Wake Forest University
12-12,8-10ACC
Louisville
22-2,14-2ACC
Demon Deacons Take Top-Seeded Cardinals to the Wire
3/5/2021 3:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wake Forest limited two-time reigning ACC Player of the Year Dana Evans to just eight points, the first time she has not reached double figures in 40 games.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- After reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference Quarterfinal Round for the second consecutive season, the Wake Forest women's basketball team fell to the top-seed and No. 5 ranked Louisville Cardinals, 65-53, on Friday afternoon.
For the second time this season the Demon Deacons (12-12, 8-10 ACC) took the Cardinals (22-2, 14-2 ACC) down to the wire with the help of another stifling defensive effort. The effort on the defensive end helped make it a 44-44 contest entering the final 10 minutes of the game.
In both matchups this season Wake Forest has limited the most potent offense in the league, one that came in averaging 80.5 points per game, to just 65 points. The Cardinals were limited to just just 43 percent shooting for the game and only had one player finish in double figures, freshman guard Van Lith.
The Demon Deacons did an exceptional job of containing two-time reigning ACC Player of the Year Dana Evans, who finished the afternoon just 3-of-15 from the field and eight points after coming in averaging a league-best 21.0 points.
It ended Evans streak of consecutive games in double figures. Prior to this afternoon, she had reached that mark in every game this season and 40 straight games overall, which was the longest streak at Louisville in the last 20 years.
Offensively, the Demon Deacons were led by the senior duo of Ivana Raca and Gina Conti, who both nearly recorded double-doubles for the second consecutive outing.
Conti was all over the statline on Friday afternoon, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and five assists. She led the Deacs in the later two categories. The Grove City, Ohio native enters a potential NCAA Tournament berth needing just three assists to move into second place on the Wake Forest all-time assist list.
Conti currently has 485 dimes in her career.
Raca also put up an impressive 13 points and seven rebounds. She now has 705 rebounds in her four-year career, becoming just the 10th player in program history to reach the milestone.
Additionally, she now has 1,469 points in her career and is just 20 points shy of eighth on the Wake Forest scoring list.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Demon Deacons attacked the basket early on in the game, as junior forward Christina Morra and sophomore guard Alexandria Scruggs worked their way to the free throw line, both knocking down a pair.
- After Scruggs made both of her attempts, the Demon Deacons trailed the No. 5 ranked Cardinals 11-6 at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter.
- At this point, Wake Forest had held two-time reigning ACC Player of the Year in check.
- Evans was 1-of-6 from the field to start the game after coming in averaging a conference best 21.0 points per game.
- After the Cardinals came out on a hot start from the field, Wake Forest kept their offense in check over the final five minutes of the first quarter.
- Louisville finished the final five minutes just 2-of-12 from the field as it allowed the Deacs to work their way back into the game on the other end of the floor.
- Through the first 10 minutes of the game, Louisville led 17-10.
- The Deacs defense continued to be tough to solve in the second quarter as it allowed Wake Forest to find their way back into the game.
- Senior guard Gina Conti found a wide open senior forward Ivana Raca at the top of the key. Raca knocked down the triple to put the Demon Deacons within three at 19-16.
- The three at the 7:38 mark of the second was a key part in the Deacs 10-3 run to make it a 22-20 game with 5:32 left before halftime.
- At this point the Demon Deacons had held Dana Evans to 1-of-9 from the field while the potent offense of the Cardinals was held to just 31 percent shooting.
- Wake Forest worked its way all the way back from trailing by as much as nine points in the first half to tie the game on multiple occasions late in the second quarter.
- After tying the game at 26-26 with 1:12 remaining before halftime, Louisville ended the second quarter on a 6-2 run to take a four-point lead into the locker room.
- The top-seeded Cardinals led just 32-28 at the midway point.
- After tying the game at 26-26 with 1:12 remaining before halftime, Louisville ended the second quarter on a 6-2 run to take a four-point lead into the locker room.
- Morra led the Demon Deacons on the score column, netting seven points and pulling down two key offensive rebounds.
- Freshman guard Jewel Spear continued her impressive start to her first ACC Tournament, tallying six points and five rebounds.
- The Demon Deacons worked their way to the free throw line throughout the first 20 minutes of the game, knocking down 11-of-15 attempts at the charity stripe.
- Louisville was held without an attempt in the first half.
- Additionally, the Deacs held the Cardinals to just 37 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
- Wake Forest turned to Raca to open the second half as the Belgrade, Serbia native scored on two of the opening possessions of the third quarter.
- Her second point-black basket at the 7:30 mark of the third made it a 37-34 contest.
- With the help of work inside from Morra, the Deacs got both of post players in Dixon and Cochran in early foul trouble as both players picked up their third fouls before the midway point of the third quarter.
- The contest continued to remain tight throughout the third quarter with neither team leading by more than four points after the 7:30 mark.
- The Deacs stormed back, taking the lead with 0:45 left in the third quarter.
- Trailing by one with just seconds remaining before the fourth, Kaia Harrison drew a foul and worked her way to the line.
- She knocked down one to make it a 44-44 contest after three quarters of play.
- After the game was tied at 46-46 with 8:09 left to play in the game, Louisville proceeded to go on a 7-0 run to take a 53-46 lead with 6:27 on the clock.
- It forced head coach Jen Hoover to call a timeout.
- The Cardinals run ended at 13-0 and gave them their first double-digit lead of the game.
- Wake Forest refused to go down without a fight, answering with a 5-0 spurt of its own.
- The triple from Spear made it a 59-51 game with 3:07 left to play.
- That was as close as the Demon Deacons would get in their come-from-behind effort in the fourth quarter, eventually falling to the four-time reigning ACC regular season champions, 65-53, on Friday afternoon.
STANDOUT STAT
After coming in averaging an Atlantic Coast Conference best 21.0 points per game and being named the conference player of the year for the second consecutive season, Wake Forest held Louisville guard Dana Evans to just eight points in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinal.
It ended Evans streak of consecutive games in double figures. Prior to this afternoon, she had reached that mark in every game this season and 40 straight games overall, which was the longest streak at Louisville in the last 20 years.
FROM HOOVER
""I am just proud of this team. My heart is breaking for them. We came out, we fought hard and we gave them everything we could. Going into the fourth quarter with a tie ball game against them on the second day of legs, we fought hard. The ball did not bounce our way a couple of times, and there is such a small margin for error against a top-10 teams in the country. To become one of those, you have got to beat one of them. We came in and knew our game plan. We paid attention to it and we just could not knock down some of those shots we needed to fall. Give them a lot of credit, they did a great job of coming out and pressing up in us, taking us out of our offense, frustrating us at times and doing what a great team does." - Head Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
The Deacs will now await the decision of the NCAA Tournament selection committee to see if the team will make its first trip back to the tournament since the 1987-88 season.
As of the Friday morning release, Wake Forest was projected to be in the tournament, according to ESPN.
The NCAA Selection Show will air on Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
