CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Four North Carolina women's basketball players have
earned spots on the 2003 All-Atlantic Coast Conference women's
basketball teams, announced Tuesday. Senior guard Coretta Brown, UNC's
leading scorer, was named to the first team for the second year in a
row. Sophomore Nikita Bell earned a spot on the second team and junior
Candace Sutton was named to the third team. La'Tangela Atkinson was the
leading vote-getter on the ACC All-Freshman team and also earned
honorable mention All-ACC honors. Bell also was named to the league?s
All-Defensive Team.
Brown, a candidate for All-America honors and several national awards,
averages 14.0 points per game for the Tar Heels. She sports the best
career three-point percentage in school history (.375) and is three
three-pointers away from becoming the school?s all-time leader in that
category. A two-time ACC Player of the Week during the 2002-03 season,
Brown ranks in league?s top five in scoring, assists, three-pointers,
three-point percentage and free throw percentage in ACC games.
Bell ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game and
leads UNC in steals with 2.7 per game, an average that ranks third in
the conference. She is shooting 49.0 percent from the field, sixth in
the ACC. Bell earned ACC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 3 following
a three-game span in which she averaged 21.0 points and scored 30 in a
game at Maryland. She is the first Carolina player to earn a spot on the
All-Defensive Team, which is selected by the league's coaches and was
initiated for the 1999-2000 season.
Sutton ranks third on the team in scoring (10.7 points per game) and
first in blocks (1.5). She ranks second in the ACC in blocks and fifth
in field goal percentage (.494). Her 44 blocks this season rank as the
eighth-highest total in school history and she ranks second in career
blocks at UNC with 149.
Atkinson, the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, has played in all 29
games this season and started 16. She leads the team in rebounds with
8.3 per game, second in the ACC. Among the league?s freshmen, she ranks
first in rebounding, a close second in scoring, second in steals, second
in field goal percentage and third in assists. A six-time ACC Rookie of
the Week, she also earned honorable mention All-ACC honors, missing the
third team by one vote.
The Tar Heels (25-4, 13-3) open play in the ACC Tournament in
Greensboro, N.C., on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. As the No. 2 seed, the Tar
Heels will meet the winner of Friday?s game between No. 7 Clemson and
No. 8 Maryland.
All-Atlantic Coast Conference
First team:
Alana Beard (Duke), Iciss Tillis (Duke), Coretta Brown
(UNC), Chrissy Floyd (Clemson), Sonja Mallory (Georgia Tech)
Second team: Renneika Razor (Maryland), Kaayla Chones (NC State), Nikita
Bell (UNC), Brandi Teamer (Virginia), Cherrise Graham (Virginia),
Tasheika Morris (FSU)
Third team:
Fallon Stokes (Georgia Tech), Tiffani Listenbee (Wake
Forest), Candace Sutton (UNC), Alex Stewart (Georgia Tech), Vicki
Krapohl (Duke)
All-Freshman Team
La'Tangela Atkinson (UNC), Cotelia Bond-Young (Wake Forest), Mistie Bass
(Duke), Chrissy Fisher (Maryland), Lindsey Harding (Duke), Amanda White
(Clemson)
All-Defensive Team
Alana Beard (Duke), Nikita Bell (UNC), Tiffani Listenbee (Wake Forest),
Sonja Mallory (Georgia Tech), Renneika Razor (Maryland)