University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Travel To Western Michigan
January 22, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2003
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Tipoff: No. 9 UNC travels to Western Michigan, Jan. 23
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (15-2, 5-1 ACC) travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face the Western Michigan Broncos in a non-conference game on Thursday. Tipoff at University Arena (cap. 5,800) is 7 p.m.
The Tar Heels are ranked ninth in both of this week's national polls. Western Michigan is not ranked.
Next up for UNC is a trip to Maryland. The Tar Heels will face the Terrapins on Monday evening at 7 p.m. in College Park, Md. The game will be televised live on Comcast, Fox Sports Net South and Sunshine Network as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball television package.
On the air
Thursday's game will be broadcast live by the Tar Heel Radio Network. The flagship station is 1360-AM WCHL. Stephen Gates is Carolina's play-by-play announcer. Game action also is available via the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com.
Quick facts on UNC
2002-03 Record: 15-2 (5-1 ACC)
Current Rankings: 9th AP, 9th USAToday/ ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 617-251 (in her 28th season)
Record at UNC: 345-171 (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
* Thursday's game is homecoming for senior Jennifer Thomas, a Michigan native. She is from Lathrup Village, just outside Detroit, and prepped at Detroit Country Day.
* North Carolina and Western Michigan have met just once before, at a tournament in Florida, and UNC leads the series 1-0. Carolina has never played a women's basketball game in the state of Michigan.
* The Western Michigan Broncos are the top three-point shooting team in the country, hitting 44.8 percent of their attempts. They rank fourth in scoring with 82.1 points per game.
* UNC continues to lead the nation in rebounding margin (12.1). The Tar Heels rank fourth in field goal percentage defense (32.8 percent) and sixth in scoring margin (22.8).
* With nine assists against Duke, senior Coretta Brown moved into 23rd on the ACC's career assists list. She now has 447. In 22nd is Wake Forest's Gretchen Hollifield (1993-96), who had 453.
* Sophomore guard Leah Metcalf has established career highs for minutes played in each of the last two games. She played 35 at Clemson on Jan. 16 and 40 in overtime against Duke on Jan. 20. In those games, she averaged 19.5 points.
* Freshman La'Tangela Atkinson was honored on Monday as the ACC co-Rookie of the Week, based on her 11 point, seven rebound performance at Clemson on Jan. 16 in UNC's only game of last week. The honor is Atkinson's fourth of the season.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Coretta Brown (12.4 points per game)
Rebounding: La'Tangela Atkinson (8.0 per game)
Assists: Leah Metcalf (4.7 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (2.6 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.6 per game)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (32.4 per game)
Tar Heels in the NCAA statistical rankings
(Through games of Jan. 20, 2003)
Scoring offense: 16th
Scoring defense: 23rd
Scoring margin: 6th
Field goal percentage: 18th
Field goal percentage defense: 4th
Rebounding margin: 1st
Assists: Tied for 19th
Steals: 30th
Win-loss percentage: Tied for 9th
Notable numbers
* UNC has not allowed 70 points in regulation any game this season. Duke finished with 78 points in an overtime game on Jan. 20. South Carolina's 69 points is the season high by an opponent in 40 minutes.
* Only one opponent has shot 40 percent from the field. Oklahoma shot 46.7 percent in handing UNC its first loss of the season at the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
* UNC has outrebounded 14 of its 17 opponents. Davidson (44-43) and South Carolina (42-40) are the only teams to have beaten UNC on the boards this season. Duke and Carolina tied with 54 rebounds each.
* Six different Carolina players have led the team in scoring or tied for the scoring lead. The same is true on the boards, where six different Tar Heels have led the team in rebounding or tied for the team lead.
Scouting the Western Michigan Broncos
Western Michigan is 10-4 on the season, 4-0 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos are coming off an 86-55 conference win Monday at Central Michigan. Three WMU starters scored in double figures, led by senior guard Curleta Harris's 22 points. Sophomore guard Casey Rost scored 16 points and junior forward Lori Crisman added 11.
On the season, Rost leads the team in scoring with an average of 19.4 points per game. Junior forward Kristin Koetsier is next with 18.5 per game and Harris averages 12.6. Koetsier is the team's top rebounder with 6.7 boards per game.
The Broncos average 82.1 points per game and shoot 49.1 percent from the field.
The team is coached by Ron Stewart, who is in his sixth season with the program.
* Deadly from long range: Western Michigan leads the nation in three-point percentage, shooting 44.8 percent from long range. Two players rank among the nation's top seven, with Harris in fifth (32-65, 49.2 percent) and Rost tied for seventh (35-74, 47.3 percent).
* Broncos in the national rankings: In addition to leading the NCAA in three-point shooting, WMU ranks among the nation's best teams in several other categories.
Team: Fewest fouls per game-3rd (13.2 per game), Scoring-4th (82.1 ppg); Field goal percentage-7th (49.1); Free throw percentage-19th (76.2); Threes per game-16th (7.1 per game); Fewest turnovers-22nd (15.1 per game)
Individual: Scoring-Casey Rost, tied for 24th (19.4 ppg), Kristin Koetsier, 36th (18.5 ppg)
Three-point percentage-Curleta Harris, 5th (49.2), Casey Rost, tied for 7th (47.3)
Free throw percentage-Casey Rost, 26th (86.5)
Assists-Maria Jilian, 21st (6.3 per game)
Steals-Maria Jilian, 19th (3.5 per game)
The North Carolina-Western Michigan series
Thursday's game will be the second meeting between Carolina and Western Michigan. UNC leads the series 1-0.
The only previous meeting came during the 1981-82 season. At the Miami New Year's Classic in Coral Gables, Fla., on Jan. 3, 1982, UNC won 90-63.
