Deacs Set to Host Longwood for Holiday Game

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On the heels of a four-game winning streak, the Wake Forest women's basketball team returns home to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum where it looks to remain undefeated against Longwood on Thursday night.

The Deacs (7-3) have won 15 of the last 16 non-conference games at the Joel entering Thursday's matchup. This includes a perfect 4-0 record so far this season. The Deacs are also on the aforementioned four-game winning streak with the help of a 63-54 victory at Charlotte. Wake Forest was led by efforts from the guard position including a career-high tying 18 points and a career-best nine assists from Kaia Harrison.

The Lancers (1-7) have dropped the last six games after a 1-1 start to the year and are currently ranked No. 352 out of 361 teams in NET rankings. Redshirt junior guard Adriana Shipp-Davis and senior guard Anne-Hamilton LeRoy lead the Lancers offensively as the two double-digit scorers for the team. Additionally, the 71.4 percent mark for the team leads the Big South and 130th nationally.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (ET) in LJVM Coliseum. For those not at the arena, fans can tune in to ACC Network Extra. A live stats feed can be found here.

Fans can follow along via the Demon Deacons Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts (@WakeWBB).

HOLIDAY GAME

Demon Deacon fans are encouraged to bring their holiday cheer to Thursday night's game at LJVM Coliseum.

The first 150 fans will receive Wake Forest embroidered Santa hats. Additionally, there will be an Ornament decorating station on the concourse for fans to make their own special holiday ornament.

Deacon Nation, we also encourage us to help support the Salvation Army's Give a Kid a Coat. Boxes will be at the entrance for the next three home games on Dec. 15, Dec. 22 and Dec. 29.

1,000 AND COUNTING

Junior guard Jewel Spear reached a career milestone in the victory over the 49ers Sunday as she became the 30th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point club, totaling 17 points. She becomes the first Wake Forest player to join the 1,000-point club since 2020-21.

She will continue to climb the rankings throughout this season. With just 21 points on Thursday, Spear can tie for 29th on the all-time scoring list with Barbara Buchanan (1980-84) and is 35 points away from tying former teammate and backcourt mate Gina Conti (2018-21):

Rank	Player	Career Points
25.	Ariel Stephenson (2015-19)	1,079
26.	Tonia Brown (2000-04)	1,073
27.	Erin Ferrell (2001-05)	1,044
28.	Gina Conti (2018-21)	1,037
29.	Barbara Buchanan (1980-1984)	1,023
30.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,002

Additionally, Spear went into the year with a chance to break the all-time threes record in program history:

Rank	Player	Career Threes
1.	Cotelia Bond Young (2003-06)	267
2.	Chelsea Douglas (2010-14)	257
3.	Nicole Levesque (1991-94)	193
4.	Heidi Coleman (1995-99)	191
5.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	177
6.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	167

LAST TIME

Wake Forest vs. Charlotte (Dec. 11)

Result: W, 68-51

The Deacs were led by strong front court play with multiple career-highs as Williams led Wake Forest with 18 points, tying her career high while senior guard Kaia Harrison dished out a team-best and new career-high nine assists.
- It marks the most assists by a Demon Deacon since the 2020-21 season. Additionally, it bested Harrison's previous career high of six assists by three. She added nine points to her statline while also pulling down five rebounds.
Spear also reached a career milestone in the victory over the 49ers as she became the 30th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point club, totaling 17 points Sunday. She becomes the first Wake Forest player to join the 1,000-point club since 2020-21.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Longwood

Series: Wake Forest leads 2-0

Last: Nov. 15, 2014

Result: W, 64-60

Junior Kandice Ball posted her first career double-double to lead the Wake Forest women's basketball team to a season-opening win.
- Ball posted career highs in points (13) and rebounds (12) to go along with two blocks, two steals and two assists.effort in which they out-scored Charlotte 23-10 and took a 47-41 lead they would not relinquish.
Amber Campbell tied for the team lead with 13 points in her collegiate debut. The freshman also had seven rebounds, two blocks, one assist and went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE

Through 10 games this season, the Demon Deacons have done a stellar job of holding their opponents down in shooting. Wake Forest has held their opponents to just 36.6 percent shooting from the field and just 30.3 percent shooting from behind the arc.

Additionally, their 57.4 points allowed per game ranks 53rd nationally and fifth in the ACC.

OWNING THE ARC

Additionally, the backcourt duo of junior Jewel Spear and sophomore Elise Williams has been shooting the basketball from behind the arc at historic clips. They have combined to knock down 43-of-98 attempts from distance or 43.9 percent. Spear has hit 29-of-67 (43.3 percent) while Williams has hit 14-of-31 (45.2 percent).

The Demon Deacons have been one of the best teams in the ACC at shooting the three-point shot so far this season, knocking down 7.6 threes per game over their first eight games. This also ranks 71st nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	8.4
2.	Wake Forest	7.6
3.	Florida St.	7.0
3.	Pitt	6.9
4.	NC State	6.9

STANDOUT STAT

Through nine games this season, Wake Forest has continued to share the ball at a high rate with 63.0 percent of made baskets coming off an assist this season. This percentage ranks in the 93rd percentile in the nation and is 18.0 percent higher than last season when the Deacs only assisted on 45.0 percent of baskets.

UP NEXT

The Demon Deacons are set to continue ACC play on Sunday, traveling to Syracuse for a noon tipoff against the Orange.

For those who cannot attend, the game can be seen on ACC Network.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Jewel Spear

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics