University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Women Host Villanova
February 6, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2002
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Tipoff: UNC hosts Villanova, Feb. 6
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (17-6, 7-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) will host Villanova (12-8, 6-4 Big East) Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a nonconference game.
UNC is ranked 24th in this week's Associated Press poll, 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN poll. Villanova is not ranked.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Raleigh to face NC State on Sunday. Tipoff is 2 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
On the air
Wednesday'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. The radio broadcast is also 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 may be purchased at the door or at the UNC ticket office by calling (919) 962-2296 or (800) 722-4335.
Quick facts on UNC
2001-02 Record: 17-6 (7-4 ACC)
Current Rankings: 24th A.P., 23rd USA Today/ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 593-246 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 321-166 (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
* Wednesday's game is the first-ever women's basketball meeting between Villanova and North Carolina.
* Senior Nikki Teasley has committed just two turnovers over the last two games while totaling 15 assists.
* UNC shot 50 percent from the field just three times in the season's first 20 games, but has done so twice in the last three games.
* The Tar Heels have held their last three opponents to an average of 53.3 field goal attempts per game. FSU's 51 attempts were a season low by a Carolina opponent.
* Junior Coretta Brown's current career three-point shooting percentage of 36.0 is the best in school history.
* Over the last two games, Brown and Teasley are a combined 21-35 (60.0 percent) from three-point range.
* With 213 career three-pointers, Teasley now ranks seventh in Atlantic Coast Conference history in that category and is second all-time at UNC. She needs eight more to take over sixth place in the ACC, 15 to become Carolina's leader.
* Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell is seven wins away from recording her 600th career victory.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Coretta Brown (16.0 points per game)
Rebounding: Chrystal Baptist (8.4 per game)
Assists: Leah Metcalf (5.0 per game)
Steals: Leah Metcalf (2.5 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (2.5 per game)
Field goal percentage: Jennifer Thomas (57.5, 46-80)
Three-point percentage: Nikki Teasley (41.2, 54-131)
Free throw percentage: Nikki Teasley (84.4, 65-77)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (33.2 per game)
UNC players in the ACC rankings
Through games of Feb. 4
Scoring: 3. Coretta Brown (16.0), T4. Nikki Teasley (15.7), 19. Candace Sutton (11.5), 20. Leah Metcalf (11.1)
Rebounding: 3. Chrystal Baptist (8.4), 11. Candace Sutton (6.2), T18. Coretta Brown (5.0)
Field goal percentage: 3. Candace Sutton (48.3), 9. Coretta Brown (44.6)
Free throw percentage: 2. Nikki Teasley (84.4)
Three-point percentage: 1. Nikki Teasley (41.2), 3. Coretta Brown (38.2)
Assists: 3. Leah Metcalf (4.96), 4. Nikki Teasley (4.81), 5. Coretta Brown (3.96)
Steals: 3. Leah Metcalf (2.52), 4. Nikki Teasley (2.43), 8. Nikita Bell (1.83)
Blocks: 1. Candace Sutton (2.45), 9. Chrystal Baptist (0.78)
Three-pointers made: 1. Nikki Teasley (2.57), 2. Coretta Brown (2.52), 8. Leah Metcalf (1.52 per game)
Assist/turnover ratio: 4. Nikki Teasley (1.60), 5. Leah Metcalf (1.41), 7. Coretta Brown (1.38)
Scouting the Villanova Wildcats
Villanova is 12-8 on the season and 6-4 in Big East play following a 61-53 loss at Syracuse on Saturday. Sophomore forward Courtney Mix led the team with 14 points in the defeat, which came after back-to-back league wins over Miami and West Virginia. The North Carolina game is the second on a three-game string of road matchups for the Wildcats, who play at Rutgers on Saturday.
On the season, Villanova is led in scoring by junior guard Trish Juhline, who averages 14.1 points per game. Juhline returned to the lineup seven games ago after missing seven games with a broken foot.
Also averaging in double figures are junior guard Katie Davis (11.7) and senior guard Mimi Riley (10.9). Mix is the team's leading rebounder with an average of 7.3 boards per game.
