Wake Forest University
Elon
Deacs Earn Tough Road Win at Elon, 78-68
11/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWBB)
ELON, N.C. -- Wake Forest and Elon went back and forth Saturday, Nov. 26, inside Alumni Gym but the Demon Deacon women's basketball team was able to take control in the fourth quarter on the way to a 78-68 victory.
Elon (4-2) took a 51-50 lead to the final quarter after Malaya Johnson hit a layup as the clock ticked away in the third quarter and after the two teams traded buckets early in the fourth, Wake Forest went on an 8-2 run to go up 60-55 with two layups by Ariel Stephenson, one by Milan Quinn and one by Amber Campbell. Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Elon tried to chip away at the Wake Forest lead but could never come closer than four points at 60-56, 64-60 and 70-66 as the Demon Deacons moved to 5-1 on the season and have now won four in a row since losing the second game of the season at LSU on Nov. 12.
Wake forest shot 50.9 percent from the floor on 27-of-53 shooting. Through six games thus far, Wake Forest has shot 50 percent or better in three of six games after also eclipsing the mark against Navy (54.1 percent) and Eastern Michigan (50 percent). In the fourth quarter, the Demon Deacons shot a blistering 81.8 percent on 9-of-11 from the floor in closing out the Phoenix. Elon finished shooting 40 percent on 24-of-60 from the floor, which marks the best shooting performance by an opponent against the Deacs this season.
The Demon Deacons, led by Stephenson's 20 points, had five players score in double figures for the second time in three games. Quinn and Campbell tied for second on the team with 15 points while both Elisa Penna and Alex Sharp had 10 apiece. Quinn added 10 rebounds in the winning effort to record her third double-double of the season and 14th of her career, which ties her with RaeAnna Mulholland and Secily Ray for eighth-most in program history. Tyra Whitehead also set a career-high with seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. She chipped in four points in the winning effort.
Trading buckets throughout the first part of the opening quarter, Wake Forest trailed 10-8 with 5:17 to go before going on a 14-3 run to close the quarter and take a 22-13 lead to the second. Throughout the run, Wake Forest spread the ball around with four points apiece by Sharp and Kortni Simmons, three from Whitehead, two from Penna and a free throw by Stephenson after Quinn scored six of Wake Forest's first eight points on the day. In the quarter, Wake Forest shot 62.5 percent, which marked the fourth-best clip in a quarter this season before being outdone by the 81.8 percent in the fourth.
Early in the second, a Quinn layup and a Sharp three-pointer extended the Wake Forest lead to 27-15, but Elon went on a 16-1 run to make it 31-28 with 1:56 left in the first half, forcing a Demon Deacon timeout. After the break, Wake Forest rebounded by way of two Stephenson three-pointers and a Quinn free throw with a 7-1 run in taking a 35-32 lead to halftime.
Throughout the third quarter, neither team could create much separation from the other but Wake Forest held the largest lead of the quarter at 40-35 early in the frame. Campbell, who got into foul trouble early with two first-quarter fouls, led the team with six points in the segment but Johnson's layup gave Elon the one-point lead heading to the final quarter.
The Demon Deacons return to action on Wednesday night, Nov. 30, with an 8 p.m. ET matchup against Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The game is set to air on Big Ten Network +. The Demon Deacons have lost both meetings against the Fighting Illini to date in 2009 and 2012, both coming in the Challenge.
