Deacs Set to Host WNIT First Round Thursday Night

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Postseason play comes to DEACTOWN on Thursday night as the Wake Forest women's basketball team tips off its run in the WNIT against Akron at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum,

The Deacs (15-16, 4-12 ACC) are postseason eligible for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in the Jen Hoover era. Additionally, this marks the ninth postseason appearance and seventh trip to the WNIT. This is the Demon Deacons first WNIT appearance since the 2017 tournament. Wake Forest is coming off its third straight ACC Tournament where it won at least one game, falling just short to No. 25 Georgia Tech in the second round.

The Zips (17-11, 13-7 MAC) are led by Mid-American Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year in redshirt senior Jordyn Dawson. She leds Akron with 22.1 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game. Akron earned the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, advancing to the semifinals where they fell to eventual tournament champions, Buffalo.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at LJVM Coliseum. For those not at the arena, fans can tune in on ACC Network Extra.

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

WNIT COMES TO DEACTOWN

Wake Forest fans, postseason returns to Winston-Salem and DEACTOWN on Thursday! All Wake Forest students, faculty and staff will receive free admission to the game with a valid ID as well as students from Salem College and Winston-Salem State.

WNIT tickets are on sale now and can be ordered online or by calling the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext 2 during normal business hours. All seats are lower level general admission; adults (age 19+) are $10 each, youth (age 2-18) are $5 each, and children one and under are free. The ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the LJVM Coliseum box office beginning 90 minutes prior to tipoff on gameday.

ROAD TO THE TOURNAMENT

For the third consecutive season and the fifth time in the Jen Hoover era, the Demon Deacons were postseason eligible, making their ninth postseason appearance and seventh trip to the WNIT.

Wake Forest has played one of the most difficult schedules in the nation with the No. 57 Opponent Success Rate and the No. 64 Average Opponent NET Rankings in the country. Additionally, 16 of the Demon Deacons 32 games have come against top-100 NET programs.

The Demon Deacons have a pair of top-51 NET wins, coming at Miami and against Florida State.

Additionally during non-conference play, the Demon Deacons defeated three reigning conference champions in Mercer (SoCon), High Point (Big South) and Troy (Sun Belt) with the wins over Mercer and High Point both coming on the road.

LAST TIME

Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech (March 3) - ACC Tournament Second Round

Result: L, 45-40

Wake Forest was led by a game-high 23 points by sophomore guard Jewel Spear. The 2022 All-ACC first teamer is now averaging 21.3 points per game in three career ACC Tournament games. Additionally, Spear is up to 89 three-point makes on the season, which ranks second-best in the program's single-season history.
Senior forward Christina Morra also brought a major presence, tallying her fourth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, her second in the last three games.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Akron

Series: Wake Forest leads 1-0

Last: Dec. 5, 1987

Result: W, 84-56

This marks just the second time in program history that the two schools will play each other.
Against the Mid-American Conference, Wake Forest holds a record of 5-3 all-time against the conference with the last matchup coming in a victory over Miami (OH) in 2009. This is the first matchup against a MAC team in postseason play.

TALK TO ME TINA

Down the stretch of the season, senior forward Christina Morra has been playing her best basketball of the season. In the First Round against Virginia, she tallied her second double-double performance in the last three games. Morra posted 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory over the Cavaliers.

She has tallied double-digit points in each of her last five games. Over the last three games, she has been even more impressive, averaging 16.0 points and 11.3 rebounds.

STANDOUT STAT

Since stepping on campus, sophomore guard Jewel Spear has been one of the best shooters in program history. She goes into Thursday night sixth in program history with 148 career three-pointers in just 56 career games. This season Spear could finish as the single-season record holder, as she is trailing Cotelia Bond-Young (2004-05) by just seven makes:

Rank	Player	Three-Point Makes
1.	Cotelia Bond-Young (04-05)	97
2.	Jewel Spear (21-22)	90
3.	Chelsea Douglas (13-14)	86
4.	Cotelia Bond-Young (05-06)	85

UP NEXT

The winner of the game will face the winner of Middle Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 C-USA) or Wofford (17-13, 11-3 SoCON). They tipoff at 9 p.m. with the location, date and time of the second round game being determined following the conclusion of all first round games.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christina Morra

Jewel Spear

Wake Forest Athletics