North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Women Set to Battle North Carolina
1/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2002
Coach Kay Yow and the Wolfpack Women will make the short drive to Chapel Hill Thursday night for the first rival game of the season and the week for NC State. The Pack, winners of six of the last seven contests with UNC, will face an athletic Tar Heel squad that boasts a 13-2 overall record and #16 national ranking. The game will be held at the Dean E. Smith Center and tip is slated for 7 p.m.
Tonight's Matchup: As the old sports cliche goes, throw the records out the window this is a rival game. North Carolina and NC State are longtime rivals in every sport and women's basketball is no different. The two Tobacco Road neighbors battle tonight in their first matchup of the season. North Carolina enters tonight's contest as one of the hottest teams in the league, having won four straight and 10 of 11. NC State on the other hand has struggled of late, losing six of its last eight contests. Now the Wolfpack has suffered another blow with the loss of its leading scorer and rebounder, Carisse Moody, to an ankle injury. The Tar Heels have four players that average scoring in double figures while NC State, with the loss of Moody, has nobody averaging double-digits. The Wolfpack, which allow opponents to score only 61.9 points per game, need to hold North Carolina under its average of 88.3 points per game to post its second consecutive conference win.
The Opponent: North Carolina owns a 12-2 overall record and 3-0 conference mark. The Tar Heels have climbed to #17 in the AP poll and #16 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Preseason All-ACC guard Nikki Teasley is UNC's top scorer with 16.7 points per outing. Sophomore guard Coretta Brown is posting averages of 15.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. Candace Sutton is having a solid sophomore season with averages of 13.3 points and 6.9 rebounds. Freshman Leah Metcalf is contributing 11.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Chrystal Baptist is pulling down a team-high 8.7 boards per outing. North Carolina leads the ACC in assists, turnover margin, blocked shots, three-point field goals, field goal percentage defense and defensive rebounds. The Tar Heels outscore their opponents by an average of 22.3 points per outing. UNC and NC State have only played two common opponents to date this season. The Wolfpack defeated Old Dominion 74-58 while the Tar Heels beat the Monarchs 95-85. NC State downed Wake Forest 61-47 and UNC picked up a 90-68 win over the Deacons.
The Series: NC State holds a commanding 46-22 advantage in the alltime series between these two rivals. The Wolfpack have dominated the series of late, winning six of the last seven contests between the two schools. The Pack's lone loss to UNC in the last in that run came last year at Chapel Hill. Amy Simpson hit two free throws with no time on the clock to force overtime before the Tar Heels pulled out a 83-77 victory. That game was also played in the Dean Smith Center. Carolina holds a narrow 15-14 lead in games played in Chapel Hill.
Probable Wolfpack Starters: G - 14 Nanna Rivers (5-8, sophomore, 4.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.6 apg) G - 2 Rachel Stockdale (5-11, freshman, 6.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg) C - 45 Talisha Scates (6-1, senior, 5.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg) F - 50 Kaayla Chones (6-3, r-sophomore, 9.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) F - 42 Amy Simpson (6-0, junior, 7.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
Probable Tar Heel Starters: G - 25 Leah Metcalf (5-7, freshman, 11.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg) G - 14 Coretta Brown (5-8, junior, 15.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) C - 15 Candace Sutton (6-6, sophomore, 13.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg) F - 40 Chrystal Baptist (6-2, sophomore, 9.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg) F - 42 Nikki Teasley (5-9, junior, 16.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
The Coaches: Head Coach Kay Yow is in her 27th season on the Wolfpack bench and owns a 562-240 mark at NC State and a 619- 259 overall record. She ranks fifth among active coaches for all-time wins and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2000. Yow has been named a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award for the previous two seasons. Sylvia Hatchell owns a 316-162 record in her 16th year on the North Carolina bench. She also has a 588-242 record in her 27 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Last Time Out: Kaayla Chones poured in a career-high 31 points to lead NC State to a 75-63 win over Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Wolfpack shot 48 percent for the contest while limiting the Yellow Jackets to 38 percent. North Carolina downed Tennessee Martin 90-67 in non-conference action Monday night. Nikki Teasley led the Tar Heels with 18 points and seven assists.
Next Up: NC State returns home to face its other neighborhood rival, Duke, on Sunday. The 6 p.m. clash will be nationally televised by Fox Sports.
