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Women's Basketball Returns to the Court to Face #6/6 North Carolina

       

Women's Basketball Returns to the Court to Face #6/6 North Carolina

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Game 5

Coastal Carolina (3-1) at #6/6 North Carolina (9-0)

Date: Saturday, Dec. 17

Time: 2 p.m.

Place: Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Series: North Carolina leads 7-0

TV/Radio: THE TEAM 93.9 FM (Joe Cashion)

Live Stats: www.TarHeelBlue.com

Coastal Returns From Two-Week Break to Face North Carolina

The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team (3-1) returns to the hardwood after a two-week break, travelling to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face sixth-ranked North Carolina (9-0). Game time is at 2 p.m., in Carmichael Auditorium and the contest can be heard on THE TEAM 93.9 FM starting with the pre-game show at 1:50 p.m. The Lady Chanticleers are coming off a 71-67 win over Furman Dec. 3.

Scouting North Carolina

North Carolina has started the season with a 9-0 record, including a 77-54 win at eighth-ranked Connecticut Dec. 5. The Tar Heels have a plus-33 .0 scoring margin and are coming off an 87-50 win over Wofford Dec. 8. Ivory Latta leads the Tar Heels with 16.9 points and 5.9 assists per game. Erlana Larkins is averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. North Carolina is shooting at 47 percent from the field and has 43.3 rebounds a game.

The Tar Heels are coached by Basketball Hall of Famer Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman ’74), who is in her 20th year at Chapel Hill. She has a 421-186 record at UNC and a 693-266 record in her 31st year of coaching in her career.

Series vs. North Carolina

North Carolina has a 7-0 lead in the all-time series between the two teams. Last season, the Tar Heels defeated Coastal 94-52 despite a career-high 16 points from Demaria Young. Head Coach Alan LeForce is 0-4 against the Tar Heels at Coastal.

Coastal Has Rebounding Edge

For a team that doesn’t start a player over 6’0", Coastal sure gets its share of rebounds. The Lady Chants outrebounded Furman 36-31 Dec. 3 in a 71-67 victory and Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) and Kim Turner (West Memphis, Ark./Hiwassee C.C.) had nine and eight rebounds, respectively. Coastal also ended the game with 23 offensive caroms. For the season, CCU has a +5.0 rebounding margin, compared to a -4.8 margin last season.

Chants Come Through in the Clutch

The Lady Chants hit 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the last five minutes of its 71-67 win over Furman Dec. 3. Junior Alisha Dill (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line, while Demaria Young (Memphis, Tenn./Walters State C.C.) and Amber Rose (Bloomington Springs, Tenn./Upperman) each hit two key free throws. Kim Turner (West Memphis, Ark./Hiwassee C.C.) went 1-for-2 with 11 seconds left, but her one make put Coastal up by five (69-64).

Yates Has Impressive Beginning

Junior Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) has started her Coastal career with some strong performances. The Chattanooga State C.C. transfer went for 15 points and nine reboudns in the 71-67 win over Furman. She has been in double figures in scoring all four games this season and leads the team with 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.

Chants Giving Themselves A Second Chance

In Coastal’s 71-67 win over Furman Dec. 3, the Lady Chants had 23 offensive rebounds, which led to 28 second-chance points. Coastal is averaging 16.75 second-chance points per game. The following is a breakdown of the offensive rebounds and second-chance points for Coastal this season.

Game Offensive Rebounds Second Chance Pts.

Campbell 16 8

Southern Virginia 23 19

UNC Wilmington 13 12

Furman 23 28

Coach LeForce Earns Milestone

Head Coach Alan LeForce won his 350th career college game with the 71-67 win over Furman Dec. 3. LeForce now has 350 college wins and 110 at Coastal Carolina.

A Tale of Two Halves

In Coastal’s 75-51 loss to UNC Wilmington Nov. 29, the Lady Chants had a tale of two halves. In the first half, CCU shot 50 percent from the field, went 4-of-9 from three-point range and had seven steals to the Seahawks’ four. Junior Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) had 12 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting. However, Coastal shot only 23.5 percent in the second half, was outscored 43-22, went only 2-of-9 from three-point range and allowed 26 poitns in the paint by UNCW.

