Wake Forest University
11-2,1-1ACC
Florida State
6-6,0-2ACC
Late 21-2 Run Leads Deacs to First ACC Win of Season, 75-69
12/30/2021 10:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons held Florida State scoreless for nearly six minutes in the fourth quarter to help Wake Forest force overtime and a victory.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest women's basketball team overcame a 16-point deficit to come from behind and defeat Florida State, 75-69 in overtime.
The Demon Deacons (11-2, 1-1 ACC), who were down by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter, used an 11-0 to get within two points of the Seminoles with less than a minute to play. Over the 11-0 run, Wake Forest held Florida State (6-6, 0-2 ACC) scoreless for a period of 5:55.
With 13 seconds remaining in regulation and coming out of a timeout from head coach Jen Hoover, the Deacs drew up a play for Elise Williams. The freshman guard was able to get underneath the Seminoles' 6-5 center, River Baldwin, and finish with the left hand to tie the game at 64-64.
The Deacs forced overtime after a strong defensive effort on the final possession of the fourth quarter resulted in a tough fall away three from Florida State.
Wake Forest continued the momentum into overtime, scoring the first six points and never looked back en route to its first victory of the conference season. The lead in overtime marked the first time since 12-11 in the first quarter that the Deacs were in front.
Sophomore guard Jewel Spear finished the night with a game-high 20 points while senior forward Christina Morra put in 17 points while also adding six rebounds to her statline.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Christina Morra got the Deacs on the board to begin the game, giving Wake Forest the lead on the opening offensive possession off a layup from the left block.
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Florida State controlled the lead for much of the first half before the Deacs worked themselves in front with the help of the three ball
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Jewel Spear connected from the right corner to make it an 11-9 game.
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One possession later from almost the same spot on the court at the 3:11 mark of the first quarter, junior guard Kaia Harrison knocked down her first three-pointer of the season to give the Deacs their second lead of the game at 12-11.
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Wake Forest trailed 18-14 after the first period with half of the Demon Deacons' points coming off the bench in the opening frame.
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The second quarter started like the first for the Deacs with Morra establishing the scoring on the low block to make it a 21-16 game off a left block layup.
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After the bucket from Morra, the Seminoles responded by going on a 7-0 run to force a Wake Forest timeout with 6:36 on the second quarter clock to extend their lead to 12 points.
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Despite multiple runs from Florida State, the Demon Deacons continued to fight back.
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By halftime, it was a 40-29 game in favor of Florida State.
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Wake Forest was led in the scoring column by Morra and Spear, who each tallied seven points. Junior forward Niyah Becker added six points on 3-of-4 shooting in the first half of play.
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The Deacs made the most of their second-chance opportunities as eight offensive rebounds resulted in 10 points for Wake Forest.
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The Deacs also held the advantage in the paint, netting 18 points to the Seminoles 12 in the first 20 minutes of play.
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The Deacs continued to work their way back into the game with the help of the long ball.
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With 6:47 left in the third, an Elise Williams triple from the right wing cut the deficit to just five points, 42-37.
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That's as close as the Demon Deacons would get in the quarter as Florida State pushed its lead back to double digits by the end of the third quarter.
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At the end of the third quarter, Florida State led 59-49.
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Alexandria Scruggs banked home a layup as time expired in the period to give Wake Forest momentum heading into the fourth quarter.
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A Williams layup at the 6:04 mark of the fourth cut the deficit to single digits, making it a 62-53 game.
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It was a the start of an 11-0 run for the Demon Deacons that brought them within two points of the Seminoles
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Over a scratch of nearly six minutes in the fourth quarter, Wake Forest held Florida State scoreless as the stingy defensive effort.
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The Deacs came all the way back with Williams hitting a layup with 9.1 seconds remaining, tying the game at 64-64.
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Wake Forest again forced a tough shot from Florida State at the buzzer as a contested three fell short as the game went to overtime.
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The Deacs continued to hold the momentum in the overtime period, taking their first lead since the first quarter.
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Wake Forest scored the first six points of overtime, pushing its astounding run to 21-2.
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The run ended with a Gordon layup with just 1:14 left in overtime as it was a 70-66 game in favor of the Demon Deacons at that point.
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The Deacs were able to finish off their first victory of ACC play with the help of a big night from the free throw night.
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Wake Forest ended the game shooting 21-of-26 from the charity stripe.
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Wake Forest closed out the 75-69 victory over Florida State, marking the first time since 2014 that the Deacs have won back-to-back home victories over the Seminoles.
STANDOUT STAT
Wake Forest used a 21-2 run over the course of the fourth quarter and overtime to turn a 13-point deficit into a six-point lead with 90 seconds remaining in the game.
Over the course of the fourth quarter and overtime, the Demon Deacons held the Seminoles to 3-of-21 from the field. Florida State scored just eight points over the last 13 minutes of the game.
FROM HOOVER
"Credit to them, they came out and were really aggressive. That affected us. But in the fourth quarter and the third quarter, we talked about getting down, defending and getting back to rebounding. These kids, there's no quit and they fight. They knew that their backs were getting up against the wall and that we had to get down and defend. Our kids are in great shape. Our strength coach, Vic, does a phenomenal job with our kids and they work hard. They worked while they were home over Christmas and it paid off in the end of this game." - Coach Hoover
NEXT UP
Wake Forest hosts Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Grab your spot at LJVM Coliseum at GoDeacs.com/Tickets.
If you are not in attendance on Sunday, you can see the game on ACC Network and WatchESPN/ESPN App.
