Wake Forest University
Miami
Wake Forest Topples No. 7 Miami, 81-74
3/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2012
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Secily Ray scored a season-high 21 points to help Wake Forest upset No. 7 Miami 81-74 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Friday.
Chelsea Douglas added 18 points for the seventh-seeded Demon Deacons (19-12), who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1988 and just the third time ever. Wake Forest shot 46 percent and blew a 15-point halftime lead, but the Demon Deacons pushed back ahead in the final 2 minutes to seal the victory.
Riquna Williams scored 22 points to lead the second-seeded Hurricanes (25-5), who beat Wake Forest 64-39 in late January. But the Demon Deacons played from in front almost the entire night and scored seven straight points to break a 68-all tie.
It was the second straight upset in the ACC quarterfinals. Wake Forest's win came right after ninth-seeded North Carolina State beat fifth-ranked and top-seeded Duke.
Sandra Garcia added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Wake Forest, including the go-ahead putback with 1:50 left. Then Lakevia Boykin (16 points) scored on a driving shot over Stefanie Yderstrom to push the lead to four on the next possession.
The Demon Deacons did the rest of their work at the free throw line. As the Hurricanes continued to miss the shots they made earlier to spark their second-half comeback, Wake Forest went 7 for 8 at the line in the final 90 seconds to stay in control. Boykin scored a layup off a long inbounds to punctuate the victory, though the Wake Forest bench nearly ran onto the court to celebrate too soon on an out-of-bounds call with 0.2 seconds left.
Wake Forest ran off 13 straight points and outscored the Hurricanes 19-4 in the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 38-23 lead at the break. The Hurricanes weren't able to cut into that lead significantly until putting together a 12-2 run with about 7 1/2 minutes left and taking a 66-64 lead on Yderstrom's three-point play with 4:56 left.
It was Miami's first lead since 16-15 with about 10 minutes left in the first half.
Post Game Notes- Wake Forest earns its first trip to the semifinals since 1988 and its third in all. The Demon Deacons also advanced in 1986.
- In the ACC Tournament's first 34 years, only two teams seeded seventh or lower advanced to the semifinals: No. 7 Boston College in 2010 and No. 7 Georgia Tech in 1992. Today, No. 9 NC State and No. 7 Wake Forest won quarterfinal games.
- Before Friday, teams seeking major upsets as defined by the NCAA (a difference of five or more places in seeding) stood 4-73 in ACC Tournament play. They were 2-0 on Friday.
- The Demon Deacons had more field goals in Friday's first half (17) than they collected in their regular-season meeting with Miami (15). The Hurricanes won that game 64-39 on Jan. 26.
- Both teams were 1-for-1 from the foul line in the first half.
- The win over the seventh-rated Hurricanes is the second in Wake history over an opponent ranked in the AP poll's Top 10. The first was a 67-65 home decision over No. 7 Maryland on Feb. 2, 1993.
- The Deacons (20-of-24) tied a school record for free throws made in an ACC Tournament game originally established in a 20-for-30 performance against Florida State in the first round in 1997.
- Wake's 83.3-percent accuracy from the line is its highest in an ACC Tournament game with 20 or more attempts.
- Secily Ray of Wake Forest is 12-of-23 from the floor and 14-of-18 from the foul line in this year's tournament.
- Miami eradicated a 15-point halftime deficit to take a lead on the Demon Deacons. If they had won, the Hurricanes would have achieved the second-largest comeback as measured by halftime lead in ACC Tournament's history. The standard is held by Duke, which overcame a 40-20 halftime deficit to defeat Virginia 83-82 in overtime in the 1995 semifinals.