Rose Earns Career Highs vs. UNCW

Senior Amber Rose (Bloomington Springs, Tenn./Upperman) set one career high and tied another against UNC Wilmington Nov. 29. The guard had a career high seven rebounds in the 75-51 loss. Her former career high was six at Elon Feb. 9, 2003 and vs. Appalachian State Dec. 2, 2004. She also tied a career high with four steals and added four assists.

Chants Creating Turnovers

For the first four games, Coastal has forced its opponent into more turnovers than CCU. Against Furman, the Lady Chants forced 27 turnovers. The Lady Chants’ defense is averaging 27.3 turnovers a game and have a +8.3 turnover margin.

Yates Collects Double-Double in Second Career Game at CCU

Junior Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) had team highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds in Coastal’s 88-45 win over Southern Virginia Nov. 25. Of Yates’ 11 rebounds, 10 of those came on the offensive end. Yates opened her career with 10 second-half points in a 57-42 win over Campbell.

CCU Dominates Specialty Stats vs. SVU

Coastal Carolina defeated Southern Virginia 88-45 and had impressive edges in most of the specialty stats. The Lady Chants outscored SVU 52-18 in the paint. They had 41 points off of Lady Knight turnovers and had 19 second-chance points. The Coastal bench also outscored Southern Virginia’s bench 39-2.

Coastal Improves in Season Openers with Win over Campbell

Coastal Carolina improved to 7-2 in season openers under head coach Alan LeForce with its 57-42 win over Campbell Nov. 22. In its first season opener on the road since 1997-98, Coastal went 13-of-17 from the free-throw line and forced the Lady Camels into 28 turnovers as the Lady Chants led by as many as 16 points in the win. Coastal also has won seven of its last eight games against Campbell.

Tyler Finds Form in Southern Virginia Win

Senior Jasmine Tyler (Jacksonville, Fla./Okaloosa C.C.) went 7-of-11 from the field for 15 points in Coastal’s 88-45 win over Southern Virginia Nov. 25. The senior also was 1-of-3 from three-point range, had six rebounds and dished out three assists.

Coastal Collects Caroms in SVU Win

Coastal had 52 rebounds in the 88-45 win over Southern Virginia. It is the first time a Coastal team has had 50 or more rebounds in a game since Nov. 28, 2003 in a 65-55 win over Wofford.

De-Fense, De-Fense

Coastal held Campbell to 42 points Nov. 22 in its 15-point win. That mark was just two off the lowest point output Campbell has had at home. The Lady Chants held the Camels to 37 percent from the field and just 46 shot attempts. Coastal outrebounded Campbell 40-32, led by senior Demaria Young’s (Memphis, Tenn./Walters State C.C.) nine.

Young Chairwoman of the Boards

Senior Demaria Young (Memphis, Tenn./Walters State C.C.), playing in the post for most of the game despite being 5-8, was one off her career high as she had nine rebounds in the 57-42 win over Campbell Nov. 22. Young had eight first-half rebounds, three offensive, and added four points in the win.

Turner Steady in Campbell Win

Senior Kim Turner (West Memphis, Ark./Hiwassee C.C.) played only 21 mintues in the 57-42 win over Campbell, but she ended up with a game-high 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. It was the 17th time Turner has scored in double figures in her CCU career, as she has 376 career points.

Dill Stuffs Stat Sheet

While junior Alisha Dill (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) had only five points in the 57-42 win over Campbell, she was big in every other statistical category. Dill had four rebounds, three offensive, a game-high six assists, three blocked shots and two steals. The three blocks were a career high, as she had only five blocks in her first two seasons at Coastal.

New Face on the Bench

Coastal has a new coach for the 2005-06 season and she is no stranger to the Myrtle Beach area. Shameka Montgomery (UNC Wilmington ’03) was the conference Player of the Year in 1999 at North Myrtle Beach High School and was a nominee for Miss South Carolina Basketball. Montgomery went to UNC Wilmington, where she scored 1,139 points and grabbed 724 rebounds in her four-year career. She came to Coastal after playing overseas in Sweden in 2004-05.

Chanticleers Picked Sixth in the Big South

The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the Big South Conference annual preseason poll, announced at the League’s annual Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon in Charlotte, N.C.

Coastal earned 72 points, including one first-place vote, to earn the sixth spot. Liberty was picked to win its ninth straight regular-season title, earning 189 points and 14 first-place votes. High Point was not far behind with 181 points and nine first-place votes. UNC Asheville was picked third with 163 votes and two first-place votes. Radford was picked fourth with 112 points, followed by Birmingham-Southern (95 points), Coastal, Charleston Southern (69 points) and Winthrop (55 points).

