Nikita Bell

Position:
Guard/Forward
Height:
6-0
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Columbus, Ga.

A communication studies major ... Selected by the Detroit Shock in the second round of the WNBA Draft, 20th overall

2004-05 Season Notes: In voting by the league's coaches, named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, a first-year award ... One of five members of the All-Defensive Team ... Selected first-team All-ACC Tournament after averaging 12.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals in the Tar Heels' three wins ... An honorable mention All-America selection by the Associated Press ... Named to the all-region team at the Tempe Regional, as UNC reached the Elite Eight ... Finished her career fourth on UNC's career steals chart and 10th in ACC history with 322 ... Ranks 19th in school history with 1,223 career points ... Averaged 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for her senior season ... Led the team and ranked second in the ACC with 3.1 steals per game ... In ACC contests only, led the league with 3.8 steals per game ... Reached the 1,000-point mark for her career on a putback of her own miss with 6:13 remaining in the Miami game on Jan. 17 ... Her season total of 105 steals ranks as the eighth-best single-season mark in school history ... Had a then-season-high six steals and contributed 13 points against Lipscomb on Dec. 28 ... Scored 18 points on 9-for-13 shooting in UNC's loss at Maryland ... Led UNC with nine rebounds and scored 11 points against NC State on Jan. 14 ... Led the Tar Heels in rebounding for the second game in a row with eight against Miami ... Against Duke on Jan. 24, came off the bench to score 12 points and grab seven rebounds, along with a team-high five steals ... At Georgia Tech on Jan. 30 in the final game in her home state, led UNC with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting while playing a season-high 30 minutes ... Against Virginia Tech, came off the bench to contribute 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting and grabbed seven steals in just 19 minutes ... At Wake Forest, led the team with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season ... Against NC State at home, scored UNC's last two baskets in regulation, including a put-back with 1.9 seconds to play that sent the game into overtime ... At the end of overtime, with NC State threatening to tie the score, stole the ball and, after being fouled on a layup attempt, hit one of two free throws for the final margin ... At Duke on Feb. 27, made a career-high nine steals and played a career-high 36 minutes to go with 14 points and 11 rebounds ... Fell one steal short of the first triple-double in program history with 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine steals against the Blue Devils ... Scored 18 points against Virginia in the ACC semifinals, 15 in the second half as UNC came back from a 17-point deficit to win ... Scored in double figures in all four NCAA Tournament games ... Preseason candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, given to the nation's top senior player

2003-04 Season Notes: Voted to the 2003-04 Preseason All-ACC Team ... Finished the season averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game ... Led UNC and ranked third in the ACC in steals with 2.39 per game ... Ranked 23rd in the ACC in scoring and 15th in rebounding ... Scored a then-season-high 16 points, 12 in the second half, in the win at Kentucky ... Led UNC in scoring against Western Michigan with 14 points ... Grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds against Clemson on Jan. 4 ... Logged her first double-double of the season and the second of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Duke on Jan. 11 ... Was 5-for-7 from the field for 10 points at Clemson on Feb. 5 ... Scored 14 points against Virginia in the regular-season finale, her highest total in ACC regular-season play ... Led UNC with a season-high 18 points against Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals

2002-03 Season Notes: Named to the 2003 All-ACC second team and the ACC All-Defensive team ... Is the first UNC player ever to earn a spot on the defensive team, which debuted in 2000 ... Recipient of the team's Best Defense and Most Improved awards ... Ranked second on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game and third in rebounding with 5.6 per game ... Led the team in steals (2.5 per game) and ranked third in the ACC ... Averaged 13.1 points in regular-season conference play, 11th in the ACC ... Led the team with 15 points against both Appalachian State and South Carolina ... Against NC State on Jan. 5, led UNC with 18 points - equal to her career high - to earn Chik-Fil-A Player of the Game honors ... Grabbed a then-career-high 11 rebounds against Old Dominion ... At Maryland on Jan. 27, scored a career-high 30 points and led the team with eight rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes ... Scored 21 points against Virginia on Jan. 30 ... Named ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 3 after averaging 21 points in the previous week's three games (Maryland, Virginia, Georgia Tech) ... At Wake Forest on Feb. 9, scored 14 points and led UNC with nine rebounds ... Against Florida State on Feb. 13, scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field ... Against Clemson on Feb. 16, had a career-high eight steals. Also scored 15 points, including eight in a row during a second-half stretch ... Grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the ACC quarterfinals game against Clemson ... Against Austin Peay in the NCAA Tournament first round, hit what proved to be the winning shot for UNC with 20 seconds to play in a 72-70 victory. Earlier in the game, scored six consecutive points as UNC went from down six (45-39) to tied ... Against Colorado in the NCAA Tournament second round, tied for the team high in scoring with 12 points and led the Tar Heels in rebounding with 10 for the first double-double of her career

2001-02 Season Notes: Appeared in every game and started seven ... Her season high of 18 points came in 17 minutes of play against Howard at the Winthrop Lady Eagle Classic ... Hit all three of her field goal attempts and added five rebounds and three steals in 11 minutes of play against NC State on Feb. 10 ... Was 4-for-4 from the field against Clemson on Feb. 14, when she totaled nine points and six rebounds ... Scored nine points on 4-for-7 shooting and grabbed five rebounds at Georgia Tech on Feb. 17, playing in her home state for the first time as a Tar Heel ... Totaled seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of play in UNC's NCAA first round win over Harvard

At Spencer High School in Columbus, Ga.: Coached by Collins Jones ... As a senior, named Miss Georgia Basketball and the Class AAAA Player of the Year ? All-state in her junior and senior years ... Ranked No. 47 among the nation's seniors by Blue Star Index ... Honorable mention All-America by the WBCA ... Named to the Girls Dandy Dozen by the Atlanta Journal Constitution ... Team MVP in her freshman, junior and senior seasons ... Her team reached the state quarterfinals in her junior and senior years ... Also played softball, earning MVP honors as a freshman and Best Offensive Player honors as a junior ... Member of the National Honor Society and Future Homemakers of America ... Named to the Honor Roll ... Played AAU basketball for the Georgia Dream Team ...During the summer before she arrived at UNC, earned MVP honors at the Georgia North-South and Georgia-Tennessee all-star games