Jan. 24, 2003

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WFU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NEWS & NOTES
Game 17
Sun., Jan. 26, 2003

Wake Forest (10-6, 1-5 ACC) vs. Clemson (10-7, 2-4 ACC)
Littlejohn Coliseum (11,020)/Clemson, S.C.

Tipoff: 4:00 pm

Television: Broadcast on the ACC regional television package, including Comcast Sports Net, Sunshine Network and locally on Fox Sports Net South. Beth Mowins calls the play-by-play with Debbie Antonelli providing color analysis.

Records: WFU is 10-6 and 1-5 in the ACC and currently on a four-game skid after falling at home to NC State on Thursday. Clemson is 10-7 with a 2-4 league mark after dropping an overtime decision at Georgia Tech, also on Thursday.

The Series: Sunday's game is the 46th meeting between the two teams. Clemson leads the series 37-8. The two teams split their meetings last season, with WFU halting a nine-game CU win streak in the series.

The Coaches: Deacon coach Charlene Curtis is in her sixth season at WFU, where she has compiled a 52-103 record. Now in her 18th season, her career has produced a 214-253 mark. Clemson coach Jim Davis is 345-165 in his 17th overall season as a head coach, 326-157 in his 16th season with the Tigers.

Up Next: WFU hosts Georgia Tech at the Coliseum Annex on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m.

Tentative Deacon Lineup

Pos. # Player Ht. Cl. GP/GS PPG RPG Noteworthy
F 14 Heather Miller 5-10 Sr. 14/5 3.0 2.1 Strong leader both on and off the court; a three-point threat
F 24 Tiffani Listenbee 6-1 Sr. 16/16 8.7 5.9 Capable of big numbers but needs to stay out of foul trouble
C 12 Johanna Björklund 6-5 Sr. 16/14 3.9 2.5 Set a career-high with a team-best 14 points vs. High Point
G 30 Tonia Brown 5-10 Jr. 15/12 11.1 4.4 The team's assist leader (4.3 apg) with a 1.3 assist/TO ratio
G 13 Cotelia Bond-Young 5-7 Fr. 16/5 11.8 3.7 ACC's top frosh scorer; also a league leader in 3-pt. shooting

Key Reserves

F 40 Eafton Hill 6-1 Jr. 16/11 12.5 7.2 Recorded her fourth double-double of the season vs. NCSU
F 43 Erin Ferrell 6-0 So. 16/0 7.1 4.8 Had first career double-double with 12 pts., 10 reb. at UNCW
F  22 Tracy Alston 5-10 Jr. 8/4 4.8 4.5 One of the team's top rebounders back after sitting out fall
G/F 4 Liz Strunk 6-1 Fr. 15/0 4.7 3.0 Strong shooter; saw significant action in early goings
G 3 Bianca Brown 5-8 Jr. 16/13 4.5 1.9 Deacs' most experienced pt. guard averaging 2.9 assists
G 33 Meredith Bell 5-9 So. 11/0 1.3 0.5 Explosive scorer, 3-pt. shooter looking for more consistency
F 23 Keila Evans 6-3 Fr. 7/0 1.0 1.4 Joined squad after fall semester, potentially strong rebounder
G/F 32 Jennifer Johnson 6-1 So. 11/0 0.5 0.9 Seeing more playing time after battling injuries in preseason
G 21 Kara Sax 5-6 So. 6/0 0.0 0.0 Walk-on joined the squad in October

WFU Travels To Clemson For Sunday Showdown With Tigers
The Wake Forest women's basketball team, which has lost four straight games for the first time since February of last season, will look for its first road victory in nearly a month and second overall conference victory as it travels to Clemson, S.C. for an ACC battle with the Lady Tigers (4:00 p.m/ACC regional TV broadcast).

The Demon Deacons, who returned to action this past Thursday after a week layoff from games, suffered a tough loss at home to NC State, 70-59.

The Clemson Tigers (10-7, 2-4 ACC) are on a skid of their own, dropping three straight and four of their last five, all against conference opponents. Four of those five have also been on the road. The Tigers return home after a two-game road swing and a overtime loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 89-78, in the most recent outing.

