UNC Hits The Road For Game At Georgia Tech

February 22, 2004 | Women's Basketball

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Feb. 22, 2004

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Tipoff
After three consecutive home games, the North Carolina women's basketball team hits the road for an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup with Georgia Tech on Monday in Atlanta, Ga. Tipoff at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is 7 p.m.
North Carolina (19-5, 9-4 ACC) is ranked 16th in this week's Associated Press poll and 15th in the coaches' poll. Georgia Tech (13-12, 4-9 ACC) is not ranked.
Next up for Carolina is another road game, this one at Florida State. The Tar Heels take on the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday.

On the air
Monday's game will be televised as part of the ACC women's basketball package on the Regional Sports Networks (Comcast, Fox Sports South, Sunshine Network). Due to conflicts with NHL games, the game will be delayed in several areas. On Fox Sports South, the game will air live except in North Carolina and South Carolina, where it will begin at 10:30 p.m. and will air in its entirety. The Sunshine Network will air the game beginning at 10 p.m., and the Comcast broadcast will begin at 1:30 a.m.
Monday's game also will be broadcast live on WCHL-AM 1360, the flagship station of the Tar Heel Radio Network. Jones Angell will handle the play-by-play and Jan Boxill will provide color commentary. The radio broadcast can be heard on the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com, the official website of UNC athletics.

UNC at a glance
2003-04 record 19-5 (9-4 ACC)
Current rankings 16th A.P., 15th ESPN/USA Today
Head coach Sylvia Hatchell
Career record 649-260 (29th season)
Record at UNC 377-180 (18th season)
Assistant head coach Andrew Calder
Assistant coaches Tracey Williams, Charlotte Smith-Taylor
Media contact Dana Gelin
Gelin's phone/email (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC athletics website www.TarHeelBlue.com
UNC ticket office (919) 962-2296, (800) 722-4335
Home arena Carmichael Auditorium (cap. 10,180)
Press row number (919) 843-9509

News of note

Monday's game is the 53rd meeting between Georgia Tech and North Carolina in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the series 41-11 and has won the last four meetings, including this year's first matchup, 63-56 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 22.

UNC's next victory will put the Tar Heels at the 20-wins mark for the 16th time in school history and the 11th time in the last 13 seasons.

UNC's next win will be the 650th career victory for coach Sylvia Hatchell, who is in her 29th season as a head coach and her 18th year at Carolina.

Monday's game features the top two shot blockers in the ACC. Georgia Tech's Kasha Terry leads that category with 2.46 and UNC's Candace Sutton is second with 1.78.

Candace Sutton's next block will be the 200th of her career, a mark that only six other ACC players (including one other UNC player) have ever reached. Sutton currently ranks seventh on the ACC's career list with a total of 199 blocks. In sixth place is Florida State's Brooke Wyckoff (209 from 1998-2001). Sutton is second in UNC history in blocks.

After playing in UNC's game against Maryland on Thursday night, junior Jennifer Nelms traveled to Clemson, S.C., to compete in the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, where she finished seventh in the high jump and eighth in the triple jump. Nelms, who earned All-America honors in track last season, plans to compete for the Tar Heels during the outdoor track and field season.

Leah Metcalf ranks eighth on UNC's career assists chart with a total of 370. In seventh is Aprille Shaffer (1978-81) with 395.

Three Tar Heels - senior Carrie Davis and sophomores La'Tangela Atkinson and Jessica Sell - earned Dean's List honors for the fall semester.

UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell was announced on Nov. 16 as one of six people who will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June of 2004.

Noting the numbers

Five UNC players are averaging nine points or more per game. Freshman Ivory Latta leads the team with 14.1, and classmate Camille Little is just behind with 14.0. La'Tangela Atkinson is the third player in double figures with 10.5 points per game. Candace Sutton is averaging 9.5 points per game and Nikita Bell is adding 9.1.

