06-07 WBB History
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History 31 SEASONS OF TRADITION 1. Georgia State has an all-time record of 444-408 (.521 winning percentage) over its 31-year history. The Lady Panthers have had 16 winning seasons, including the first six and eight of the last nine. 2. State’s first-ever women’s basketball game was in 1975, an 80-33 win at Georgia Tech. Georgia State would go on to finish with a 12-4 overall record (.750 winning percentage) during that inaugural season of 1975-76. 3. Terese Allen, who played for the Lady Panthers from 1977-81 and later came back as an assistant coach, is State’s all-time leading scorer with 2,074 points. Allen also holds the career records for scoring average (19.4 points per game) and field goals made (883). Her No. 34 is one of three former Georgia State women’s basketball jerseys to be retired. 4. Sheryl Martin, one of the three former State women’s basketball players to have her jersey retired (No. 24), pro- duced the top two single game scoring per- formances in the program’s history. Mar- tin scored 45 points in a game vs. Georgia Tech in 1983 before pouring in 52 against Stetson 11 days later. 5. Angela Gresham, a Georgia The retired jersey numbers of Terese Allen, Sheryl Martin and Evita Rogers State standout for four seasons during the 1980s, holds single game school records for rebounds and blocked shots. Gresham twice hauled down 24 boards in a game and also had seven blocked shots on two occasions. 6. In 1988, Lady Panther Traci Cheek was named to the prestigious GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America First Team. A four-year standout from 1984-88, Cheek was the first and only student-athlete to ever garner first team honors until cross country’s Jenn Feenstra received the award in 2005. 7. In the early years of the State program, three players earned All-America recognition: Terese Allen in 1980, Lorna Jefferson in 1984 and Angela Gresham in 1985. 8. In her final season of 1996-97, Georgia State’s Etolia Mitchell led NCAA Division I in rebounds with an average of 13.2 per game. Mitchell was chosen as the Trans America Athletic Conference Player of the Year that season. 164 2006-07 GEORGIA STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 31 SEASONS OF TRADITION 9. Joyce Harrell, one of the Lady Panthers’ first star players, pulled down 1,051 rebounds from 1976- 80. Harrell’s rebound total still stands as the all-time best in State history and she is one of just two players to have more than 1,000 career points and 1,000 career boards (Angela Gresham is the other). 10. In directing Georgia State’s 1980-81 squad to a 28-5 overall record, Denise Lloyd set single season school records for assists (199) and steals (86) that still stand. 11. Current Lady Panther head coach Lea Henry is now in her 13th season at the helm of the program. Over the last 12 seasons, the Olympic gold medalist has guided State to 195 victories, more than any other basketball coach (men or women) in the University’s history. 12. Georgia State had a streak of eight straight seasons of 15 or more wins after going 16-14 overall in 2004-05, 18-11 in 2003-04, 20-11 in 2002-03, 21-10 in 2001-02, 24-7 in both 2000-01 and 1999-2000, 15-12 in 1998-99 and 17-11 in 1997-98. There have been just six other campaigns with at least 15 victories, includ- ing only one other 20-win season. 13. Leslie McElrath, the 2000 Trans America Athletic Conference Player of the Year, led the Lady Pan- thers to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament that year. As a senior in 2000-01, McElrath got her team into the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. She established State career records for starts (113) and free throws made (520). 14. Georgia State’s 2003 senior class of Kara Edwards, Angelina Miller and Evita Rogers was part of three NCAA Tournament teams and a Women’s National Invitation Tournament squad. The Lady Panthers compiled an overall record of 89-35 (.718 winning percentage) during their four-year careers. 15. Three current State staff members, Tammy (Felton) Hill, Dee Dee Merriweather and Evita Rogers, are former players here under head coach Lea Henry. Assistant coach Hill played for Georgia State for two sea- sons (1995-97) and was a second team All- Trans America Athletic Conference pick in 1996-97. Administrative assistant Merriweather was a Lady Panther from 2001-05. Assistant coach Rogers (1999- 2003) was a three-time All-Atlantic Sun se- lection. From left: Angelina Miller, Evita Rogers and Kara Edwards 2006-07 GEORGIA STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 165 31 SEASONS OF TRADITION 16. Teresa Brown returned to the State staff in 2004-05 after serving as a graduate assistant in the pro- gram during the 1995-96 season. While an assistant coach at the University of Florida in the early 1990s, present Georgia State head coach Lea Henry recruited Brown to play for the Lady Gators. Brown ended up as a four-year letterwinner at Florida. 