Wake Forest University
14-14,4-13ACC
Syracuse
11-16,4-13ACC
Morra's Career Night Leads to Double-Digit Win over Syracuse
2/24/2022 9:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The senior from Toronto, Ontario, Canada totaled a career-best 21 points and a career-best 15 rebounds in the key conference win over the Orange.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Led by senior forward Christina Morra, the Wake Forest women's basketball team captured a 76-60 victory over Syracuse Thursday night at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons (14-14, 4-13 ACC) grabbed their second-consecutive home win over the Orange (11-16, 4-13 ACC) and have won two of the last three overall. This victory moves Wake Forest into 11th place in the ACC standings as they hold the tiebreaker over Syracuse.
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.
The Deacons saw success in their offensive efficiency, going 31-of-63 in attempts from around the floor (49 percent) and outrebounded Syracuse, 43-30. Additionally, the Deacs tallied 44 points in the paint to the Orange's 30 and 17 bench points to Syracuses' zero.
Defensively, Wake Forest held the Orange to a 37.7 team field goal percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Senior forward Christina Morra was active early on in the game for the Demon Deacons, netting their first points on the second possession of the game while also grabbing a pair of rebounds in the opening minute.
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Two possessions later, the Demon Deacon lead grew to 6-0 when freshman guard Elise Williams got to the rim and laid it in with the left hand.
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The Deacs continued to push the pace and score at a high rate early, netting 5-of-9 to start the game and building a 12-4 lead at the 5:16 mark of the first quarter.
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Syracuse answered with a quick 8-0 run to tie the game at 12-12.
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The run ended when junior forward Niyah Becker followed her own shot and laid it in off the glass with 3:08 left in the first.
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Becker provided a key spark off the bench for the Deacs, contributing nine points in the opening stanza.
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Her final two came from the free throw line with seven seconds, pushing the Wake Forest lead to 21-16.
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The Demon Deacons held that same lead heading into the second quarter.
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The Deacs cleaned up on the glass in the first, owning a 12-7 advantage in that category.
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Becker, Morra and sophomore forward Demeara Hinds each grabbed three rebounds in the first 10 minutes of action.
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Wake Forest also made the most of Orange turnovers, converting six turnovers into 10 second-chance points.
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Additionally, 16 of the Deacs' 21 points came from the paint.
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Becker continued her impressive play in the second quarter, converting a runout layup off a Syracuse turnover to push her point total to 11 at the 9:38 mark of the quarter.
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For the first time in the game, the Demon Deacons pushed the lead to double figures when Williams converted the and-one opportunity with 4:52 on the clock in the second quarter.
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At that point, Wake Forest was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe as a team.
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Williams pushed her total to nine points when she hit a pull-up jumper from the right elbow to make it a 33-21 advantage with 3:22 left before halftime.
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Becker closed out the half with an impressive rebound, immediately going up to hit the shot off the glass right as the buzzer sounded. This gave Wake Forest the 39-28 edge at the midway point.
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Becker led all Wake Forest players with 13 points in just nine minutes played.
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Williams added nine points and Morra had eight points.
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The Deacs continued to control the boards, winning the rebound battle in the first two quarters, 22-15.
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Morra led the way with seven rebounds while Becker had six boards.
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28 of the 39 first half points came inside of the paint.
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Sophomore guard Jewel Spear became the second Demon Deacon to enter double-figures with back-to-back buckets to kickstart the Wake Forest offense.
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The second basket pushed her total to 10 for the game and the Wake Forest lead to 46-30, the largest to that point.
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Morra completed her second double-double of her career minutes later when she grabbed her tenth rebound and then followed it up on the offensive end with a nice post move for a layup.
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She had 10 points and 10 rebounds to that point.
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Williams became the fourth in double figures, making it six consecutive games the Deacs had four or more double-figure scorers.
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The Orange were forced to call their first timeout of the game after Wake Forest pushed the lead to 22 points at the 5:11 mark of the third.
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Spear continued her explosive quarter to push her total to nine for the quarter.
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She splashed a pair of threes. The second came with 22 seconds left in the period to push the lead to 23 points.
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After three quarters of play, Wake Forest led 64-43.
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Spear led all Demon Deacons with 16 points. She also had all four three-point makes for the team.
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The Orange came out strong in the fourth quarter, starting the period on a 10-2 run to make it a 66-53 game with 6:41 left in regulation.
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Wake Forest absorbed the run with the help of baskets from Morra, elevating her total to 18 points for the game.
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At that point, she was one point shy of her career-high.
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She notched the feat a possession later, converting an and-one opportunity, upping her total to 21 points.
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Morra also topped her career high with 15 rebounds in the game.
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The Deacs closed out their fourth victory of the ACC season, winning 76-60 on Thursday night.
STANDOUT STAT
Wake Forest's 16-point win over Syracuse was its largest margin of victory against an ACC opponent this season and the most since defeating Boston College, 68-48, a season ago on Jan. 10.
Christina Morra had a career night, going for new highs in points (21) and rebounds (15). Additionally, this was her third career double-double.
For the sixth straight game, the Deacs again had four players finish in scoring double-digits:
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Christina Morra - 21 points
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Jewel Spear - 19 points
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Niyah Becker - 13 points
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Elise Williams - 11 points
FROM HOOVER
"I am proud of our effort and they way we were locked in from the beginning. Christina played so well tonight, achieving career highs in both points and rebounds. When we get a kind of night like that from her, we are very hard to defend because it opens up so much for us offensively. We continue to get balanced scoring as well with four in double figures again. I am really happy for this team. You know it is much more fun to learn from wins and we have to keep learning, growing and continue to close the season strong headed into postseason." - Head Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
Wake Forest closes out the regular season at home Sunday when the Deacs play host to Georgia Tech for a 1 p.m. tipoff at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
It will be Senior Day at the Joel as fans are encouraged to arrive early as Wake Forest is set to honor senior forward Christina Morra.
The game will also air on ACC Network Extra.