Taking This Show On The Road
Although the Demon Deacons have not won on their opponents' home court since a 65-59 win at UNC Wilmington on Dec. 29, they've only taken two road trips since then. Both were day trips to the home courts of national top 10 teams, as they fell to No. 9 UNC and top-ranked Duke.

This weekend's trek to Clemson marks just the fourth overnight road trip of the season and first since going to Wilmington. Wake Forest has already hosted 10 home games this year while playing just five on the road.

Wake Forest won just one ACC road game last season -- at Georgia Tech -- after not winning at any league opponent's home court in 2001. The Deacs' last win at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum was a one-point victory, 59-58, over the 19th-ranked Tigers on Feb. 9, 1991.

Last Outing: WFU Struggles In Loss To Wolfpack
Wake Forest struggled in its field goal shooting and had a tough time containing the Wolfpack post players in a 13-point loss to NC State, 70-57, on Thursday evening at Joel Coliseum.

Despite the 'Pack shooting over 59 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, the Deacs managed to overcome a nine-point deficit and actually take a four-point lead, 41-37, into the lockerroom at the break.

NC State came back out aggressively, however, and the Deacs seemed to have no answer for the inside presence of Kaayla Chones (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Carisse Moody (16 points). Moody came off the bench to score 12 in the second half, including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

WFU's Tonia Brown got back in the double-figure scoring column with 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Eafton Hill recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Listenbee: The Iron Deac
Thursday night against NC State, senior forward Tiffani Listenbee played in her 100th career game as a Demon Deacon. In fact, Listenbee has not missed a game during her entire collegiate career. She is the only current player on the squad who can claim this accomplishment.

If Listenbee should play in every game the rest of the season, she will become the second Demon Deacon in as many years to see action in every outing of her career. Last season, LaChina Robinson closed out her career playing in all 112 games possible, a mark that ties for seventh at WFU in career games played. Depending on the team's progress in the postseason, Listenbee could do no worse than tie that mark.

Brown Nets 100th Three-Pointer
Although she's not quite on pace to match last year's school-record 62 three-pointers, junior guard Tonia Brown continues her assault on the WFU three-point shooting records.

She scored just one three-pointer against Maryland on Jan. 12, but that was all she needed to notch her 100th career trey. Already listed on WFU's career three-pointers chart, Brown is the sixth player in school history - and first since Alisha Mosley (1997-00) - to reach the century mark in that category.

Brown now ranks sixth all-time at WFU with 101 career three-point attempts, fifth with 322 career attempts, and her .314 percentage ranks ninth.

After setting the school's single-season record with 62 three-pointers last season, Brown's has tallied 19 treys thus far in the 2002-03 campaign. Freshman Cotelia Bond-Young leads the squad with 34, two shy of cracking the single season top 10 list.

Scouting Clemson
Something has got to give on Sunday afternoon in Littlejohn. Clemson, like Wake Forest, enters the game on an ACC losing steak -- dropping its last three and four of its last five. Other similarities between the two squads: Both teams have 10 wins and both defeated Virginia at home. But the Tigers have picked up one more conference victory, defeating Maryland on the road.

The Tigers are led by senior guard Chrissy Floyd, a three-time All-ACC selection and first-team pick a year ago. Floyd is a scoring threat who currently ranks third in the ACC with 17.2 points per game. She is the only Tiger averaging double-figures in scoring.

Here's another similarity between the Tigers and the Demon Deacons -- both have freshmen who are making an impact this season. For Clemson, rookie center Amanda White leads the squad and is the ACC's second-leading freshman rebounder with 7.2 boards an outing. Forward Khaili Sanders is fourth and second, respectively, on the team in scoring (7.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg).

Clemson leads the conference in blocked shots, thanks to the freshman duo of Sanders (24) and White (22). The Tigers also rank second in the league in free throw shooting (.696) and third in field goal percentage defense (.373).

