University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Meet Wake Forest Sunday
February 8, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2003
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Tipoff: No. 7 UNC travels to Wake Forest, Feb. 9
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (20-2 overall, 9-1 ACC) travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., Sunday for an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup with Wake Forest (10-10, 1-9). Tipoff at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is 1 p.m.
The Tar Heels are tied for seventh in this week's Associated Press poll, and are No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches' poll. Wake Forest is not ranked.
Next up for UNC is a pair of ACC home games, Thursday against Florida State and next Sunday against Clemson.
On the air
Sunday's game at Wake Forest 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.
Quick facts on UNC
2002-03 Record: 20-2 (9-1 ACC)
Current Rankings: Tied for 7th AP, 6th USAToday/ ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 622-251 (in her 28th season)
Record at UNC: 350-171 (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
* UNC leads the series with Wake Forest 47-11, but has lost in Winston-Salem three years in a row.
* The Tar Heels are 7-0 in away games this season.
* Carolina's 66-63 win against NC State Friday was the 350th at UNC for coach Sylvia Hatchell. In her 17th season with the Tar Heel program, she is 350-171.
* With Friday's 66-63 win at NC State, Carolina reached the 20-win mark for the 15th time in school history and the 10th time in the last 12 seasons. UNC reached the 20-win mark in its 22nd game, the quickest to that point since the 1996-97 season, when UNC reached the 20-win mark in its 21st game.
* Senior Coretta Brown is 10 points away from hitting the 1,500-point mark for her career. She heads into Friday's game with a career total of 1,490, which ranks 14th in UNC history. Thirteen Tar Heel players have scored 1,500 career points.
* Sophomore guard Leah Metcalf has committed just two turnovers in the last four games, over which she has played 110 minutes. She had one against Maryland on Jan. 27 then went two games (Virginia, Georgia Tech) without one. She committed one in 34 minutes Friday against NC State.
* Coretta Brown has made 11 consecutive free throws, dating back to the Virginia game on Jan. 30. For the year, she is 49-for-60 (81.7 percent) at the line, 28-33 (84.8 percent) in ACC games.
* Coretta Brown now has a career total of 213 three-pointers. She is the third Tar Heel and the 10th player in ACC history to hit 200 three-pointers.
* Sophomore Nikita Bell is the reigning ACC Player of the Week. In last week's three games, she averaged 21.0 points, better than her career single-game high of 18 points heading into the week. Over the last three games, she is shooting 60.9 percent from the field.
* Freshman La'Tangela Atkinson is the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week, her sixth such honor. She shared this week's award with Maryland's Chrissy Fisher after averaging 9.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in three games.
* 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.
* 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 (13.4 points per game)
Rebounding: La'Tangela Atkinson (8.5 per game)
Assists: Coretta Brown (4.7 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (2.7 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.5 per game)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (33.6 per game)
Tar Heels in the NCAA statistical rankings
(Through games of Feb. 3)
Scoring offense: 13th (78.2 ppg.)
Scoring margin: 7th (20.1 ppg.)
Field goal percentage: 22nd (45.8)
Field goal percentage defense: 9th (34.7)
Rebounding margin: 2nd (11.3)
Assists: 21st (17.8 per game)
Win-loss percentage: 4h (19-2, 90.5)
Scouting the Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest is 10-10 on the season and 1-9 in ACC play heading into Sunday's game with UNC. The Demon Deacons are coming off a 64-44 loss on Thursday at Virginia. In that game, senior forward Tiffani Listenbee led Wake in scoring with 11 points and junior guard Bianca Brown added eight as the Deacons shot 25.5 percent from the field. Brown and sophomore forward Erin Ferrrell were the team's top rebounders with five each.
WFU has lost its last eight games, a string that started with an 86-56 defeat by North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Jan. 9.
On the season, junior forward Eafton Hill leads the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game and in rebounding with 6.4 per game. Also in scoring in double figures are freshman guard Cotelia Bond-Young and junior guard Tonia Brown, averaging 10.6 points each.
Wake Forest leads the conference in three-pointers per game, averaging 5.95. Bond-Young is third in three-pointers made, averaging 1.85 per game.
The Demon Deacons are coached by Charlene Curtis, who is 51-107 in her sixth season with the program.
The North Carolina-Wake Forest series
Sunday's game will be the 59th meeting between UNC and Wake Forest in a series that dates back to the 1974-75 season, Carolina's first as a varsity program.
North Carolina leads the series 47-11 after winning this season's first matchup, 86-56 at Carmichael Auditorium on Jan. 9. Wake Forest, however, has won the game in Winston-Salem in each of the last three years.
Jan. 21, 2002: Wake Forest 65, UNC 64
Jan. 4, 2001: Wake Forest 73, UNC 71
Jan. 16, 2000: Wake Forest 69, UNC 56
Last time in Winston-Salem: Jan. 21, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-Senior point guard Adell Harris hit two free throws with 12 seconds on the clock to boost Wake Forest to a 65-64 victory over No. 21 UNC at the Joel Coliseum Annex. The win was the second in a row and third in four games for the Demon Deacons (9-9, 3-5 ACC). Carolina (14-5, 4-3) lost its second in a row, third in the last four outings.
Wake Forest led by 11 at the break (34-23), thanks to a Tonia Brown three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Deacons increased their lead to 14 points early in the second half, but the Tar Heels used an 8-0 run to pull within three points, 59-56, with just under four minutes remaining in the game. The Tar Heels kept themselves in contention by hitting their free throws, shooting 72 percent (18-25) for the game but connecting on 16-of-20 in the second half.
With 1:24 remaining, UNC took its first lead of the second half on two Coretta Brown free throws to make the score 62-61. Wake then gained the lead right back on a Tonia Brown layup.
After Carolina missed a shot on its next trip down the floor, Wake's Harris bobbled the rebound several times before gaining control and calling timeout before falling out of bounds. On the ensuing possession, UNC's Nikita Bell stole the ball from Tonia Brown at midcourt and went the distance for the layup as the Tar Heels regained the lead, 64-63.
With 18 seconds remaining, Harris drove the lane and was fouled by UNC's Candace Sutton. Harris, a 69 percent free throw shooter on the year, then nailed her two foul shots to give the Deacs the lead, 65-64. UNC's Bell had two shots in the closing seconds, but neither went through as Wake held on for its third ACC victory over the last four games.
Tonia Brown led the Wake Forest scoring effort with 16 points, including three three-pointers. Junior Tiffani Listenbee recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
North Carolina freshman Leah Metcalf posted a game-high 17 points while sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. In all, four Tar Heels posted double figures in scoring as Brown tallied 13 points and Bell contributed 10.
This year's first meeting
No. 10 North Carolina 86, Wake Forest 56 (Jan. 9, 2003)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Leah Metcalf and La'Tangela Atkinson scored 14 points each to lead No. 10 North Carolina to its third ACC win of the season. Jennifer Thomas and Candace Sutton added 12 points each, Thomas on 6-for-7 shooting.
Wake Forest shot 19.0 percent (8-42) in the first half and UNC led 42-20 at halftime. The Tar Heels shot 47.5 percent for the game and hit their highest point total since a 90-54 win over Old Dominion on Dec. 8, seven games ago.
Cotelia Bond-Young led Wake Forest with 14 points and Tonia Brown added 10.
