Wake Forest Athletics
2009-10 Women's Basketball Review
4/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The 2009-10 Wake Forest women's basketball team had a lot to follow up as the players and coaches prepared for the season.
The 2008-09 season was one of the strongest in history for the Wake Forest women's basketball team. The Demon Deacons made their first appearance in the AP poll since 1988, set a new program record with a 12-0 start to the season and earned an invitation to play to postseason for second time during Mike Petersen's tenure as head coach, but for only the third time in program history.
In May 2009 Wake Forest lost two out-standing four-year starters to graduation. Center Corinne Groves and guard Alex Tchangoue each joined the 1,000 point club and 600 rebound club during their senior campaigns and provided a reliable source of both talent and leadership for the team.
Partially for because of their departure, the Demon Deacons were voted 10th in the 2009-10 Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll.
"The preseason rankings are based on the past. We're a team that's constantly looking to and focusing on the future," senior Courteney Morris said at Media Day.
"We're just going to go into the season focused and ready to win games."
And that's exactly what the squad did. The team finished 7-7 in ACC play, its second best performance history, and finished fifth in the league, five slots above its predicted standing.
Several Demon Deacons received recognition for excellence by the conference, including rookie center Sandra Garcia, who was one of just five conference players to earn a spot on the All-Freshmen team, as well as sophomore forward Secily Ray and junior forward Brittany Waters, who earned All-ACC recognition.
"We had a lot of work to do, because we had so many young players," Wake Forest head coach Mike Petersen said.
"But they were a resilient bunch and worked extremely hard. I knew it may take a while for everything to fall into place but by the start of conference season things were really coming together."
The squad had some impressive wins during non-conference play, including a 66-25 win over Presbyterian, marking the lowest opponent point total since 1972. The Deacs also posted a victory over Big East competitor USF, but dropped several key contests as the team chemistry was still coming together on the court.
 Junior Brittany Waters had the team-best single game scoring performance (33 points) at Miami of Ohio.  | |
At the start of 2010 everything was coming together for the Demon Deacons. Wake had some historic wins during league play, including a 64-57 win over 20th-ranked Virginia, marking just the third time the Deacons have topped the Cavaliers since the series began in 1975.
Wake Forest also defeated Miami, who had just entered the AP Top 25. The Deacons would have the challenge of facing the Hurricanes in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, where they pulled out an overtime victory to advance.
"This team succeeded because they were so fierce defensively fought through deficits," Petersen said. "Once they believed in themselves enough to come back if they got behind, the team was very, very strong."
At Boston College, one of the toughest venues in the ACC, Wake Forest fell behind by eight points early in the second half. But the Demon Deacons kept composure and whittled away at the BC lead to eventually claim a 60-56 victory and the team's first-ever win in Chestnut Hill.
The squad earned a berth to the Women's National Invitation Tournament for the second consecutive season following a fifth place finish in the ACC and a win in the opening round of the ACC tournament.
The team is only graduating one member of its regular starting lineup, so Petersen hopes the last year of experience will push the Deacons into further success for the future.
"We've made great strides over the last year and have a lot to work with," Petersen said. "With our talented recruiting class and most of the team returning we'll have a great leg up going into the fall."
