University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host Georgia Tech
February 1, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2003
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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Tipoff: No. 7 UNC hosts Georgia Tech, Feb. 2
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (18-2, 7-1 ACC) begins its second cycle through Atlantic Coast Conference play on Sunday afternoon with a Groundhog Day game against Georgia Tech (14-6, 3-5 ACC). Tipoff at Carmichael Auditorium is 1 p.m.
The Tar Heels are ranked No. 7 in this week's Associated Press poll, No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches' poll. Georgia Tech is not ranked.
On the air
Sunday's game will be televised live by the Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports Net South, Comcast and the Sunshine Network). Beth Mowins will call the play-by-play and Debbie Antonelli will provide color commentary.
The game also will be carried live 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 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 may be purchased at the Carmichael Auditorium ticket window beginning one hour before the game or through the UNC ticket office by calling (919) 962-2296 or (800) 722-4335.
Quick facts on UNC
2002-03 Record: 18-2 (7-1 ACC)
Current Rankings: 7th AP, 6th USAToday/ ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 620-251 (in her 28th season)
Record at UNC: 348-171 (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
* North Carolina holds a commanding 39-11 lead in the series with Georgia Tech, but the teams have split their regular-season meetings in each of the last four years. The Yellow Jackets have won the last two matchups at Carmichael Auditorium.
* The Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets are the top two rebounding teams in the ACC, with UNC averaging 47.5 rebounds and Georgia Tech 45.0. Georgia Tech holds a slight edge on the offensive boards (GT 18.1, UNC 17.7), while Carolina holds an edge on the defensive boards (UNC 29.8, GT 27.0)
* Carolina sophomore Nikita Bell is shooting a league-best 53.8 percent from the field in ACC games. Over the last two games she is averaging 25.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and shooting 66.7 percent from the field.
* The 30 points scored by sophomore Nikita Bell Monday at Maryland marked the highest total by a Tar Heel since LaQuanda Barksdale hit 30 against Florida State on Feb. 18, 2001.
* UNC's current rankings of seventh in the Associated Press poll and sixth in the coaches' poll are the team's highest since the 1998-99 season.
* Before committing three turnovers against Virginia, UNC senior Coretta Brown had gone two games without giving the ball away. In wins at Western Michigan and Maryland, she averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 37.5 minutes of play without a single turnover. Over the last three games, she has 18 assists and three turnovers.
* Brown now has a career total of 208 three-pointers. She is the third Tar Heel and the 10th player in ACC history to hit 200 three-pointers.
* Freshman La'Tangela Atkinson is the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week, her fifth such honor. She shared this week's award with Duke's Jessica Foley after averaging nine points and 12.5 points in games against Duke and Western Michigan.
* UNC continues to lead the nation in rebounding margin (11.8, through games of Jan. 27). The Tar Heels rank fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense (34.0 percent) and seventh in scoring margin (20.6).
* Three Tar Heel women's basketball players are among the 50 greatest female athletes in ACC history, according to the list released this week by the conference. Marion Jones, Tracy Reid and Charlotte Smith were among 15 Carolina athletes on the list, the most of any school. UNC also led the list of male athletes with 12.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Coretta Brown (13.2 points per game)
Rebounding: La'Tangela Atkinson (8.4 per game)
Assists: Coretta Brown (4.8 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (2.7 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.5 per game)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (33.2 per game)
Scouting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 14-6 on the season and 3-5 in the ACC following a 74-70 win at Wake Forest Friday night. Senior center Sonja Mallory led the Yellow Jackets with 27 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Junior forward Fallon Stokes had 13 points and eight boards, and junior guard Alex Stewart added 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Georgia Tech outrebounded Wake Forest 47-33.
The win was the third in a row for Georgia Tech, which lost its first five ACC games.
On the season, Mallory leads the team and is averaging a double-double with 18.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. She leads the conference in rebounding and ranks second in scoring.
Also scoring in double figures for Georgia Tech are Stokes (15.0 points per game, seventh in the ACC) and Isom (11.8).
The Yellow Jackets are coached by Agnus Berenato, who is 217-204 in her 15th year with the program.
The North Carolina-Georgia Tech series
Sunday's game will be the 51st meeting between North Carolina and Georgia Tech in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the series 39-11 and has won four of the last five games. Carolina won 13 in a row from 1993 to 1998, but just six of 10 since then. The teams have split their regular-season matchups in each of the last four years, with Georgia Tech winning the last two meetings in Chapel Hill.
Last time at Carmichael:
Jan. 17, 2002: Georgia Tech 81, No. 17 UNC 62
In Chapel Hill, the Yellow Jackets shot 49.3 percent from the field to hand the Tar Heels their first loss of the season at Carmichael Auditorium.
Georgia Tech led by as many as 18 points in the first half (30-12 with 6:17 to play before halftime) after shooting 51.4 percent to the Tar Heels' 24.3.
For the game, Fallon Stokes led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points, Sonja Mallory added 14 and Milli Martinez and Megan Isom scored 12 each. Just two Tar Heels hit double figures: Leah Metcalf with 16 points and Nikki Teasley with 12. Hampered by a sprained ankle sustained two games earlier, UNC center Candace Sutton came off the bench to play just 15 minutes and score four points.
Georgia Tech outrebounded UNC 60-35, paced by Mallory's 13.
This year's first meeting
Jan. 2, 2003: No. 11 UNC 72, Georgia Tech 67
ATLANTA, Ga. - In the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams, North Carolina shot 44.1 percent from the field and outrebounded Georgia Tech 43-35 to earn the 72-67 win.
The Yellow Jackets, off to the best start in school history and winners of 10 in a row, led by as many as six late in the first half. Tar Heel senior Coretta Brown hit a three with six seconds remaining in the half to put her team up by one, 29-28, at halftime. Brown hit two three-pointers for UNC's last six points of the first half, then started the second half with two more. For the game, she was 8-for-12 from the field, 4-for-6 from three, for a then-season-high 23 points.
Despite Brown's scoring, Georgia Tech took back the lead early in the half and again led by six at the 15:29 mark. But the Tar Heels went on an 18-4 run after that and held the advantage for the rest of the game. Georgia Tech closed the gap to two, 65-63, with 2:17 to play, but made just one free throw after that until Alex Stewart banked in a long three at the buzzer.
Leah Metcalf (15 points), Candace Sutton (10) and Chrystal Baptist (10) joined Brown in double figures for the Tar Heels, and La'Tangela Atkinson paced the rebounding effort with eight.
Fallon Stokes led Georgia Tech with 34 points, the highest single-game total by an ACC player at that point in the season.
