Wake Forest University
12-11,8-10ACC
North Carolina
13-10,8-9ACC
Wake Forest Moves Past Tar Heels in ACC Tournament Second Round
3/4/2021 2:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons were led by 29 points from freshman Jewel Spear and a pair of double-doubles from Ivana Raca and Gina Conti.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With the help of a pair of double-doubles and a tournament record, The Wake Forest women's basketball team moved past North Carolina, 82-71, Thursday afternoon in the Atlantic Coast Conference Second Round.
Freshman guard Jewel Spear helped elevate the Demon Deacons (12-11, 8-10 ACC) with a career and ACC Tournament performance. The Colony, Texas native knocked down 7-of-10 three pointers and scored a season-high 29 points, the most points by a freshman in the Jen Hoover era. Her seven threes tied an ACC Tournament record.
This marks win No. 126 in Head Coach Jen Hoover's Wake Forest career, the most wins for a head coach in Wake Forest history.
Career performances from seniors Gina Conti and Ivana Raca helped put the game away in the fourth quarter against the Tar Heels (13-10, 8-9 ACC). For the first time in her career, Conti recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists, posting a double-double by the end of the third quarter.
Raca also had a double-double performance with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She continues to have big performances against the in-state Tar Heels in Greensboro.
Last season in a win over North Carolina, she set a then career-best with 27 points and 13 rebounds in the 2020 first round victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- ACC All-Freshman team member Jewel Spear got the Demon Deacons off to a fast start, splashing a three from the left wing on the opening possession to give Wake Forest a 3-0 lead early.
- Wake Forest shared the scoring load early as four different players scored the opening four baskets of the game.
- Spear continued to give Tar Heels problems from distance early in the game, knocking down her first three of the game.
- Her third in the first quarter at the 4:14 mark gave Wake Forest an 18-10 advantage, the largest of the game at that point.
- At this point, the Deacs were 7-of-9 from the field and 4-for-4 from distance
- The Demon Deacons recorded six assists on their first seven baskets including four from senior guard Gina Conti, who came into the game third all-time on the Wake Forest assist list.
- With the help of 10-of-17 shooting in the first quarter, the Demon Deacons built up a nine-point advantage after one quarter of play.
- Spear led all scorers with 12 points through 10 minutes, going a perfect 4-fo-4 from the field with each make coming from behind the arc.
- Wake Forest also controlled the glass, holding a 13-8 advantage on the boards through one, helping them to a 25-16 lead on the scoreboard.
- The Deacs continued to build on their lead with the help of the long ball in the second quarter. After a corner three from All-ACC Second Team member Gina Conti at the 7:13 mark of the second, Wake Forest had knocked down seven threes on their first 10 attempts in the game.
- The three from Conti stretched the Demon Deacon lead to 14 points at 31-17, the largest of the game to that point.
- With two minutes remaining in the first two quarters, Wake Forest held on to a nine-point lead.
- By this point, Conti had seven assists while the Deacs had 11 as a team on the first 15 baskets of the game.
- Meanwhile, fellow senior Ivana Raca collected seven rebounds to lead either team.
- At halftime, Wake Forest held a 39-34 lead with the help of a game-high 17 points from Spear.
- Raca nearly had a double-double through the first 20 minutes of action, netting nine points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists.
- The Demon Deacons were 7-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half, shooting 64 percent from distance.
- Spear continued to stay hot from distance to start the third quarter of action, draining a pair of triples in the first four minutes.
- After the second trey, Wake Forest took a 47-43 lead.
- The three elevated her scoring total to 23 points, the second best mark in her young career.
- Additionally, her seventh three marked the most by a Wake Forest freshman in the history of the program.
- At this point she was two away from tying the overall program record of nine made threes in a game.
- Finally her total of seven to this point, tied the ACC Tournament record of seven makes held by five different players.
- Late in the third, Conti got to the basket, attacking the rim and getting to the line a pair of times to put Wake Forest back in front by a pair.
- Her second trip to the line at the 1:44 mark of the quarter put the Deacs up 52-50.
- With 1:13 left in the quarter, Ivana Raca laid it off glass to give her her ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to that point.
- She ended the quarter with 13 points and 11 rebounds with one left to play.
- Wake Forest took a 58-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
- Gina Conti recorded her first double-double of her career entering the fourth with 12 points and 10 assists.
- Her three from the left wing knotted the game at 44-44 with 7:42 left in regulation.
- With her 11th assist of the game in the fourth quarter, Conti set a new career best and was tied for fifth in program history and two away from the ACC Tournament record.
- Her dish to Alexandria Scruggs put Wake Forest up 62-56 with 8:24 remaining in regulation.
- The Deacs continued to attack the basket to extend the lead up to nine points with 2:20 remaining in the game.
- Spear netted a pair of free throws to make it a 76-67 lead at that point.
- Wake Forest was able to salt the game away at the free throw line, missing just one attempt in the game and shooting better than 90 percent from the charity stripe.
STANDOUT STAT
With the victory over North Carolina, Head Coach Jen Hoover became the all-time wins leader in Wake Forest program history.
Additionally, this marks the second consecutive season the Demon Deacons have advanced to the ACC Tournament Quarterfinal. It is the first time since 2013 Wake Forest has reached the quarterfinals in back-to-back seasons.
|
Coach |
Wake Forest Wins |
|
Jen Hoover (2013-Pres.) |
126 |
|
Mike Petersen (2005-12) |
125 |
|
Joe Sanchez (1986-92) |
109 |
FROM HOOVER
"I am just so proud of this team because back when this team gathered on July 6, we talked about this being a special group. We believe that we are going to have a long season and go deep into March. Throughout the game at different times, we faced a little bit of adversity and kept believing in each other. You come out against a team like that, we shot the ball extremely well, but we wanted to hang our hat on defense and rebounding. We had to get a couple stops, and we got a couple steals that allowed us to get out in transition on them. When that happened, you just saw this team saying 'this is our game, we are not going to be denied.' This group is resilient. They are just a resilient group that whatever you throw at them, they are asking 'what do we need to do coach,' and they're going to do it." - Head Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
The Demon Deacons advance to play No. 1-seed Louisville on Friday afternoon. Tipoff for the quarterfinal is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Greensboro Coliseum.
The game can be seen on Regional Sports Networks.
Purchase your tickets today and come cheer on the Deacs in Greensboro.
