Wake Forest University
11-8,8-7ACC
Clemson
10-9,5-9ACC
Wake Forest’s Explosive Start Leads to the Win
2/14/2021 2:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons have now won seven consecutive games on the road at Clemson, dating back to the 2010-11 season.
CLEMSON, S.C. -- With the help of an explosive first two quarters, the Wake Forest women's basketball team captured its third consecutive victory, defeating Clemson, 72-65, on the road Sunday.
The Demon Deacons (11-8, 8-7 ACC) improved to 7-0 against the Tigers (10-9, 5-9 ACC) inside of Littlejohn Coliseum since the start of the 2010-11 season. Additionally, head coach Jen Hoover is now one win away from becoming the program's all-time wins leader. She tied the mark on Sunday with win No. 125 during her tenure at Wake Forest.
Despite being in early foul trouble, 14 points from senior forward Ivana Raca in the first half helped lead the Demon Deacons to a fast start offensively in the first half.
She ended the game with a team-high 20 points.
After a pair of threes from freshman guard Jewel Spear and senior guard Gina Conti on the opening two possessions, Wake Forest jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 45 seconds of the game. It forced the Tigers' first timeout of the game.
The Demon Deacons led by as much as 22 points in the game and by as much as 16 in the first half alone as Wake Forest cruised to its eighth win in conference play. That total is second most in school history and one away from tying the program record.
Conti ended the night with eight assists, her second-highest total this season. She now ranks fourth in program history with 556 career assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After threes from freshmen guard Jewel Spear and senior guard Gina Conti on the opening two possessions of the game, it forced Clemson to call a timeout just 45 seconds into the first quarter.
- The Deacs continued to fill it up on the offensive end of the floor as not even four minutes into the game Wake Forest had built up a double digit lead.
- At a steal and fast break layup from Conti, the Deacs were up 16-5 at the 6:29 mark of the first quarter.
- Just six minutes into the contest the Demon Deacons were already up to 20 points with points from five separate players.
- Sophomore guard Kaia Harrison became the fifth Demon Deacon to find the scoreboard when she banked in a jumper at the 4:08 mark. It gave the Deacs a 20-9 lead.
- It was the last points in the quarter for Wake Forest as the Demon Deacons took a 20-14 advantage into the second stanza.
- With the start of the new quarter, the Deacs began to heat up again from the field, starting the first three minutes on a 10-4 run to push the lead back to double digits.
- After receiving the ball on the left wing, senior forward Ivana Raca knocked down a three to give Wake Forest the 30-18 edge with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter.
- At this point, the Deacs were 13-of-20 from the field (65.0 pct.) and 3-of-6 (50.0) pct. From behind the arc.
- The double-digit lead maintained through much of the remaining minutes of the second quarter with the Deacs leading by as much as 14 in the opening 20 minutes of play.
- Despite being limited due to early foul trouble, Raca ended the half with a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in just 14 minutes on the floor.
- Wake Forest did not rest on its double-digit, ending the half on a 6-2 run over the final 59 seconds of play.
- The Deacs got the ball back with six seconds remaining on the clock and found Conti near midcourt. The senior launched from the midway point, banking it off the glass as the halftime buzzer sounded.
- It gave the Demon Deacons their largest lead of the game, making it a 45-28 lead at the halftime interval.
- The Deacs did not rest on the lead in the second half, extending it out to 19 points in the early minutes.
- Clemson was forced to call its third timeout of the game when sophomore guard Kaia Harrison found Morra underneath the basket for a layup at the Deacs pushed the lead up to 20 points for the first time in the game.
- At this point, it was 53-33 in favor of Wake Forest at the 4:50 mark of the third quarter.
- By the end of the third quarter, Wake Forest led by 22 points, taking a 64-42 advantage into the final quarter of play.
- Raca at this point led all scorers with 20 points, marking her sixth 20-plus point game this season.
- As a team, the Demon deacons were still shooting above 65 percent from the field after 30 minutes of action.
- It marked the second most points through three quarters this season for the Demon Deacons, the most since Davidson (72; Nov. 28, 2020).
- Despite scoring just eight points in the fourth quarter, Wake Forest was able to hang on for its third consecutive victory and seventh consecutive win at Littlejohn Coliseum.
- Wake Forest topped Clemson, 72-65, led by a 20-point performance from Raca.
STANDOUT STAT
Wake Forest now moves to an impressive 7-0 inside of Littlejohn Coliseum since the start of the 2010-11 season and 12-3 overall over the last 15 games against the Clemson Tigers.
With the Demon Deacons third consecutive victory, head coach Jen Hoover moved into a tie for the most wins as a Wake Forest basketball coach:
|
Coach |
Wake Forest Wins |
|
Mike Petersen (2005-12) |
125 |
|
Jen Hoover (2013-Pres.) |
125 |
|
Joe Sanhez (1986-92) |
109 |
FROM HOOVER
"I am proud of this team's focus and fire. That's a couple things we have been preaching and talking about lately. We just have to continue to focus on the process of who we were defending, how we were defending, what our game plan is and what our scouting report is. We will focus on that and then focus also on what we do best, and bring that with a lot of fight and fire. I am proud of the way we came out and played to start the game, sharing the basketball and knocking down shots, controlling the boards initially. It was a team we knew. All these teams we play, we are playing for a second time now, so there is some familiarity both ways. We don't mind going on the road thus far, it's been pretty good to us. That's a tribute to this team and the staff, and just being able to really focus even when we're away from home." - Head Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
The Deacs come home for its final home game of the regular season on Thursday, hosting No. 4 NC State for the second matchup between the two teams.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Regional Sports Networks.
