Deacs Set for ACC Home Opener Thursday

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Remaining undefeated at home after defeating Rhode Island last week, the Wake Forest women's basketball team opens home conference play at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Thursday, facing Pitt.

The Deacs (9-4, 0-2 ACC) are coming off their best NET victory to date, defeating Rhode Island by 14 in the non-conference finale. The Demon Deacons held the Rams to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field which was well below their 46.6 percentage entering the game which ranked 23rd in the country. On the offensive end, Wake Forest shot the ball better than 50 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range through three quarters.

The Panthers (7-5, 0-1 ACC) have dropped five of the last seven games including their lone conference game to date against Louisville, 77-53. Pitt is led in nearly every area by junior forward Liatu King, averaging a team-best 11.8 points per game while also posting 9.1 rebounds per game and 1.67 blocks per game. Her blocks rank in the top 40 nationally while her rebounds rank in the top 50 in the country.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 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 13 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 35.1 percent shooting from the field and just 28.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 30th in the nation and the Deacs also rank 42nd with 4.5 blocks per game.

Additionally, their 56.1 points allowed per game ranks 43rd nationally and fifth in the ACC.

LAST TIME

Wake Forest vs. Rhode Island (Dec. 22)

Result: W, 59-45

With the help of a hot start from junior guard Jewel Spear in the third quarter, the Demon Deacons pushed the lead up to as much as 27 points.
Spear led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 4-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. She was the only player on either team to finish with double-figure points.
The Rams came into the game ranked in the top 25 nationally, shooting 46.6 percent from the field. The Demon Deacons held them to just 25.9 percent on Thursday afternoon. Additionally, the 45 points scored by Rhode Island was the fewest points scored this season by 18 points.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Pitt

Series: Wake Forest leads 6-5

Last: Jan. 16, 2022

Result: L, 65-57

Sophomore guard Jewel Spear finished the game with her second career double-double, finishing with a game-high 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the defeat.
The Colony, Texas native led the Deacs strong effort on the glass, pulling down a conference-high 48 boards on Sunday afternoon. The Demon Deacons won the rebounding battle 48-43.

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 93rd percentile country, assisting on 64.4 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 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 Rhode Island, Wake Forest assisted on 13 of 22 made baskets in the game. With five assists in the win, Elise Williams now ranks 65th in the country with 53 total assists.

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 27th on Thursday. With 22 points on Thursday, Spear can tie for 26th Tina Brown (2000-04) and she needs 28 points to tie Ariel Stephenson (2015-19) for 25th:

Rank	Player	Career Points
25.	Ariel Stephenson (2015-19)	1,079
26.	Tonia Brown (2000-04)	1,073
27.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,051
28.	Erin Ferrell (2001-05)	1,044
29.	Gina Conti (2018-21)	1,037
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.)	188
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 55-of-131 attempts from distance or 42.0 percent. Spear has hit 40-of-93 (43.0 percent) while Williams has hit 15-of-38 (39.5 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 7.2 threes per game over their first 13 games. This also ranks 81st nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	7.8
T2.	Wake Forest	7.4
T2.	Florida St.	7.4
4.	NC State	7.2
T5.	Miami	6.8
T5.	Clemson	6.8

STANDOUT STAT

Olivia Summiel recorded three blocks in the first quarter against Rhode Island on Thursday. She now ranks 19th nationally with 23 blocks on the season and her total already is the most by a Demon Deacon since the 2018-19 season when Ona Udoh had 41 blocks for the season.

Her 1.77 blocks per game also rank fifth in the ACC and 41st 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 begin the New Year on the road when traveling to face Clemson on Jan. 1 with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m.

For those who cannot attend, the game will air on ACC Network.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gina Conti

Kaia Harrison

Jewel Spear

Olivia Summiel

Ona Udoh

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics