Wake Forest University
UNC Wilmington
Wake Forest Cruises Past UNCW 68-44
12/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2013
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
| 
Photo Gallery
By Gary Petit, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWBB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest rode the momentum of a 16-2 first half run and cruised to a 68-44 victory Monday evening over visiting UNC Wilmington.
The Demon Deacons shot a season-high tying 45.6 percent from the floor and improved to 6-4 on the season. UNCW dropped to 1-9 with the setback.
Junior Dearica Hamby finished the night with game-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds, giving her a fifth-straight double-double and a total of eight double-doubles on the year. She was 7-of-9 from the floor and also had three steals.
Redshirt-freshman Kelila Atkinson came off the bench and scored 14 points for the Deacs while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing-out a team-high tying three assists.
The Seahawks were led by their leading scorer Kelva Atkins who finished with 13 points and a game-high five steals.
Wake Forest held UNCW to just 29.5 percent from the floor and forced 26 Seahawk turnovers. The Deacs did most of their damage inside, scoring 42 points in the paint but were held to a season-low four three-pointers on the night.
Wake scored the first 10 points of the game but quickly let the momentum slide. The Seahawks took advantage of a few missed shots and were able to close the gap to 20-18 after a three-pointer by Amber Reeves at the 7:05 mark.
Lay-ups by Hamby and Jill Brunori followed but an old-fashioned three-point play by Chelsea Douglas sparked what would amount to a 16-2 run for the Deacons over the next five minutes. Wake made 7-of-8 field goal attempts during the spurt while UNCW missed five of its six attempts and had four turnovers. That run pushed the lead to 36-20 and swung the momentum back in favor of the Deacons heading into the break.
The Deacons kept the momentum at the onset of the second half but a three-point play by Brie Mobley cut the deficit to 44-32 at the 12:56 mark. That was quickly answered by lay-ins from Atkinson and Ataijah Taylor as the Deacons shoved the lead back to 16 and wouldn't allow the Seahawks any closer the rest of the way.
Wake Forest will return to action this Friday as it hosts South Alabama at 7 p.m. at the Joel Coliseum. That will serve as the first meeting between the two schools.