The Wildcats have stuck with a consistent lineup throughout the season, with four players-Davis, Riley, junior forward Nicole Druckenmiller and senior center Stephanie Baker-starting all 20 games.
Villanova is coached by Harry Perretta, who is in his 24th year with the program.
* The Wildcats were 12-for-38 from three-point range against Syracuse Saturday and rank among the top three-point shooting teams in the country. Villanova's 17 threes against West Virginia on Jan. 26 mark the top performance in NCAA Division I this season. Juhline was 7-for-8 from long range in that game.
In the latest NCAA statistics (through games of Jan. 28), Villanova ranks fifth in the country with an average of 8.1 three-pointers made per game.
The North Carolina-Villanova series
Wednesday's game will be the first-ever women's basketball meeting between Villanova and North Carolina.
The Wildcats are UNC's second Big East opponent of the season, the Tar Heels lost to Connecticut 94-74 on Nov. 15 in the Preseason WNIT semifinals.
Lower and lower
In each of the last three outings, the Tar Heels have held their foe to a new season low for field goal attempts by an opponent.
On Jan. 27, Virginia attempted 55, then a season low for a Carolina opponent. On Jan. 31, Maryland attempted 54. On Feb. 4, Florida State attempted 51.
Getting to the point
Senior guard Nikki Teasley has started the last three 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 three consecutive wins.
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, 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.
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
* With Teasley handling the ball more, backcourt-mate Coretta Brown has flourished. She's averaging 19.7 points and shooting 64.7 percent from the field over the last three games.
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%)
Back on track
The Tar Heels snapped a three-game losing streak with their Jan. 27 win over Virginia, and turned out one of their best performances of the season in the process. UNC shot 54.4 percent (31-57) from the field, the third-highest percentage of the season and the best this year against an ACC team. The Tar Heels shot 6-for-15 from three-point range (40.0 percent), led by junior guard Coretta Brown, who was 4-for-6 from long range. Brown was 8-for-11 overall for a team-high 22 points in the win.
* UNC bettered that shooting performance against Florida State on Feb. 4. The Tar Heels hit 34 of their 62 attempts for a percentage of 54.8, tied for the second best of the year and the highest against a conference opponent. The Tar Heels shot better than 50 percent from the field just three times in their first 20 games of the season, but have done so twice in their last three outings.
Thomas in the starting lineup
Junior forward Jennifer Thomas has started the Tar Heels' last three games, replacing sophomore Chrystal Baptist in the opening lineup. Against Virginia, Maryland and Florida State, she has averaged 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds, doubling her season averages of 5.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Against Florida State, Thomas scored 12 points (3-3 fg, 6-8 ft) and led the team with nine rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
Keys to victory
This season, the Tar Heels are undefeated when:
* Leading at the half (16-0)
* Leading with five minutes to play (17-0)
* Scoring 90 or more points (9-0)
* Shooting 50 percent or better (5-0)
* Holding opponents at 60 points or lower (7-0)
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.
Mainstay in the lineup
Junior guard Coretta Brown is the only player to have started all 23 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 85 heading into the matchup with Villanova.
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 593-246.
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 321-166 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.
Last time out for UNC
Feb. 4: No. 24 UNC 93, Florida State 63
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-UNC improved to 17-6 overall and 7-4 in the ACC Monday night with a 93-63 win over visiting Florida State. The margin of victory was Carolina's largest this season against a conference team and the Tar Heels shot 54.8 percent from the field, best of the season against an ACC opponent.
Senior guard Nikki Teasley led UNC in scoring with 22 points. She hit five of her seven three point attempts and handed out a season-high nine assists while committing just one turnover. Junior guard Coretta Brown also scored in double figures with 18 points, including four three-pointers. Junior forward Jennifer Thomas scored 12 points and led UNC with nine rebounds, and sophomore center Candace Sutton also added 12 points.
Genesis Choice led Florida State (11-11, 2-9 ACC) with 14 points.
