Wake Forest University
12-4,2-3ACC
Florida State
7-6,1-2ACC
Wake Forest Splits the Season Series with Florida State
1/9/2022 2:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons are now 2-2 against the Seminoles in the last four games after the loss in Tallahassee on Sunday.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Wake Forest women's basketball team fell on the road Sunday afternoon at Florida State, 87-46.
The Demon Deacons (12-4, 2-3 ACC) and the Seminoles (7-6, 1-2 ACC) split the season series after Wake Forest claimed a come-from-behind home victory in late December. Additionally, this marks the second consecutive season the Deacs and Noles have split the regular season series.
Wake Forest was led by double-figure points from sophomore guard Jewel Spear and senior forward Christina Morra on Sunday.
Both Morra and Spear ended the afternoon with 10 points with Morra finishing 5-of-8 from the floor.
This is just the second time this season that the Deacs have allowed more than 70 points in a game. Wake Forest came into the contest ranked 33rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 55.3 points per game. This is the first time in conference play that Wake Forest has allowed more than 70 points.
The Deacs will look to bounce back on Thursday night when the Demon Deacons host No. 20 Notre Dame. It will be the first ranked team that comes to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum this season and the second ranked opponent the Deacs will face in the 2020-21 season.
Claim your spot against the Fighting Irish at GoDeacs.com/Tickets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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After two opening buckets from Florida State, sophomore guard Jewel Spear knocked down a left wing three, coming off the screener.
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The triple from Spear made it a 5-3 contest at the 7:40 mark of the first quarter.
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The Seminoles opened up the game with a 12-3 lead in the game, hitting five of their first six shots from the field.
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Another Spear made basket made it a 12-5 game on the next possession down for the Deacs.
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With Kaia Harrison coming in at point, Wake Forest was able to get back-to-back buckets and cut into the Florida State lead.
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The first time, Harrison took it herself for a right-handed layup and on the next possession a high-low pass from Olivia Summiel to Christina Morra gave the Deacs another basket at the rim.
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The second basket made it a 17-9 game in favor of the Seminoles with 3:48 on the first quarter clock.
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With the help of the bench, the Deacs were able to find an offensive rhythm at the end of the first quarter.
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Alexandria Scruggs tallied four points off the bench including the final basket of the quarter. The layup with five seconds on the clock helped make it a 21-13 game after one.
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Florida State continued to shoot well from the floor in the second quarter. Five minutes into the period, the Seminoles were shooting 62 percent from the field as well as 50 percent from behind the arc.
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A three from Summiel at the top of the key helped the Deacs work back into the game, making it a 32-20 contest with 5:04 left before the halftime interval.
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The Deacs continued to try and answer on the offensive end of the floor with the help of good ball movement as five Wake Forest players had an assist in the opening 20 minutes of play.
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At halftime, the Demon Deacons trailed 44-28.
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Spear led all Wake Forest players with seven points at the halfway point while Scruggs added six of her own off the bench.
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Summiel also had an impressive statline through 20 minutes of action, tallying five points while also grabbing a pair of rebounds and assisting on two additional baskets.
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The Deacs finished the second quarter, shooting 7-of-13 from the field or 53.8 percent.
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The Deacs were unable to get the ball to fall to start the third quarter as Wake Forest hit one of its first seven shots from the field in the first five minutes.
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This helped Florida State continue to build on its lead as it was 55-30 with 5:00 remaining in the third quarter.
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Morra had the lone two points for the Deacs to that point in the quarter.
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Harrison added to her total with a layup at the 2:28 mark of the third.
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The basket ended an 18-0 run for Florida State as the Seminoles pushed their lead to 30-plus points.
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At the end of the third quarter, Wake Forest trailed 68-34.
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Behind a pair of made baskets from Morra in the final period, the Deacs netted 12 points in the fourth quarter.
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Wake Forest fell 87-46 to Florida State behind double-figure scoring from Christina Morra and Jewel Spear.
STANDOUT STAT
After splitting the season series with Florida State, the Demon Deacons have now defeated the Seminoles in back-to-back seasons. This is the first time since 2012-14 when the Deacs claimed three consecutive wins over the Noles.
FROM HOOVER
"As I said on Thursday night, it is always tough to win on the road in this league. Give Florida State credit. They came ready to play today from the opening whistle and having their leader back in Morgan Jones helped them to start quickly against us. We are excited to be able to get home and play in front of our home fans on Thursday night after being away this week. We will get back to work this week and prepare for a talented Notre Dame team." - Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
Wake Forest returns home to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night when it plays host to Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET.
Claim your spot at LJVM Coliseum at GoDeacs.com/Tickets.
For those not in attendance on Thursday, the game will also air on ACC Network Extra.
