Tar Heels Travel To FSU

February 25, 2004 | Women's Basketball

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Feb. 25, 2004

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Tipoff
The North Carolina women's basketball team plays its second consecutive road game on Thursday when the Tar Heels meet Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. Tipoff at Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center is 7 p.m.
North Carolina (20-5, 9-4 ACC) is ranked 11th in this week's Associated Press poll and in the coaches' poll. Florida State (14-12, 7-8 ACC) is not ranked.
Next up for Carolina is the team's final regular-season contest. UNC hosts Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium.

On the air
Thursday's game will be broadcast live by the Tar Heel Radio Network. The women's basketball network encompasses 17 stations, including WCHL-AM 1360, the flagship station. Jones Angell handles the play-by-play, and the broadcast broadcast can be heard on the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com, the official website of UNC athletics.

UNC at a glance
2003-04 record 20-5 (10-4 ACC)
Current rankings 11th A.P., 11th ESPN/USA Today
Head coach Sylvia Hatchell
Career record 650-260 (29th season)
Record at UNC 378-180 (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

Thursday's game is the 30th meeting between Florida State and UNC. The Tar Heels lead the series 23-6 after winning the last five games and 14 of the last 15.

UNC's win at Georgia Tech on Monday gave the Tar Heels a 20-win season for the 16th time in school history and the 11th time in the last 13 seasons.

Carolina's win over the Yellow Jackets was the 650th career victory for coach Sylvia Hatchell, who is in her 29th season as a head coach and her 18th year at Carolina.

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 last 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 372. 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 and Camille Little lead the team with 14.0 points each, and La'Tangela Atkinson is the third player in double figures with 10.4 points per game. Candace Sutton is averaging 9.4 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 8.2 boards per game and La'Tangela Atkinson is second with 7.8 per game. In conference games only, Little again leads the way with 8.4 per game and Atkinson is tied for second with 7.6.

La'Tangela Atkinson has reached double figures in rebounding in four of the last five games. She's averaging 10.2 boards per game over that span.

Ivory Latta leads the ACC in three-pointers per game with 2.04.

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. Neither had an attempt against Georgia Tech.

UNC currently leads the conference in field goal percentage defense (opponents hitting 35.2 percent of shots), three-point field goal percentage defense (opponents hitting 27.3 percent of three-pointers) and total rebounds (43.8 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, Camille Little (14.0 points per game)
Rebounding: Camille Little (8.2 per game)
Assists: Ivory Latta (4.0 per game)
Steals: Nikita Bell (2.2 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (1.7 per game)
Field goal percentage: La'Tangela Atkinson (52.6 percent, 103-196)
Three-point percentage: Camille Little (37.2 percent, 16-43)
Free throw percentage: Carrie Davis (88.6, 31-35)
Minutes: Ivory Latta (31.8 per game)

UNC in the NCAA rankings
(Through games of Feb. 23)
Scoring offense: 16th (74.8)
Scoring margin: 11th (16.7)
Field goal percentage defense: Eighth (35.2)
Rebounding margin: 14th (7.6)
Win/loss percentage: T18th (80.0)

Scouting the Florida State Seminoles
Florida State is 14-12 on the season and 7-8 in the ACC following a73-71 win at Virginia on Sunday. Tasheika Allen led the Seminoles with 20 points in that game, Shante Williams scored 18 and Linnea Liljestrand added 11.
On the season, Allen leads the team with 13.7 points per game. Williams is next, averaging 10.8 points overall but a team-high 13.0 against ACC teams. Just shy of double digits are Lauren Bradley (9.3 points per game) and Genesis Choice (9.1 ppg).
Choice is the team's top rebounder with 5.5 per game, while Williams and Trinetta Moore average 5.4 each.
FSU is coached by Sue Semrau, who is 91-107 in her seventh season with the Seminoles.

The FSU-UNC series
Thursday's matchup is the 30th meeting between Florida State and UNC. The Tar Heels lead the series 23-6 after winning the last five games and 14 of the last 15.

Carolina won this year's first matchup, 66-60 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 1. Freshman forward Camille Little led the Tar Heels with 27 points in the win.

Florida State's last win in the series came during the 2000-01 season, when the Seminoles won 80-78 in overtime in Chapel Hill on Feb. 18, 2001.

The Tar Heels' last loss in Tallahassee came during the 1995-96 season, when the Seminoles won 73-64 on Feb. 9, 1996. The 1998-99 season matchup in Tallahassee went into overtime before UNC won 112-101.

Last season's meeting in Tallahassee: Jan. 12, 2003
No. 10 North Carolina 74, Florida State 53
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Coretta Brown scored 28 points to tie her career high as the 10th-ranked Tar Heels defeated Florida State 74-53 at Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center. The victory extended North Carolina's winning streak to 11.
Brown, a senior guard, scored nine points in a 17-3 run late in the first half that put the Tar Heels (14-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) up 33-27 at the break. She also started and capped a 20-4 spurt to open the second half with a pair of 3-pointers.
Nikita Bell had 12 points for the Tar Heels, who had a 38-24 rebounding advantage that included 16 offensive boards. UNC shot 39.3 percent in the first half, but 51.7 percent in the second.
Tasheika (Morris) Allen led the Seminoles with 14 points and was the only Florida State player in double figures.

This year's first meeting with FSU: Feb. 1, 2004
No. 10 UNC 66, Florida State 60
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina remained undefeated at home this season with a 66-60 win over visiting Florida State Sunday afternoon at Carmichael Auditorium. Freshman forward Camille Little led all scorers with 27 points, one shy of her career high, and sophomore La'Tangela Atkinson added 10 for the Tar Heels, who improved to 17-3 on the season, 7-2 in the ACC.
Trinetta Moore hit 10 of her 12 field goal attempts to lead the Seminoles (10-10, 3-6) with 20 points and Lauren Bradley added 12 after shooting 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Carolina jumped out to an early 11-2 advantage, but the Seminoles fought back and the lead changed hands six times in the first half. UNC was up by eight, 34-26, at the half and stretched its lead to 10 early in the second half on a basket by Nikita Bell. The Seminoles tied the score at 54-54 with 4:34 to play on a three-pointer by Linnea Liljestrand, and the score was tied again at 56-56 with 2:24 to play. But Little tallied six points in the final 2:13 and the Tar Heels pulled away to pick up the win, their fifth in a row against FSU.