17. Carmelita Layog, who formerly served as the administrative assistant and radio color analyst for the Lady Panthers, was an exceptional long-range shooter during her playing days here from 1996-2000. Layog holds the school record for three-point field goals made in a season (69 in 1999-2000). 18. Patechia Hartman, a former member of the State program from 2001- 05, came off the bench as a sophomore to set a then-single game school record with eight steals in a home win over Jacksonville on Feb. 15, 2003. Then freshman Brittany Hollins now owns the record after posting nine steals at Va. Commonwealth on Jan. 13, 2006. 19. Marica Maddox, a Georgia State point guard from 1998-2002, had the two best single season free throw percentages in school history. Maddox shot 87.4 percent from the foul line as a sophomore in 1999-2000 and 86.1 percent two years later. 20. Over the last seven seasons during the months of February and March, the Lady Panthers have put together an overall record of 59-32 (.648 winning percentage). 21. Angelina Miller concluded her four-year career in 2003 by becoming the 14th player in State history to score over 1,000 points. Marica Maddox owns school 22. The 2001-02 Georgia State team was the first-ever to accomplish the career and single season records for free throw percentage. feat of winning its conference regular season championship outright, confer- ence tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. 23. After competing independently in the early years of the program, the Lady Panthers were a member of the New South Women’s Athletic Conference from 1985-86 through 1990-91. State joined the Trans America Athletic Conference in women’s basketball in 1991-92 and had been a member for 14 seasons (TAAC changed its name to Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001-02). Georgia State now competes in the Colo- nial Athletic Association. 24. The Lady Panthers defeated instate rival the University of Georgia the first eight times the two teams played. State also began its all-time series with Georgia Tech by winning the first five contests. 166 2006-07 GEORGIA STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 31 SEASONS OF TRADITION 25. Former State player April Clyburn led the Atlantic Sun Conference and established a single season school record in 2003-04 by shooting 59.6 percent (112-of-188) from the field. 26. Former Georgia State player Lina Noufena set a single game school standard by making eight three- point field goals at Stetson as a sophomore on Feb. 14, 2002. Noufena finished with a career-high 24 points in that first start of her career. 27. Although the Lady Panthers’ NCAA Tournament seeds regressed from 2001-2003, their losing mar- gin in first-round games decreased. State, as a No. 14 seed, lost at Louisiana Tech (84-48) in 2001, was defeated as a No. 15 seed at Tennessee (98-68) in 2002 and fell to Duke (66-48) as a No. 16 seed in 2003. Both Tennessee and Duke wound up advancing to the Final Four. 28. Evita Rogers capped off her brilliant four-year career in 2003 by finishing as Georgia State’s all-time leader in games played (121) and field goal percentage (53.3 percent). Rogers was the Most Valuable Player of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on two occasions (2002 and 2003) and a three-time All-Atlantic Sun pick (first team twice). 29. Patechia Hartman was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week a record six times in 2003-04. In all, Lady Panther players claimed eight of the 17 awards that year (Yvette Tisdale and April Clyburn were each honored once). 30. Patechia Hartman became the first Lady Panther to win back-to-back conference Player of the Year titles in 2003-04 and 2004-05. She is the third State player to earn league Player of the Year honors, joining Etolia Mitchell (1996-97) and Leslie McElrath (1999-2000). 31. Monica Thomas concluded her four-year career in 2006 by becoming the 16th player in State history to score over 1,000 points. Thomas made four 3-pointers in a first round win over William & Mary in the CAA Tournament to set the school record for career 3- pointers.