Wake Forest University
7-0,0-0ACC
UMBC
1-4,0-0America East
Deacs Improve to 7-0 with Largest Win of Season
11/27/2021 6:43:00 PM | Football, Women's Basketball
This is just the fifth Demon Deacon team to start 7-0 or better and the first since 2008-09.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest women's basketball team continued its winning ways Saturday afternoon with a 94-48 victory over UMBC at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, its largest of the season to this point.
The Demon Deacons (6-0) have now held five of its seven opponents to 50 or less points this season as the Retrievers (1-3) were limited to just 34.6 percent shooting from the field and 13.3 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Wake Forest came into the game as one of the best 3-point defense teams in the country, ranking ninth at 18.8 percent on the season.
The Deacs have also been one of the better rebounding teams in the country and they continued to dominate the glass again on Saturday, winning the boards battle by 24 rebounds. This included a career-best performance from Demeara Hinds on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the way while Malaya Cowles and Olivia Summiel each pulled down seven rebounds.
Additionally, every Deac pulled down at least one rebound in the victory.
Wake Forest also shared the scoring load with five Demon Deacons finishing the night in double figures behind a game-high 18 points from sophomore guard Jewel Spear. Alexandria Scruggs continued her strong stretch of play, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The Deacs ended the night 36-of-63 (57.1 pct.) overall from the field, their strongest night from the field this season as they shot 50 percent or better in three of the four quarters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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The Demon Deacons took control of the game from the outset, building a 6-point lead in the opening three minutes of the game.
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Wake Forest opened the game shooting 6-of-9 from the field and climbed out to a 16-7 lead off an Elise Williams assist to Olivia Summiel at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter.
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The lead only continued to grow throughout the first 10 minutes of action.
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The Deacs shot 75 percent from the floor in the opening quarter with Christina Morra, Jewel Spear and Niyah Becker each having seven or more points in the opening quarter.
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Wake Forest netted 32 points in the opening quarter, its most in a single quarter this season and opened up a commanding 22-point lead heading into the second quarter.
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All five starters netted at least one bucket in the opening 10 minutes while Alexandria Scruggs added five points to the Wake Forest total.
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The Demon Deacons lead continued to grow in the second quarter behind a stellar start from Scruggs.
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The junior guard started 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from behind the arc in just her first 11 minutes on the floor.
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She was coming off her career-best 17 point performance against High Point earlier in the week.
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Scruggs led all scorers with 14 points at the midway point of the contest while Spear joined her in double figures with 10 points.
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This marked the 12th consecutive game that the sophomore had double-digit points.
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Morra had nine points at the midway point while Becker totaled eight points in the opening 20 minutes of action.
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Overall, the Demon Deacons shot 58.8 percent in the first 20 minutes to jump out to their largest halftime lead of the season, 53-26.
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The Deacs continued to own the rebounding battle as they have all season totaling 22 in the first half to the Retrievers 12 boards.
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Morra quickly entered double figures in the third quarter making her first two shots of the quarter to move her total to 13 for the game.
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The Demon Deacons had their most impressive defensive quarter in the third, limiting UMBC to just eight points, the fewest of the game.
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It helped Wake Forest build up a 40-point lead by the end of the quarter.
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Raegyn Conley became the four Demon Deacon in double figures in the fourth quarter, making it the first time in her career she has gone for double-digit points.
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Wake Forest continued to push its advantage on the boards as with five minutes remaining in the game, the Demon Deacons had a +21 advantage in the category and limited the Retrievers to just three offensive rebounds to that point.
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Alyssa Andrews became the fifth Demon Deacon in double figures with 4:04 left to play as her layup pushed the lead to 87-43, the Deacs largest to that point.
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Wake Forest led by as much as 47 points in the game and closed out its seventh victory of the season, 94-48.
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The 46-point win was the largest victory since Nov. 8, 2019 when the Deacs defeated College of Charleston, 106-50.
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It also marked the largest scoring output since that game.
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STANDOUT STAT
Wake Forest became just the third Demon Deacon team since the start of the 1989-90 season to start the season 7-0 or better and the fifth time ever. Additionally, this would be the first time in the Jen Hoover era:
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2008-09 (12-0)
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2004-05 (8-0)
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1987-88 (10-0)
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1982-83 (8-0)
FROM HOOVER
"I am really proud of the way we came out and played tonight. We did a really great job of locking in on the details and staying disciplined through the game. We played well as a team today, stayed connected on defense and shared the ball on the offensive end of the floor. Overall, we played really good team basketball. We continued to rebound the ball well and that allows us to get in a good offensive flow. Everyone up and down the team contributed in some way to this win and that is something that you love to see as a coach." - Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
Wake Forest returns home for a matchup with Nebraska at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Grab your spot at LJVM Coliseum at GoDeacs.com/Tickets.
If you are not in attendance on Wednesday, you can see the game on Regional Sports Networks/ACC Network Extra.
