North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Suits Up to Face No. 9/11 Georgia
12/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. -
Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NC State women's basketball (3-2) will travel to Athens, Ga. to face the No. 9/11 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (4-1) on Saturday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m., in Athens, Ga. The Wolfpack enters the contest fresh off a home victory over East Carolina on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 88-51. Georgia is also heading into Saturday with a convincing 65-52 victory over visiting Houston on Wednesday.
Senior Kaayla Chones continues to lead the Pack with her 15.8 ppg and 6.8 rpg, while freshman Keisha Brown leads the team with 12 steals. Senior Nanna Rivers leads with 13 assists and three others have 11 - senior Terah James, Brown and junior Kendra Bell. The Pack is 0-2 against ranked opponents this season, which includes losses to No. 2 Texas and No. 24 Oregon. NC State is in the positive end of the spectrum when it comes to team stats. The Pack is outscoring its opponents by an average of 16.0 ppg, outrebounding them 7.2 per game and has a 4.0 assist:turnover margin. The team is also shooting very well, with 45.4 percent overall, including over 45 percent in all but on game this season. The Pack has recorded double-figure performances 11 times, including a team-high four from Chones. Stockdale and James have each done the deed twice. Brown is the only freshman to obtain such a goal. Chones has led the team in scoring four of the five games and in rebounding twice and senior Alvine Mendeng has twice in rebounding as well. NC State will host Indiana on Dec. 14 and then Florida A&M in the last games of the semester before preparing for the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico, Dec. 20-22. Georgia owns the series by taking a commanding 7-0 record entering the game on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (4-1) are coming off a 65-52 win at home over the Houston Cougars on Wednesday. Junior forward Kara Braxton, who has led the team in scoring all but one game, did so again with 22 points. She also had 12 rebounds, but was edged by teammate senior forward Christi Thomas who collected 13 boards. Sophomore guard Alexis Kendrick had 10 points as the second double-figure scorer. The win helped soothe the pain of a nail-biting 61-59 loss at No. 6 Stanford on Nov. 30. The 59 points was the lowest scored by the Bulldogs in the five games. The best outing was versus Georgia State in Georgia's season opener, Nov. 21, 87-48, which were also the fewest points allowed. Three Georgia players stand with double-digit scoring figures heading into the game, Braxton leads with 16.6 ppg and 11.0 rpg, Thomas follows with 11.8 ppg and sophomore guard Sherill Baker adds 10.4 ppg. Sophomore guard Alex Kendrick has a team-high 26 assists. The team returns four starters from last year's squad that finished 21-10 and advanced to the "Sweet 16". The team was ranked in the top 20 in all nine of the nation's polls heading into the regular season, with the highest nod coming from Sports Illustrated with a No. 5 spot.
