Deacs Look to Finish Home Non-Conference Undefeated

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Remaining undefeated at home after defeating Longwood in the last home contest, the Wake Forest women's basketball team returns to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Thursday, taking on a red-hot Rhode Island team.

The Deacs (8-4, 0-2 ACC) are looking to bounce back after a competitive game against Syracuse on Sunday. Wake Forest was led by impressive performances from their frontcourt as Demeara Hinds led the Deacs with 14 points and three blocks while Olivia Summiel posted a game-best 11 rebounds and six assists. Summiel now ranks 20th in the nation with 20 blocks this season, marking the most by a Demon Deacon since the 2019-20 season just one away from Ona Udoh's total of 21 blocks that season.

The Rams (9-1, 0-0 A-10) currently rank as the highest team in the NET ranks to visit the Demon Deacons in non-conference play as they sit at No. 78. After falling in the season opener on the road to Harvard, Rhode Island has rattled off nine consecutive wins including most recently a victory at Quinnipiac Sunday. The Rams have been one of the better teams shooting the basketball, knocking down 46.6 percent of shots which ranks 26th nationally while their 37.4 percent shooting from behind the arc ranks 23rd nationally.

Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) inside 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).

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE

Through 12 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 35.8 percent shooting from the field and just 28.0 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 49th in the nation and the Deacs also rank 46th with 4.5 blocks per game.

Additionally, their 57.0 points allowed per game ranks 53rd nationally and fifth in the ACC.

LAST TIME

Wake Forest at Syracuse (Dec. 18)

Result: L, 83-43

The Demon Deacons were led by a strong effort in nearly every statistical category from Summiel, finishing the afternoon with a game-high 11 rebounds and a game-high six assists in the defeat to the Orange. The Dayville, Conn. native added six points to the score column while increasing her block total to 20 on the season.
Offensively, the Deacs were led by her fellow frontcourt mate in junior forward Demeara Hinds who ended the game with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. She got the Deacs off to a strong start as 11 of her points came in the first half. Hinds also had a team-best three blocks to go along with six rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Rhode Island

Series: Wake Forest leads 2-0

Last: Dec. 29, 1989

Result: W, 77-46

This marks just the third meeting between the two schools and the first time the Demon Deacons and Rams will play each other on a college campus. The previous two meetings came on a neutral court.
The Deacs boast a 16-9 record all-time against Atlantic-10 teams, most recently meeting and defeating Dayton during the 2019-20 season.

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 95th percentile country, assisting on 64.8 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 had 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.

Against Syracuse, Wake Forest assisted on the first 12 made baskets in the game.

1,000 AND COUNTING

Junior guard Jewel Spear reached a career milestone in the victory over Charlotte on Dec. 11 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 29th on Sunday. With just five points on Sunday, Spear can tie for 28th former teammate and backcourt mate Gina Conti (2018-21) and she needs 16 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
29.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,032
30.	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.)	184
6.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	167

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 51-of-121 attempts from distance or 42.1 percent. Spear has hit 36-of-85 (42.4 percent) while Williams has hit 15-of-36 (41.7 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 7.4 threes per game over their first eight games. This also ranks 68th nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	8.2
2.	Wake Forest	7.4
3.	Florida St.	7.3
4.	NC State	7.2
5.	North Carolina	6.9

STANDOUT STAT

Olivia Summiel finished last 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 20th nationally with 20 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 1.67 blocks per game also rank fifth in the ACC and 46th nationally.

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 are off for the holidays, returning to conference play on Thursday, Dec. 29 for a home contest against Pitt.

For those who cannot attend, the 6 p.m. tipoff can be seen on ACC Network Extra.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Demeara Hinds

Jewel Spear

Olivia Summiel

Ona Udoh

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics