Sports > January 31, 2008

By Martin Rickman | Staff writer

Despite dismantling Savannah State at home Jan. 24 in their final non-conference game of the year by 44 points, the Lady Deacons basketball team was unable to parlay that into a victory against N.C. State Jan. 27, falling 63-38.

click to enlarge

Senior forward Christen Brown scrambles for possession of the ball in a recent game. The Lady Deacons are 13-9 overall this season, but are stuck in last place in the ACC with a conference record of 0-7. They will play the No. 3 UNC Tarheels Jan. 31. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

The Lady Deacs, the ACC’s No. 1 scoring defense, turned in one of their finest overall performances of the year, forcing a year-high 29 turnovers against Savannah State at the Joel, which led to 32 points and set the tone in an 85-41 victory.

This ended Wake’s six game losing streak and also marked the team’s season high in points, besting the 84 points scored against Winston-Salem State on Dec. 21.

Freshman Camille Collier continued her sparkling season, knocking down six threes and racking up 21 points, her second consecutive game of 20 or more points. Collier is averaging 8.6 points per game and is third on the team in both steals and assists. Freshman Brittany Waters also had a great game, pulling down eight rebounds and adding nine points.

Juniors Alex Tchangoue and Corinne Groves also combined for 32 points on the game.

Savannah State shot just under 25 percent for the game and was out-rebounded by 15, while the Lady Deacons shot 50 percent on the day and over 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Unfortunately, the team could not use the momentum of this game to find their first conference win of the season as they fell to N.C. State at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

After falling behind 29-20 in the first half, the Demon Deacons were held scoreless by the Wolfpack for the first eight minutes of the second half, putting them in a 45-20 deficit.

The Deacs were turnover prone, finishing with 16 on the day. They also struggled from long range, hitting just three of 18 3-point opportunities and shooting just 26.7 percent overall.

The Deacs were led by sophomore Mekia Valentine, who had a team-high 11 points. The Wolfpack had a pair of 12 point scorers in senior Khadijah Whittington and redshirt freshman Megan Zullo and went to 14-7 on the year and 2-4 in ACC play.

However with the win and the loss during the week, the Deacs went to 13-9 and 0-7 in the ACC.

With a chance at the ultimate upset, the Deacons take on the third-ranked UNC Tarheels on Jan. 31 at the Joel.

Tipoff is slotted for 7 p.m.

The Tar Heels are coming off an overtime win against the fourth-ranked Maryland Terrapins on Jan. 27.

This is the third game the Deacons have played against a top 25 opponent.

The team beat Texas A&M in the Paradise Jam Tournament and lost to Maryland at the Joel on Jan. 3.