Wake Forest University
7-4,4-3ACC
Virginia Tech
7-5,2-5ACC
Defense Leads to Deacs’ Road Victory
1/17/2021 6:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wake Forest holds Virginia Tech to 24 points and 31 percent shooting in the second half to grab a road win.
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The Wake Forest women's basketball team walked away with a 67-64 road win at Virginia Tech on Sunday.
The Demon Deacons (7-4, 4-3 ACC) were led by a career performance on the boards by senior forward Ivana Raca. The Belgrade, Serbia native grabbed a career-high and team-high 19 rebounds, the most by any Demon Deacon since 2016.
She recorded her fourth double-double of the season and first on the road adding 17 points to her statline.
Wake Forest held the Hokies (7-5, 2-5 ACC) to just 24 points in the second half to battle back from a seven-point halftime deficit. The Deacs held Virginia Tech to 10-of-32 shooting (31.3 percent) in the second half including going 3-of-13 from behind the arc.
After senior guard Gina Conti went out of the game with four fouls in the third quarter, sophomore guard Kaia Harrison made her presence felt immediately. Her backcourt defense led to a 10-second violation by the Hokies at the 3:14 mark of the third.
The Deacs forced eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes including five in the fourth quarter alone.
In the first half, junior forward Christina Morra and senior guard Gina Conti were clutch for the Wake Forest offense, combining to score 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
Conti finished the game with 18 points while Morra had 17 points. Morra's final points came on a crucial bucket at the end of the game to seal the win, knocking down a left-hand hook shot from five feet to make it 64-60 with 0:27 remaining in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It was a defensive battle in the early minutes of the game with a Christina Morra layup through contact, knotting the game up at 4-4 with 7:17 left in the first quarter.
- From that point, the Hokies went on an 11-2 run to take a 15-6 edge over the Demon Deacons. The run forced a timeout to help end the run.
- After the timeout, the Deacs settled into an offensive flow, cutting the deficit down to 21-18 before the end of the quarter.
- Gina Conti continued to be one of the hottest players in the conference from the field, netting nine points in the first period alone including a perfect 4-of-4 performance at the free throw line.
- After seven points of her own in the opening quarter, Morra continued to cause problems for the Hokies on the low block, entering double figures midway through the second quarter.
- The basket at the 4:58 mark of the second quarter made it a 31-26 game in favor of Virginia Tech.
- At that point the junior forward was 5-of-7 from the field and added another from the free throw line.
- Right before the halftime break, the Demon Deacons turned to Preseason All-ACC selection Ivana Raca to cut back into the deficit. On back-to-back possessions, the Belgrade, Serbia native knocked down a three and then had a layup.
- At the midway point, Virginia Tech held a 40-33.
- Conti and Morra each had 11 points through 20 minutes to lead the Demon Deacons. They combined to shoot 8-of-14 from the field in the first half.
- Raca nearly had a double-double at half, totaling seven points and nine rebounds.
- With the help of a technical foul on Virginia Tech, the Deacs cut down the lead further at 7:01 in the third quarter. Wake Forest hit 3-of-4 attempts at the line to make it a 47-43 contest.
- On the very next possession, Contin absorbed the contact and banked in a layup to give her 17 points at that point as the Deacs trailed just 47-45 at that point.
- Wake Forest finally jumped in front near the end of the third quarter with the help of stingy defense. The Hokies scored just 10 points in the quarter, shooting just 26.7 percent from the field.
- A pair of free throws from Raca put the Deacs in front 51-50 at the 1:49 mark of the quarter.
- Through the first three quarters, Raca had 13 points and 16 rebounds, achieving a new career-best on the boards through 30 minutes.
- The Deacs continued to hold a slim margin through much of the final quarter with the help of getting to the rack.
- With a Raca tip-in layup at the 4:48 mark, Wake Forest jumped back in the lead at 62-60.
- Over the final 20 minutes of play, Wake Forest allowed Virginia Tech to score just 24 points as the Hokies shot just 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) from the field.
- Wake Forest walked away with a 67-64 road win.
STANDOUT STAT
Ivana Raca pulled down a game-high and career-high 19 rebounds in the victory on Sunday, marking the most since Milan Quinn had 19 boards against Xavier on Dec. 8, 2016.
The last time a Demon Deacon had more than 19 rebounds came on Feb. 12, 2015 when Dearica Hamby pulled down 20 boards against Boston College.
FROM HOOVER
"I am proud of the way our team fought tonight. It is never easy to get a road win in the ACC and this is not an easy place to play. Against Virginia Tech, you know it is always going to be a battle. This was a team win and our defensive effort in the second half I thought was key for us. We were the more aggressive team out there today and you could see that on the boards and our ability to get to the free throw line today. Ivana was big for us on the glass, pulling down 19 rebounds. It is a big win for us especially knowing we have the next four games in our building."
NEXT UP
The Deacs return home, hosting Georgia Tech on Thursday, Jan. 21, in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It marks the first of four consecutive home contests.
The game will tip off at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
