Wake Takes Down North Carolina, 82-79, in Overtime

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – With the help of Gina Conti, the Wake Forest women's basketball team grabbed its second Big 4 win of the season with Sunday's 82-79 overtime victory against North Carolina.

With the Demon Deacons (14-14, 7-10 ACC) trailing by 68-65 to the Tar Heels (16-11, 7-9 ACC) with 10 seconds remaining in the game, Gina Conti brought the ball up the court. After surveying her options, the junior from Grove City, Ohio pulled up on the left wing and knocked down the game tying three pointer with three seconds remaining.

Conti is no stranger to coming up clutch in moments like these against in-state rivals. Earlier this season at Duke, Conti knocked down the game winning pull up jumper at the elbow to defeat the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor.

The Conti three, which was the first three point make for the Deacs in the game, sent the game into overtime where Wake grabbed momentum early.

An Alexandria Scruggs layup at the 4:19 mark put Wake Forest up 70-68 and from that point they would not trail.

A key stretch of six consecutive points from senior Alex Sharp helped boost the Wake Forest lead up to 78-72. After Conti drove the lane, she kicked it out to Sharp in the left corner. Sharp drilled the Demon Deacons' second three of the game with 1:24, increasing the lead to six points.

It proved to be the dagger as the Deacs tacked on a few free throws at the end to seal the 82-79 victory over North Carolina.

"Anytime you can beat in-state opponents that are your rivals it's big," Coach Jen Hoover said. "With this win, we could now win a tiebreaker against North Carolina and could have a better seeding situation in the ACC tournament. In these games, there's a little bit more intensity, a little bit more pressure. I told the kids before the game, 'right now, we're up in the Big 4 race across the board. I had the football score up, the men's basketball score and volleyball had split. I said, let's do our part. It's our time.'"

After a layup from Ivana Raca on the opening possession of the game, the Demon Deacons led the rest of the first half. Raca led the way offensively with 10 points in the first half. She finished the afternoon with a game-high 21 points and now is just 15 points away from becoming the 28th player in program history to join the 1000-point club.

Wake did most of their damage inside scoring 20 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes of play. This helped the Deacs take a 31-27 lead into the halftime interval.

Sharp was also on her way to double-figure rebounds, grabbing four of her game-high 11 rebounds in the first half. She has now led the team in rebounding in eight straight games and 18 times overall, this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Wake Forest scored on the opening possession and continued to build the lead in the first quarter. With 3:18 left in the first quarter, Ivana Raca absorbed the contact and laid it in to push the lead to 14-6.
The Demon Deacons increased the lead to as much as 10 points in the first quarter and took a 18-12 advantage into the second quarter. Six different players found the scoresheet in the first 10 minutes.
Wake continued to hold the lead throughout the first half as the Deacs never trailed and the game was not tied after the first possession. Offensively, Ivana Raca led the way with 10 points in the first half including a pair of free throws to close out the Deacs scoring. Wake to a 31-27 advantage into the locker room.
With the help of the low-post presence of Christina Morra, Wake Forest quickly increased the lead to six points in the third quarter at 35-29. The Deacs led by as much as eight in the quarter.
North Carolina battled back to tie the game right before the end of the quarter. With the help of a pair of buckets from Ivana Raca, the Deacs pumped the lead back up to 49-43 by the end of the third. As time ticked down in the quarter, Raca drove to the middle of the lane and knocked down a jumper as time expired.
To start the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels went on a 12-3 run to jump in front for the first time in the game. North Carolina held a 55-52 lead at the end of that run with 5:09 left to play in regulation.
The Tar Heels maintained the one-score advantage nearly the entire five minutes before Gina Conti tied it at 68-68 with three seconds remaining on the clock. With the Deacs trailing by three after a pair of free throws, she brought the ball down and after surveying the defense pulled up on the left wing. She knocked down the shot, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Wake seized momentum early with an Alexandria Scruggs layup at the 4:19 mark. The Demon Deacons led nearly the rest of the way with the help of Alex Sharp. The senior in her penultimate home game as a Deac scored the next six points.
Sharp's corner three, which was just the second in the game for Wake Forest pushed the Demon Deacon advantage up to 78-72 with just 1:24 on the clock.
A pair of clutch free throws from Scruggs and Raca helped seal the 82-79 victory over North Carolina.

NEXT UP
Wake Forest closes out the regular season at home on Thursday night when it plays host to Miami (FL). Earlier this season, the Deacs nearly knocked off the ranked Hurricanes in South Florida, falling 59-56 in Coral Gables.

Thursday will also be Senior Night inside of LJVM Coliseum as Wake Forest will be honoring its three seniors in Raegyn Branch, Alex Sharp and Ona Udoh prior to tipoff

The game can also be seen on ACCNX with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET).

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Team Stats

Ivana Raca

Gina Conti

Alexandria Scruggs

Christina Morra

Players Mentioned

Raegyn Branch

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Players Mentioned

Raegyn Branch

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Wake Forest Athletics