Deacons Down Elon 69-57

ELON, N.C. – Wake Forest used a dominant rebounding performance and a hot start to beat Elon 69-57 Monday night at the Schar Center in Elon.

The Deacs opened the game by making their first five 3-point field goal attempts in building a 19-10 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, Elon closed to within two points at 23-21 before Alex Sharp drained a three from the left corner to extend the lead back to four at 25-21.

Wake Forest's starting forward, Ona Udoh, was limited to just eight minutes of play after running into foul trouble almost right from the start of the game. She was whistled for her second foul less than two minutes into the game and spent the rest of the first half on the bench.

In Udoh's absence, Christina Morra and Maya Banks both filled in admirably with Morra scoring 11 points to go with seven rebounds. She was a team-best five-for-five at the free throw line.

Sharp led the Deacons with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds. Alexandria Scruggs scored 12 points including eight in the first quarter. Ivana Raca had 13 points and six boards. Gina Conti led all players with six assists.

"We came out and we were really aggressive and we shot the ball with a lot of confidence," said head coach Jen Hoover. "We fell in love with the three because we hit so many of them at the start but after that, we kind of forgot how to move without the basketball.

"One of our points of emphasis was to win the paint battle and when you look at the rebounds, we out-rebounded them by 21. That's part of who we are.

"Ona was kind of handcuffed (by fouls) and I thought Maya Banks had some moments of brightness then I thought Christina really got comfortable out there and was able to get the ball inside and score and hit free throws and scored."

Wake Forest evened its record at 3-3 while Elon fell to 2-3.

Wake Forest returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 30 when it hosts East Carolina at the LJVM at 1 p.m.

First Quarter

Ona Udoh was whistled for her second foul with 8:14 to play in the first quarter and sat out the remainder of the first half.
Wake Forest made its first five 3-point field goals and built a 16-7 lead.
Alexandria Scruggs led Wake Forest with eight first quarter points.
Wake Forest led 21-17 at the end of the first quarter.

Second Quarter

Elon closed it to one at 28-27 with 30 seconds remaining
Scruggs made all four of her first half field goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers, and scored 12 points in the half.
Wake Forest led 30-27 at the half after making 11 of 28 first half field goals and five of eight 3-pointers.

Third Quarter

Udoh started the third quarter and picked up her third foul less than three minutes into the half.
Wake Forest extended its lead to 39-29 on a pair of jumpers by Sharp and two free throws apiece from Udoh and Maya Banks
Deacs led 42-31 with 4 minutes to play and 45-33 following a traditional three-point play by Christina Morra.
Deacs led 47-36 after three quarters.
After making first five 3-point attempts, the Deacs missed their next seven attempts.

Fourth Quarter

First possession, Raca hits spinning jumper to give Wake a 49-36 lead, its biggest lead of the night. Moments later, Raca hits again for a 51-36 lead.
Udoh starts the fourth quarter, picks up fourth foul 1:23 into the quarter. Elon runs off six straight points to close to 51-42. Wake Forest time out.
Dickson's first shot of the game, a right wing 3 after Elon closed to 8, pushed the Deacs back up by 11.
Deacs win, 69-57

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Team Stats

Alex Sharp

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Christina Morra

Players Mentioned

Maya Banks

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Players Mentioned

Maya Banks

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Wake Forest Athletics