Thursday, March 20, 2008 B3
Sports Old Gold & Black
Lady Deacs’season ends with ACC Tourney loss
Wake Forest drops opening round game against Florida State By Nick Oliphant | Staff writer
The Lady Deacons wrapped up their season with a first round exit in the ACC tournament on March 6. The 11th-seeded Deacons took a 24-22 halftime lead over sixth-seeded Florida State, but the Seminoles raced ahead in the second half. The Deacons’ late 10-3 run cut the deficit to four with 24 seconds left, but they could get no closer and lost 57-52. Junior Corinne Groves led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points in the loss. Freshman Brittany Waters added a solid performance with 10 points and nine rebounds. “I thought we played very hard, we just didn’t make enough plays to get over the hump and win the game,” Coach Mike Petersen said of the effort. With the loss, Groves the Deacons ended the year with a 15-15 record, including a 2-12 mark in conference play. The contest was also the final game of senior forward Christen Brown’s career.
She appeared in all 30 games this year, averaging 6.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, and her inside presence will be missed next year. Although the ACC Tournament was a disappointing finish to a difficult conference season, the Deacons have plenty to look forward to next season. After starting this season 12-2 with a Paradise Jam Tournament victory that included wins over Indiana and Texas A&M, injuries to point guards freshman Camille Collier and sophomore Tiffany Roulhac derailed the team’s hopes of continuing success in ACC play. Prior to their injuries, the team had been on the cusp of being ranked nationally. Still, the Deacons finished with a six win improvement over last season and have high hopes for continuing their improvement next season. Key returnees include Groves and junior Alex Tchangoue, who were the team’s top two scorers and rebounders this year. Having Roulhac healthy will also be a boost for the team, as she averaged five assists per game before going down halfway through the season. “Getting our point guard position back to normal and the added depth that our incoming recruits will provide should be a couple big steps toward us competing better in the ACC and making a run at the NCAA tournament,” Petersen said about next season. With all but one player back from an improving team, the future looks bright for the Lady Deacons.
Game of the Week Men’s tennis vs. Maryland March 21 Leighton Tennis Stadium Winston-Salem, N.C. The ACC schedule continues for No. 22 Wake Forest as they host the Maryland Terrapins on March 21. Wake Forest opened its conference schedule with a 4-3 victory over N.C. State on March 5 in Winston-Salem. The team unfortunately could not use the momentum to their advantage, dropping close matches to No. 20 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, and TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, both by a score of 4-3. The match will serve as the first of six consecutive home matches for the Deacs, who could benefit from the long homestand. Wake lost its most recent match on March 19 against UNC-Chapel Hill. For the Tarheels, it was their first ACC match of the season. The Deacons have only won two matches against the Tarheels since 1988. The match against UNC-Chapel Hill was originally scheduled for March 18, but was rescheduled to avoid a conflict with the memorial service for late UNC student body president, Eve Carson. The Deacs host Boston College and Elon on March 22.
Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black
Freshman guard Kern Wilson and the rest of the Lady Deacs exited the ACC Tournament in the first round, ending a disappointing season with a 57-52 loss to Florida State.
Scoreboard Wake in the Ranks Women’s basketball standings
1. North Carolina 2. Maryland 3. Duke 4. Virginia 5. Georgia Tech 6. Florida State 7. Boston College 8. N.C. State 9. Clemson 10. Virginia Tech 11. Wake Forest 12. Miami
ACC 14-0 13-1 10-4 10-4 7-7 7-7 7-7 6-8 4-10 2-12 2-12 2-12
All 30-2 30-3 23-9 23-9 22-9 18-13 20-11 18-12 12-19 15-15 15-15 9-21
Women’s tennis standings 1. Duke 2. Georgia Tech 3. North Carolina 4. Wake Forest 5. Virginia 6. N.C. State 7. Florida State 8. Clemson 9. Miami 10. Boston College 11. Maryland 12. Virginia Tech
ACC 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 2-1 1-1 1-1 1-2 1-2 0-2 0-2 0-3
Men’s basketball standings All 9-1 10-3 11-4 6-5 6-6 8-4 11-2 5-8 8-4 8-3 3-8 12-5
1. North Carolina 2. Duke 3. Clemson 4. Virginia Tech 5. Miami 6. Maryland 7. Georgia Tech 8. Wake Forest 9. Florida State 10. Virginia 11. Boston College 12. N.C. State
ACC 14-2 13-3 10-6 9-7 8-8 8-8 7-9 7-9 7-9 5-11 4-12 4-12
All 32-2 27-5 24-9 19-13 22-10 18-14 15-17 17-13 19-14 15-15 14-17 15-16
ACC Leaderboard Women’s basketball Points/g 1. Monica Wright (Virginia) 2. Brittany Cook (Virginia Tech) 3. Khadijah Whittngton (N.C. State) 4. Kristi Toliver (Maryland) 5. Crystal Langhorne (Maryland)
Wright
Cook
18.2 17.9 17.2 16.8 16.7
Women’s tennis National Rank
1. Aurelija Miseviciute (Arkansas-Fayetteville) 2. Ani Mijacika (Clemson) 3. Maria Mosolova (Northwestern) 4. Amanda McDowell (Georgia Tech) 5. Georgia Rose (Northwestern)
Miseviciute
Mijacika
Men’s basketball Assists/g 1. Greivis Vasquez (Maryland) 2. Sean Singletary (Virginia) 3. Ty Lawson (North Carolina) 4. Tyrese Rice (Boston College) 5. Ishmael Smith (Wake Forest)
Vasquez
6.88 6.03 5.19 4.97 4.70
Singletary
FOR THE AMATEUR
Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black
Students compete in the intramural basketball playoffs, which will conclude March 24 in Reynolds Gym.
Welcome back from Spring Break, intramural athletes! This week playoffs resumed for indoor basketball, with all quarterfinal and semi-final games being played in Reynolds Gym. For those of you who are interested in attending, all championship games will take place on Monday, March 24 in Reynolds Gym. Also, captains meetings for softball, tennis and racquetball will take place Monday, March 24 in Carswell 111. Captains meetings have typically taken place in Pugh Auditorium in Benson, so please note the change. Bowling sign-ups will continue this week and the league will begin on March 24, so make sure to sign your teams up immediately in Reynolds Gym 204A. The cost is $115 for a three-person team and the league will run on Monday nights for six weeks.
Basketball Official of the Week: Chantz McClinic
Compiled by Brett Noble