Spear Named to Preseason All-ACC Team
10/19/2022 5:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The guard from The Colony, Texas is coming off a breakout season where she was the first sophomore to lead the conference in scoring since 2011-12.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Wake Forest women's basketball rising junior guard Jewel Spear was named a Preseason All-ACC selection, as announced by the league office on Wednesday.
This comes on the heels of being named a First Team All-ACC selection as a sophomore and both to the ACC All-Freshman Team and the ACC All-Tournament Team in 2020-21.
Last season, Spear became just the fifth player in Wake Forest program history to earn first team honors, joining Ivana Raca (2020-21), Dearica Hamby (2013-14, 2014-15), Tracy Connor (1995-96) and Jen Hoover (Mitchell) (1989-90).
Additionally, it marked just the second time in program history the Demon Deacons have had First Team All-ACC members in back-to-back seasons.
Sophomore Jewel Spear finished the season as the ACC leading scorer with 18.3 points per game. She became the first sophomore leading scorer in the conference since Alyssa Thomas did it a decade ago at Maryland in 2011-12.
Additionally, it would be just the third time in the last 20 seasons as the only other sophomore to lead the conference in scoring during that time was Alana Beard for Duke in 2001-02.
Since stepping onto campus, sophomore guard Spear has been one of the best shooters in program history. She goes into her junior season sixth in program history with 148 career three-point makes in just 56 career games. Last season, Spear finished second in single-season threes, trailing Cotelia Bond-Young (2004-05) by just seven makes:
|
Rank |
Player |
Three-Point Makes |
|
1. |
Cotelia Bond-Young (04-05) |
97 |
|
2. |
Jewel Spear (21-22) |
90 |
|
3. |
Chelsea Douglas (13-14) |
86 |
|
4. |
Cotelia Bond-Young (05-06) |
85 |
Spear filled it up at a historic pace last season including one of the best games in program history. Against ETSU on Dec. 13, Spear netted 40 points, the second best mark in school history while also breaking the program record with 10 three-point makes.
Additionally, she went for 30-plus three times this season and 20-plus 10 times including posting 32 points in a victory over Cornell and 30 points in a win over Troy.
Overall, Spear posted double-figure points in all but one game she played during her sophomore season and ended the year with a streak of 20 straight games.
