Wake Forest University
11-8,4-4ACC
Florida State
16-3,5-3ACC
Wake Forest Nearly Comes From Behind Against No. 14 Florida State
1/23/2020 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Ivana Raca set a career-high with 27 points while Alex Sharp joined the 800-rebound club in the 70-65 loss to No. 14 Seminoles
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team nearly climbed all the way back before falling to No. 14 Florida State, 70-65, Thursday night in the Lawrence Joel Veteran Memorial Coliseum.
Senior Alex Sharp and junior Ivana Raca's career nights kept the Deacons (11-8, 4-4 ACC) tight with the nationally-ranked Seminoles (16-3, 5-3 ACC) throughout the second half.
After two Florida State buckets at the beginning of the third quarter increased the deficit to 21 points, Wake Forest refused to go away. The Deacs climbed right back into contention as they proceeded to go on a 21-4 run over a stretch of 4:45 minutes. The 17-point swing was capped off by when Raca found Ona Udoh off a baseline inbounds play. After receiving the pass, Raca found a diving Udoh who laid it in. She made it a 44-40 game with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
Wake Forest hung close through the fourth quarter as the Deacs got to within three of Florida State. The top-15 Seminoles held on, snapping Wake's five-game home win streak.
"Tonight, we were excited about coming out on our court with a top-20 team on the other side," head coach Jen Hoover. "We had a chance to do something special at home. We've been able to defend this court and give Florida State credit they had a week off and they were super fresh coming out of the gates."
Raca led all scorers with a career-high 27 points and to go along with seven rebounds. She recorded 14 points in the third quarter, matching her career-high for points in a single quarter. She tied her 14 point output she had in the third quarter against Dayton earlier this season. It was also the third time in the last five games that she has scored over 20 points, and the seventh time overall this season.
Sharp tallied a game-high 12 rebounds including 10 rebounds in the first half. With her fourth 12-plus rebound game of the season, she became just the sixth player in program history to grab 800-plus rebounds in a career. With her eight points in the game, the Melbourne, Australia native is also just 20 points away from becoming the 27th member of the 1000-point club in school history.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
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The Deacons had balanced scoring in the first few minutes of the game as Raca, Morra, Scruggs and Sharp helped the Deacs to a 8-7 lead.
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Alex Sharp went over the 800-career rebounding mark in the first quarter with her second rebound of the game. She went on to record 12 rebounds in the game including 10 boards in the first half.
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Sharp shooting from Conti, Sharp and Raca helped propel a 21-4 run as the Demon Deacons climbed back into the game in the third quarter.
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A steal by Gina Conti and quick jumper from Raca cut the Seminoles lead to nine and forced FSU to use a timeout with 5:52 remaining in the third.
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Raca heated up for the Deacons on the boards as well as from the field in the second half, posting all seven of her rebounds in the third quarter.
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Conti's steal in the fourth also put the Deacons on the move, cutting the Seminoles lead to six, 53-59, with five minutes remaining to in the game.
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Christina Morra's driving layup plus a free throw cut the lead to just three for the Seminoles, 59-56 with 3:20 to play. It was as close as Wake would get in its comeback attempt.
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FSU had trouble inbounding and a stray ball going out of bounds led to a turnover for Wake Forest with 13.3 remaining in the game. Down by four at that point, the Deacs were unable to make the most of it as a jumper missed with seven seconds to play.
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons close out the weekend with an afternoon tip against Syracuse on Sunday. It will be the second game in a doubleheader at LJVM Coliseum as the men's basketball team takes on Virginia at noon.
The game can also be seen on ACCNX with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET).