The Tar Heel roster boasts the top two rebounders in the ACC. Camille Little leads the conference with 8.1 boards per game and La'Tangela Atkinson is second with 7.7 per game. In conference games only, Little again leads the way with 8.2 per game and Atkinson is third with 7.4.

Ivory Latta leads the ACC in three-pointers per game with 2.1.

Carrie Davis has hit her last 12 free throw attempts, dating back to the NC State game on Jan. 8. She leads the team this season, shooting 88.6 percent from the line. Nikita Bell has hit her last seven free throw attempts, dating back to the Duke game on Feb. 14. She was 6-for-6 against Maryland on Thursday.

UNC currently leads the conference in field goal percentage defense (opponents hitting 35.3 percent of shots), three-point field goal percentage defense (opponents hitting 27.2 percent of three-pointers) and total rebounds (43.9 per game).

The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent or better from the field six times this season, including a string of four consecutive games (Tennessee-Martin, South Carolina State, Old Dominion, Wofford). Last season, UNC hit 50 percent or better just four times in the entire season.

UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Ivory Latta (14.1 points per game)
Rebounding: Camille Little (8.1 per game)
Assists: Ivory Latta (4.1 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (2.3 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.8 per game)
Field goal percentage: La'Tangela Atkinson (53.2 percent, 100-188)
Three-point percentage: Ivory Latta (37.9 percent, 30-132)
Free throw percentage: Carrie Davis (88.6, 31-35)
Minutes: Ivory Latta (31.6 per game)

Scouting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 13-12 on the season and 4-9 in the conference following a 59-47 loss at Clemson on Thursday. Senior Alex Stewart led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds (11 of them offensive) in the loss. The only other Georgia Tech player in double figures was freshman Stephanie Higgs, who came off the bench to add 11 points.
On the season, senior Fallon Stokes leads the team in scoring and is the only player averaging in double figures with 16.8 points per game. Senior Megan Isom adds 8.8 points per game and Stewart 8.6.
Georgia Tech is coached by MaChelle Joseph, who is in her first season as the program's head coach.

The Georgia Tech-UNC series
Monday's matchup is the 53rd meeting between Georgia Tech and North Carolina. The Tar Heels lead the series 41-11 after winning the last four meetings, including this year's first matchup, 63-56 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 22.

The Yellow Jackets' last victory in the series came in Chapel Hill during the 2001-02 season, when Georgia Tech won 81-62 at Carmichael Auditorium on Jan. 17, 2002.

The Tar Heels dropped back-to-back games in Atlanta during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, but have not lost at Georgia Tech since then.

Last meeting in Atlanta: 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 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 thus far in the season.

This year's first meeting with Georgia Tech: Jan. 22, 2004
No. 13 UNC 63, Georgia Tech 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Freshman Ivory Latta scored 18 points, including two free throws to put to the game out of reach, and No. 13 North Carolina beat Georgia Tech 63-56 Thursday night. The Tar Heels (15-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by many as 10 points in the second half, were in front 57-56 with 2:17 left in the game after Megan Isom hit a 3-pointer for Georgia Tech (10-8, 1-5). Isom led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points.
Freshman Camille Little hit a follow shot with 42 seconds left to give the Tar Heels a three-point lead before Latta came back with a pair of free throws with 22.6 seconds to go. Little made a pair of free throws with five seconds left and finished with 10 points.
The Tar Heels won their fourth straight over Georgia Tech, which has lost five ACC games in a row. Georgia Tech took advantage of poor North Carolina shooting in the first half. The Tar Heels shot 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) from the field, but went 10-of-14 from the free-throw line during the half while Georgia Tech had no attempts. North Carolina led by as many as seven points in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets battled back to a 25-25 tie at the break.
Latta opened the second half with the first of her four three-pointers. Then, with 13:09 left, she hit another to give the Tar Heels a seven-point lead. Her final three-pointer pushed the lead to 57-53 with 5:11 left.
North Carolina benefited from free throws, going 24-of-30 from the line. Georgia Tech was 3-of-6.