The Series With Clemson
Wake Forest and Clemson have met 45 previous times on the hardwood, with the Tigers holding a 37-8 lead in the series ... Clemson won nine straight meetings and 19 of the previous 20 before Wake halted that streak with a 58-46 win in Winston-Salem in the teams' first meeting last season ... that win also marked head coach Charlene Curtis' 200th career victory and her first win over the Tigers at WFU ... the Deacs have not won at Clemson since a 59-58 victory in the 1990-91 campaign and have brought home a victory from Littlejohn Coliseum only four times ... scores tend to be relatively low when these two teams meet, as the victor has scored over 70 points only three times in the last 14 meetings ... the two teams first met in the 1977-78 season ... Clemson dominated the series in the early years, winning the first 11 meetings by an average margin of 30 points ... the Tigers and Deacs have only played regular season contests, never meeting in the ACC Tournament or on a neutral court.

Deacon-Tiger Connections
Clemson junior Kanetra Queen hails from Fayetteville, N.C. Queen played in the 2000 East-West All-Star Girls Basketball Game in Greensboro, and one of her teammates on the East team was current WFU junior Tracy Alston. Another Demon Deacon, Eafton Hill, played on the West squad in that game.

The Last Meeting with Clemson ... February 17, 2002
Lakeia Stokes and Chrissy Floyd both scored at least 20 points leading Clemson to a 65-46 victory over Wake Forest at Littlejohn Coliseum. The victory avenged a 58-46 Wake Forest victory in Winston-Salem.

Stokes career high 21 points and 10 rebounds, notched her first career double-double. Floyd's 20 points were keyed by a career best 10-of-10 from the foul line.

Wake Forest was led by Tiffani Listenbee, who scored 12 points and had five rebounds off the bench.

Free throw shooting differential had a lot to do with Clemson's win. The Lady Tigers made 20-of-23, while Wake Forest converted on just 8-of-17 for 47 percent.

Clemson jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the game, but that was Clemson's largest lead of the first half. Tiffani Listenbee scored eight of WFU's first 10 points of the game and led the Deacs to a 10-9 advantage seven minutes in. The margin was never more than four points the rest of the half for either team. The close game continued over the first 14 minutes of the second half. The lead changed hands four times and was tied two other occasions. Tonia Brown made a three-point goal with 6:26 left to cut Clemson's margin to 45-42.

But the Tigers went on a 12-0 run over the next 3:28 to take the game over and finished the final six minutes of the contest on a 20-4 run. Clemson's largest lead of the game was the final score, 65-46.

Another Three-Point Note
Going into the Jan. 2 Florida State game, Wake Forest had scored at least two three-pointers in 54 consecutive games, dating back to an 0-of-10 performance from beyond the arc at Duke on Jan. 2, 2001 -- exactly two years to the date. But, the Deacs connected on just one three-pointer against the Seminoles. WFU still owns a streak, however, of 60 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer. Individually, freshman Cotelia Bond-Young has a streak of eight straight games with at least one three-pointer, while Eafton Hill is currently riding a five-game streak.

Bond-Young: ACC Freshman Scoring Leader
Wake Forest rookie Cotelia Bond-Young is certainly making a case for ACC Rookie of the Year honors.

The 5-7 guard, is currently the ACC's top scoring freshman with 11.8 points per game, a mark that also ranks second on the Deacon squad and 14th among all league players. Her 34 three-pointers this season also ranks second in the ACC in treys per game (2.12), while her three-point shooting percentage (.430) is also second among league leaders. She has led both of those categories for much of the season.

Bond-Young has quickly proven to be a solid all-around player, as she also ranks among the league's leaders in assists (9th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th).

Only three ACC freshman rank among the league's top 30 scorers, including Bond-Young, 17th-place La'Tangela Atkinson of UNC (10.9 ppg) and Mistie Bass of Duke (21st with 9.2 ppg). In ACC games only, Bond-Young is the only freshman putting up double-figures in scoring (11.2).

She owns a team-high 11 double-figure scoring games and has led WFU in scoring four times this season.

Coming Up Next
Wake Forest returns home to make its second appearance of the season in the Joel Coliseum Annex, hosting Georgia Tech on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m