Demon Deacons Push Win Streak to Three

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –The Wake Forest women's basketball team continued its winning ways, defeating Clemson, 63-58, Thursday night in Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The Demon Deacons (10-5, 3-1 ACC) have now won six of their last seven games and extended their winning streak to three games with the victory over the Tigers (5-10, 1-3 ACC).

With the help of a career-high 24 points from Ivana Raca, Wake Forest is now off to its best start in conference play since the 1987-88 season. That season, the Deacs advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Belgrade, Serbia native posted her second double-double in the last two games as she grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Raca attacked Clemson on the low block all night long as she earned nine attempts from the charity stripe, connecting on 7-of-9 free throws.

The Deacs were able to keep some key Tigers players in foul trouble as three starters eventually fouled out of the game. In total, the Demon Deacons had 19 attempts at the line, hitting 13.

Wake led nearly the entire way on Thursday night as 13 first half points from senior Alex Sharp helped build an early lead. She ended the night with 16 points including going 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Gina Conti finished just one assist shy of her career-high as she tallied a game-high nine assists in Wake's fourth straight win at home.

"We take pride in defending our home court," head coach Jen Hoover said. "We've talked a lot about how we didn't do that in the non-conference like we should have. We have really focus on what it means to us to defend what's ours."

Sharp sparked the Demon Deacon offense in the first half. Two early threes from the right wing got her going and gave Wake Forest an 11-8 lead at the 6:55 mark of the first quarter.

From that point, the Deacs led the rest of the first half building the lead up to as much as seven points.

With less than five seconds remaining in the second quarter, Sharp cleaned up an offensive rebound, turned and faded away with time expiring. The baseline make form the Melbourne, Australia native gave Wake a 33-27 lead at halftime.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Deacs picked up right where they left off against Georgia Tech, finding their range from behind the arc early in the game. In the first 3:05 of game play, Alex Sharp hit a pair of threes while Alexandria Scruggs knocked one down from deep with the shot clock expiring, giving Wake an 11-8 lead.
With the help of the low post presence of Christina Morra, the Deacs maintain the lead through the midway point of the second, building the lead to 28-22 with 3:15 left in the half.
In the final seconds of the first half, a Raca free throw went off the right iron. Sharp picked up the offensive board and fading away hit a shot from the baseline as time expired. The shot gave Wake Forest a 33-27 edge heading into the second half.
The Demon Deacons continued to push to start the third quarter, building the lead to eight points after a Kaia Harrison made three pointer with 5:51 on the clock.
Taking a 49-39 lead into the final quarter, Clemson worked it back to a five-point game after a five-point opening possession. The Tigers pulled within three points, but Wake never relinquished the lead.
With the help of clutch shots from upperclassmen Raca and Sharp, the Deacs distanced themselves from Clemson in the fourth, capturing their sixth win in the last seven games.

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons hit the road for their second game against a ranked opponent this season. Wake Forest is scheduled to play at No. 7 Louisville on Sunday. The Cardinals are back-to-back ACC Regular Season Champions.

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

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Team Stats

Ivana Raca

Alex Sharp

Alexandria Scruggs

Christina Morra

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Wake Forest Athletics