Demon Deacons Grab Fifth Consecutive Home Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –The Wake Forest women's basketball team took down Virginia, 62-56, Thursday night in Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

With the win over the Cavaliers (7-10, 2-4 ACC), the Demon Deacons (11-6, 4-2 ACC) have won four of their five games since the start of the New Year including three home ACC contests. Over the past two months in the season, Wake Forest is undefeated on its home court, winning five in a row inside of LJVM Coliseum.

Ivana Raca and Gina Conti helped carry the load offensively for Wake Forest, notching 21 and 20 points, respectively. The Deacs knocked down 94.1 percent of their shots from the free throw line with 16 points coming from the charity stripe.

"I'm really proud of our kids tonight," head coach Jen Hoover said. "We weren't always smart, but we fought through some adversity, we stuck together and hit some big shots. I think the boards were a huge difference for us and we talked about coming into the game. It is something we really needed to rely on."

Christina Morra tallied a team-high 10 rebounds for Wake to go along with eight points. Alex Sharp grabbed eight boards while ending the game with a team-high four assists and adding six points.

Coming off their first defeat in the New Year, the Demon Deacons came out quick, scoring the first six points of the game. By the end of the first quarter, Wake led 18-7 and never trailed in the game.

They maintained their 11-point lead at the half, going into the locker room with a 33-22 advantage. The Demon Deacons, who led by as much as 16 points in the game, entered the fourth quarter with a 44-37 lead. Down the stretch, rebounding, free throw shooting and a clutch steal from Conti helped propel the team to victory.

With 2:27 left to play in the game and the Wake Forest up 53-50, Conti stole a crosscourt outlet pass, laying it up and in. After a missed by Virginia on the next possession, the Demon Deacons put the game away at the free throw line.

In the game, the Deacs outrebounded the Cavaliers by 19 as 16 offensive rebounds help result in 14 second chance points. This marks the first time in series history that Wake Forest has had back-to-back wins over Virginia.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Wake Forest's defense was stout to start the game, blocking the first four Cavalier shots, building up a 6-0 lead 3:30 into the first quarter.
Alexandria Scruggs heated up with five straight points in the first quarter, pushing the Demon Deacons lead to double digits at 13-3.
Right at the buzzer of the first quarter, Ivana Raca muscled in a turn-around jumper to push the Demon Deacons lead to 18-7 through 10 minutes of play.
Gina Conti's three-pointer from the top of the key at 5:07 of the second pushed the Deacons lead back to double figures.
Ivana Raca was hot from the field in the first half, making two big layups in the middle of the second quarter and followed it with two 3-pointers. She finished the first half with 15 points.
Wake Forest had a 10-0 run in the second, building up to a 16-point lead with 3:06 remaining in the half, the largest lead in the game. The Deacons closed strong in the second quarter, taking a 33-22 lead into half.
Gina Conti got the Deacons going again with a 3-pointer at 3:06 of the third to push the lead back to double digits, 36-26.
Christina Morra hit a jumper right as the shot clock expired with 6:32 remaining in the game, 48-41 Deacons.
The Cavaliers made a run at the end of the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 53-50 with 2:45 left in the game. Strong rebounding efforts by the Demon Deacons and a triumphant steal by Conti led to a 6-0 run that put the Deacons up 59-50 with 56 seconds remaining.
Raca and Sharp helped seal the deal in the end of the fourth. On the night, Wake Forest went 16-of-17 from the free throw line.

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons hit the road to play another Tobacco Road opponent this weekend. Wake Forest is scheduled to play No. 9 N.C. State on Sunday. In 2017, the Deacs went into James T. Valvano Arena and beat a No. 15 Wolfpack team.

The game can also be seen on ACCNX with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m. (ET).

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Team Stats

Gina Conti

Ivana Raca

Christina Morra

Alexandria Scruggs

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Wake Forest Athletics