Demon Deacons Fall Short Against Notre Dame

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team returned home to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night and fell 75-71 to Notre Dame.

Four Demon Deacons (12-11, 5-7 ACC) finished in double figures against the Irish (9-14, 4-7).

Senior Alex Sharp continued her impressive stretch of games as she finished her night with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. This performance comes off the heels of back-to-back double-double performances last weekend.

With her team-high 19 points, Sharp was just two points shy of her career high. The Melbourne, Australia native has now racked up 1,042 points in her career only two points away from tying Erin Ferrell for 25th in program history.

"Sharp has taken a lot on herself, as one of the seniors on the team," Coach Jen Hoover said. "She has ambitions to go on and play after college. She knows our time here every day, every time we play another game, it's one less game she's going to get to put on that uniform. She's giving us everything night in and night out, and we're trying to get her more shots."

Christina Morra ended the game with 15 points while Gina Conti and Ivana Raca each posted 11 points in the loss.

Alexandria Scruggs helped lead the Deacons to a hot start. She grabbed a rebound after Conti blocked a shot and then nailed a three to put the Deacons up 12-6 at the 6:38 mark of the first quarter.

Wake Forest went on an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter on the backs of Ona Udoh, Conti and Sharp. It put the Demon Deacons up 28-21 with 5:53 remaining in the half and forced the Fighting Irish to call a timeout.

It was back-and-forth throughout the second half. Sharp and Scruggs both shot well from the free-throw line, combining to go 10-of-10 in the second half. Wake as a team knocked down 17-of-20 free throws in the second half.

With the Deacons down four with 16.1 to go they fought hard. Christina Morra made a quick layup to make it a 73-71 deficit. It would be the last bucket for Wake as their final shots with under 10 seconds to play rimmed out.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Coming off a double-double against Boston College, senior Alex Sharp got it started for the Deacons with a jumper to score the first points of the game.
Christina Morra's turnaround jumper in the paint put the Deacons back on top, 6-4 and then an Alex Sharp 3-pointer to put the Deacons up five 1:53 into the game.
Ona Udoh fought her way for a lay-up and drew a foul to put the Deacons up 23-21 with 7:08 remaining in the half.
Conti's court vision helped set up layups from Raca and Sharp in the third quarter to help grow the Deacons lead. The Deacs led nearly the entire third quarter and were up by as much as six in the second half.
Raca and Conti's sharp shooting to open the second half helped propel the Deacons lead to 42-36 just 2:59 into the third quarter.
A spin move on the block helped Christina Morra put the Deacs back in front, 48-47, with 1:56 remaining in the third.
Free throws helped keep Wake Forest in close with the Irish in the final quarter. In the second half, the Demon Deacons shot 20 free throws knocking down 17 shots at the charity stripe.
Wake Forest led as late as 2:55 left to play but was unable to close out the 2019 NCAA Tournament Finalists.

UP NEXT
After just one game at home, the Demon Deacons are back on the road heading to Atlanta this weekend to face Georgia Tech on Sunday. Wake Forest took the first game of the season in early January at LJVM Coliseum.

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

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Team Stats

Alex Sharp

Christina Morra

Gina Conti

Ivana Raca

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Christina Morra

Ivana Raca

Alexandria Scruggs

Alex Sharp

Ona Udoh

Wake Forest Athletics