Deacs Look to Continue Winning Ways at Syracuse

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Riding a five-game winning streak, the Wake Forest women's basketball team returns to conference play on Sunday, traveling north to Syracuse for the second ACC contest of the season.

The Deacs (8-3, 0-1 ACC) have been on a hot streak since returning from the trip to the Bahamas, picking up five victories including two on the road. During that stretch, junior guard Jewel Spear has been averaging over 20 points per game while her and sophomore guard Elise Williams have shot the three at a combined 48.1 percent. Additionally, the Deacs have been getting a near double-double from Olivia Summiel who has averaged 9.4 points and 8.8 rebounds while also having 2.6 blocks per game. The Deacs have held opponents to under 35 percent shooting from the field in the five-game winning streak and outscoring opponents by better than 17 points per game.

The Orange (8-2, 0-0 ACC) have been perfect at home this season, boasting an 7-0 record. In home games this season, Syracuse has won by an average margin of 23.9 points per game. The two losses this season have both come on the road to Big Ten teams, falling to Penn State, 82-69, and Purdue, 87-78. The Orange have been one of the best teams in the country in turning over the opposition this season, ranking 15th in the nation with 12.4 steals per game while the 22.18 turnovers forced per game ranks 21st in the country.

Tipoff is scheduled for Noon (ET) inside the JMA Wireless Dome. For those not at the arena, fans can tune in to ACC Network. A live stats feed can be found here.

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

MAY I ASSIST YOU

Under head coach Megan Gebbia, the Demon Deacons have seen a huge increase in number of assists and percentage of assists on made baskets. Wake Forest currently ranks in the 94th percentile country, assisting on 64.6 percent of made baskets versus a season ago where their 45.0 percent of assists on made baskets ranked in the 4th percentile in the country.

The Demon Deacons are coming off their best game in terms of assisting the basketball in over three seasons as the 23 assists on Thursday in the win over Longwood marked the most since Nov. 8, 2019 against College of Charleston. Additionally, sophomore guard Elise Williams tied her career-best with eight helpers in the victory. In total, seven Demon Deacons finished the night with at least one assist including five from guard Kaia Harrison and four from guard Jewel Spear.

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 continues to climb the rankings as she moved into a tie for 29th on Thursday. With just 14 points on Sunday, Spear can tie for 28th former teammate and backcourt mate Gina Conti (2018-21) and she needs 21 points to tie Erin Ferrell (2001-05) for 27th:

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
T29.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,023
T29.	Barbara Buchanan (1980-1984)	1,023

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.)	181
6.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	167

LAST TIME

Wake Forest vs. Longwood (Dec. 15)

Result: W, 83-43

The Demon Deacons scored a season-high 83 points and held the Lancers to only 28 percent shooting en route to their largest victory margin since Dec. 15, 2021 against South Carolina State (54 points).
Wake Forest recorded 33 points in the third quarter, marking the most the Demon Deacons have scored in a quarter in program history. The Deacs scored 10 points in the first minute of the quarter and overall shot 52.2 percent as a team (12-of-23 shooting) while also turning the Lancers over nine times in the quarter.
As a team, Wake Forest finished the contest with 23 assists on 30 made baskets (76.7 percent), which marked the most assists the Demon Deacons have recorded in a game since Nov. 8, 2019 against College of Charleston.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Syracuse

Series: Wake Forest leads 7-3

Last: Feb. 24, 2022

Result: W, 76-60

Christina Morra reached new career highs in points (21) and rebounds (15) against the Orange while shooting over 66 percent from the field in 29 minutes of play. The senior forward's previous career high of 19 points was set on three separate occasions over the last three seasons. Additionally, Morra's double-double was the third of her career and first of her senior season.
Three other Wake Forest players finished with 11 or more points – sophomore guard Jewel Spear totaled 19 points, junior forward Niyah Becker added 13 points, and freshman guard Elise Williams netted 11 points in the win.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE

Through 11 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 35.9 percent shooting from the field and just 29.4 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 50th in the nation and the Deacs also rank 47th with 4.5 blocks per game.

Additionally, their 56.1 points allowed per game ranks 38th nationally and fifth in the ACC.

OWNING THE ARC

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 47-of-111 attempts from distance or 42.3 percent. Spear has hit 33-of-77 (42.9 percent) while Williams has hit 14-of-34 (41.2 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 68th nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	8.4
2.	Wake Forest	7.6
3.	Florida St.	7.2
4.	NC State	7.0
5.	Pitt	6.9

STANDOUT STAT

Olivia Summiel finished Thursday's win over Longwood with a new career high with six blocks, setting a Demon Deacon record for a home game. She now ranks 26th nationally with 19 blocks on the season and her total already is the most by a Demon Deacon since the 2019-20 season when Ona Udoh had 21 blocks for the season.

Her 1.73 blocks per game also rank fifth in the ACC and 47th nationally. Her 1.73 blocks per game.

As a team, the Deacs have blocked 4.5 shots per game which would be a school record. The record was set in 2010-11 when that squad averaged 4.3 blocks per game.

UP NEXT

The Demon Deacons return home for the final game of the non-conference schedule, playing host to Rhode Island on Thursday.

For those who cannot attend, the 1 p.m. tipoff can be seen on ACC Network Extra.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Niyah Becker

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Christina Morra

Jewel Spear

Olivia Summiel

Ona Udoh

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics