Wake Forest University
Princeton (Reynolds Gym)
Women's Basketball Pounds Princeton, 76-43
11/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2004
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's basketball team raced out to a 32-point first half lead and never looked back en route to a 76-43 rout of Princeton Friday night at Reynolds Gym on the campus of Wake Forest University.
"I thought the first half was as good an effort that I have ever had a basketball team give," said head coach Mike Petersen. "Aside from all of our shots going in, our defensive effort was unbelievable. I thought that our kids really defended hard, we took six charges and we held them to six points for the first 15 or 16 minutes of that half. If we can just sustain our enthusiasm, we are going to make a lot of progress."
Junior Cotelia Bond-Young scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists to lead the Demon Deacon attack. Junior Liz Strunk added 14 and senior Erin Ferrell closed out the three Deacs in double figures with 10 points. Ferrell also corralled a game-high 10 rebounds.
Bond-Young went 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-7 from the 3-point line. Strunk was 5-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-7 from 3-point territory.
Sophomore Maya Bennett came off the bench with nine points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Junior Keila Evans and sophomore Porsche' Jones each chipped in six points.
The Demon Deacons shot 51.9% (27-for-52) from the field and drilled 12-for-23 (52.2%) from behind the 3-point arc. The Deacs also forced 25 Princeton (1-2) turnovers. The Deacs limited the Tigers to just 33.3% (19-for-57) from the field.
The Demon Deacons raced out from the opening tip. After knocking down 10 three-point field goals in their season-opening victory over Hampton, Wake Forest drilled a trio helping them jump out to a 24-4 lead with 10:20 to go in the first half. Jones, Bond-Young and Ferrell all buried jumpers from beyond the 3-point line. Bond-Young scored nine points in the spurt.
The Demon Deacs kept the full-court pressure on high for the entire first 20 minutes and continued to drain shots from long-range. Wake Forest extended the lead to as many as 32 points, 38-6, with 5:44 to go before halftime. The Lady Tigers scored their fourth point at the 17:06 mark of the first half, but did not score again until the 9:50 mark.
Princeton narrowed the deficit to 29 points, 49-20, by halftime, but the seven minute scoreless drought was far too much to overcome. In all, Wake Forest forced 19 turnovers, knocked down nine three-point field goals and shot 64.0% in the first half, including 9-for-12 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Bond-Young poured in 15 points in the first half alone, while Strunk added 11 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Demon Deacons waste little time before their next game. Wake Forest will host Stetson on Sunday, Nov. 28. Tip-off at Joel Coliseum is scheduled for noon. The meeting with the Hatters is the sixth all-time match-up and first since the 1986-87 season. The Deacs lead the all-time series, 4-1.
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