georgia Tech won this season's first matchup, 81-62 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 17.
UNC won its first 17 matches with the Yellow Jackets and a string of 13 in a row from 1993 to 1998, but recent matchups have been evenly split. Over the last eight meetings, each team has won four games.
This season's first matchup
Jan. 17: Georgia Tech 81, No. 17 UNC 62
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Fallon Stokes scored 23 points to lead Georgia Tech to an 81-62 upset victory over No. 17 North Carolina. Sonja Mallory added 14 points, while Milli Martinez and Megan Isom had 12 each as Georgia Tech (10-6, 4-3 ACC) beat the cold-shooting Tar Heels.
Leah Metcalf scored 16 points, while Nikki Teasley chipped in 12 for North Carolina (14-4, 4-2), which shot just 33 percent (27-of-81).
Stokes scored eight points in the first 10 minutes of the first half, including a short jumper with 10:43 left to give the Yellow Jackets a 22-8 lead. The Tar Heels made only four of their first 27 shots, and shot just 24 percent from the floor in trailing 38-23 at halftime.
The Yellow Jackets continued their domination in the second half, extending the lead to 66-34 with 7:59 left.
North Carolina center Candace Sutton, still recovering from a sprained ankle suffered last week, was held to four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Board meeting
Sunday's game is a meeting of the top two rebounding teams in the ACC. Carolina leads the list with 45.5 per game and Georgia Tech is second with 43.6. The Yellow Jackets are the conference's top offensive rebounding team (17.2 per game) and the Tar Heels lead the way in defensive boards (28.4).
Georgia Tech holds the advantage when it comes to limiting opponents' rebounds. The Jackets rank first in rebounding defense, with foes averaging 33.4 rebounds per game. They also top the rebounding margin list, grabbing an average of 10.2 more boards than opponents.
In this season's first matchup, Georgia Tech outrebounded UNC 60-35.
Mainstay in the lineup
Junior guard Coretta Brown is the only player to have started all 26 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 88 heading into the matchup with Georgia Tech.
* 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 1,020 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 596-246.
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 324-166 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.
Positive ratio
With 19 assists to just 11 turnovers against Clemson, the Tar Heels inched their season total for assists (464) past the one for turnovers (461). UNC is one of just two ACC schools, the other being Duke, with more assists than turnovers this season.
In 14 games this season, including the win over Clemson, UNC has totaled more assists than turnovers. The Tar Heels are 13-1 in those games, with the only loss coming to Georgia Tech on Jan. 17.
Last time out for UNC
Feb. 14: No. 22 UNC 86, Clemson 76
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-North Carolina got 28 points on the free throw line with a season-high 41 attempts to reach the 20-win mark and top Clemson 86-76 at Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels improved to 20-6 (9-4), while the Lady Tigers fell to 14-10 (6-7).
All five UNC starters scored in double figures, led by junior guard Coretta Brown's 18 points. Brown tied her career high with six three-pointers, four of which came as UNC fought back from a two-point halftime deficit (37-35). Sophomore center Candace Sutton scored 16 points, senior guard Nikki Teasley added 14, freshman guard Leah Metcalf 13 and junior forward Jennifer Thomas 10.
Teasley was just 1-for-10 from the field, but hit 11 of her 12 free throw attempts and led the team with nine assists to just two turnovers. Metcalf's total broke a string of five games in which she had scored in single digits.
Junior guard Chrissy Floyd led Clemson with 24 points.
UNC's 39.3 shooting percentage was its lowest of the season in an ACC win, and Clemson shot 49.2 from the field. But the Tar Heels outrebounded the Lady Tigers 41-34 (18-10 on the offensive boards) and tied their season low with 11 turnovers.