Turner Named to the Big South Preseason All-Conference Team

Senior Kim Turner (West Memphis, Ark./Hiwassee C.C.) was selected to the League’s Preseason All-Conference Team, it was announced at the League’s annual Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon in Charlotte, N.C.

Turner, a 6-0 forward, averaged 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 26 games last season. She was a Second Team All-Big South selection in 2004-05 and was fourth in the conference in scoring and sixth in the League in rebounding. Turner had three double-doubles, including a 22-point, 15-rebound performance against Birmingham-Southern March 2. The forward also led the team with 32 blocked shots and had 55 steals, which was second on the team.

Turner was joined on the All-Big South Preseason Team by Preseason Player of the Year Katie O’Dell of High Point, Kristal Hood of UNC Asheville, Stacey Anthony of Birmingham-Southern, Allyson Fasnacht of Liberty and Corrie Fertitta of Radford.

Head Coach Alan LeForce

Coastal head coach Alan LeForce (Cumberland (Ky.) ’57) is starting his ninth season as the Lady Chanticleers’ mentor. He has a 110-118 record at CCU and a 350-298 overall record in 23 seasons as a head coach. LeForce is the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in CCU history and is the only coach to win 100 games in both Division I men’s and women’s basketball.

New Faces for the Chants

Coastal will have three newcomers in 2005-06. Sophomore Joanna Pekonen (Lappeenranta, Finland/Lafayette) redshirted due to NCAA transfer rules last season. She had two rebounds in the Campbell win. Junior Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) started the Campbell game and had 10 second-half points. Freshman Kairsten Nunn (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) had three points and two assists in the win over the Crusaders. Freshman Elizabeth Weaver (Unicoi, Tenn./Unicoi County) would be the fourth newcomer, but she is currently out with a shoulder injury.

Big South Stats

Coastal leads the Big South Conference in scoring offense and scoring margin and is second in scoring defense, field goal percentage and rebounding margin. Junior Calisha Yates (Columbus, Ind./Chattanooga State C.C.) is tied for fourth in the conference in scoring (14.0 ppg). Senior Amber Rose (Bloomington Springs, Tenn./Upperman) leads the conference in free-throw percentage (.889) and junior Alisha Dill (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) is tied for third in assists (4.00 apg).

Coastal Part of Carolinas Women’s Challenge

Coastal Carolina will be part of the Carolinas Women’s Challenge Dec. 20, at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The challenge, which coincides with the Holiday Invitational High School Girls Basketball Tournament, pits the Lady Chants against the College of Charleston at 5 p.m. The University of North Carolina-Vanderbilt University tilt follows that game. For more information on the holiday tournament, visit www.beachballclassic.com.

Radio Broadcasts

The Coastal Carolina women’s baskeball team will have at least 12 games on radio this season, tipping off with Nov. 22 game against Campbell. All Coastal women’s basketball radio broadcasts are on "THE TEAM" 93.9 FM in Myrtle Beach. All games also will be available on Coastal Carolina’s athletic website at www.GoCCUSports.com.

CCU Signs Five Student-Athletes to National Letters-of-Intent

The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball program has signed five student-athletes to National Letters-of-Intent, head coach Alan LeForce announced Nov. 9.

"Without question, this is the best recruiting class we have assembled in the history of our program," LeForce said. "I know this will put some pressure on them to perform, but as a whole, it has to rank as one of the best classes in the history of the Big South."

The following is a list of the student-athletes coming to Coastal Carolina in 2006-07.

Name Pos. Ht. Hometown

Lauren Grochowski F 5-11 Naperville, Ill.

Lacey Lyons F 5-11 Beverly Hills, Fla.

Devin Rivers C 6-1 Miami, Fla.

Amanda Stull G 5-9 Rushville, Ind.

Lori Whitaker G 5-9 Bloomington, Ind.

Game Day Central

All the Coastal women’s basketball games this season will have a Game Day Central link on www.GoCCUSports.com, which will feature roster, schedules and stats for both teams as well as links to any live audio or live stats. Just click on the G under the women’s basketball schedule for access to the Game Day Central.

Up Next

Coastal will take part in the Carolinas Holiday Invitational Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 5 p.m., at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The Lady Chants will play the College of Charleston in the first game, with North Carolina facing Vanderbilt in the nightcap.