Wake Forest University
15-15,4-14ACC
Virginia
5-22,2-14ACC
Wake Forest Advances in ACC Tournament for Third-Straight Season
3/2/2022 9:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons improved to 4-2 in the tournament over the last three seasons with a 61-53 opening round win over Virginia on Wednesday night.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Behind a strong fourth quarter, the Wake Forest women's basketball team captured a 61-53 First Round win in the ACC Women's basketball tournament on Wednesday evening over Virginia.
Wake Forest erupted for a 14-2 run over the last five and a half minutes, holding Virginia to a near four-minute scoring drought during the span.
With the win over the Cavaliers, the Demon Deacons moved to 4-2 in the last three ACC Tournaments. The Deacs have won their last three games to open tournament play and will look to advance to their third consecutive quarterfinal on Thursday night.
Wake Forest (15-15, 4-14 ACC) 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.
The Cavaliers (5-22, 2-16 ACC) offense was held down by the impressive Wake Forest defense. The Cavaliers were held to just 22-of-67 field goal attempts (32.8 percent). Wake Forest also won the rebounding battle, 38-35.
The Deacs made the absolute most of their attempts from the charity stripe, going 13-of-13 including 7-of-7 in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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On the third Wake Forest possession of the game, sophomore guard Jewel Spear got the Demon Deacons on the board with her first three of the game.
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The triple gave the Deacs the early 3-2 lead.
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Senior forward Christina Morra continued to build on her impressive play tying the game minutes later off a nice dish from junior guard Kaia Harrison.
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Heading into the under-five timeout at the 4:08 mark of the first quarter, tied at 5-5.
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Morra and Spear continued to lead the offense with the next two buckers for the Deacs.
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A Morra layup from the left block elevated the Wake Forest lead to 10-7 with 1:48 left in the first period.
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At the end of the first quarter, Wake Forest held a slim 12-11 advantage.
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The Deacs limited Virginia to just 19 percent shooting in the first 10 minutes.
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Wake Forest was 2-of-3 from behind the arc with both makes coming from Spear.
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In the opening round of the 2021 tournament, Spear tied the tournament record with seven threes made in the victory over North Carolina.
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Harrison entered the score column when she froze her defender and drove to the right elbow. The jumper made it a 18-16 game in favor of Virginia.
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One possession later, Wake Forest tied it when junior guard Niyah Becker grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back off the glass.
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Virginia answered with a pair of baskets to grab the 23-18 lead. It forced Wake Forest's first timeout of the game.
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After two made free throws from Morra she moved to eight points and seven rounds on her statline with 4:00 left before halftime.
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A pair of free throws from freshman Elise Williams put Wake Forest within two of Virginia with 1:52 left in the second quarter.
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With 0:45 on the clock, Spear hit two of her own as the Deacs moved to 6-for-6 from the stripe.
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Virginia led at the half, 29-24.
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Spear and Morra each had eight points in the first 20 minutes of the game while Morra added a team-high seven rebounds to her statline.
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On eight made baskets, the Deacs had five assists including a pair from junior forward Olivia Summiel.
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The two teams traded baskets to open the third quarter as it was 33-28 Virginia after the first two minutes of the third quarter.
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Spear put the Deacs within two points after a right wing three went down.
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Heading into the under-five timeout, Virginia was able to capitalize on Wake Forest turnovers and went on a 6-0 run to boost the Cavalier lead to 39-31.
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Coming out of the timeout, Becker knocked down a baseline jumper to end the run.
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Spear continued to cut into the deficit with a pair at the free throw line to make it 39-35 with 2:11 left in the third.
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On the next possession, she drilled her fourth three of the game to pull Wake Forest within one.
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Spear pushed her game-high total to 20 points with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left in the third.
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Wake Forest was 10-for-10 at the line to that point in the game.
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Heading into the fourth, Wake Forest trailed 45-42.
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Wake Forest owned the rebounding battle in the quarter 11-to-7.
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Virginia scored twice to open the fourth period before Spear rang in her fifth three-pointer of the night.
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Summiel followed with a midrange spot-up to further knock the Cavaliers' lead down to 49-47 after three minutes in the fourth.
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Summiel hit again. This time a three from the left wing that pulled Wake Forest within one.
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A steal on the other end led to a runout from Williams and gave the Deacs their first lead of the second half at 52-51.
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Virginia was forced to call a timeout with 4:55 left in regulation.
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Harrison extended the lead with the shot clock running down with a running layup off the glass.
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Four straight points by Morra kept the Deacs in front as the final minute arrived on the clock.
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Wake Forest captured the victory, 61-53.
STANDOUT STAT
With the victory over the Cavaliers, the Demon Deacons moved to 4-2 in the last three ACC Tournaments. The Deacs have won their last three games to open tournament play and will look to advance to their third consecutive quarterfinal on Thursday night.
Jewel Spear's 23 points over Virginia were the second-most of her career in an ACC tournament appearance. The sophomore is averaging 21.3 points across three conference tournament performances. Wednesday's game also saw her move into second all-time in the Deacons' single-season records for three-pointers made with 89 this season.
FROM HOOVER
"I couldn't be more proud of this team's charter. We came to Greensboro on a mission and we were really focused and locked in. Give Virginia credit. They came out and were really overly aggressive with us and that really got us off our game for a half. At halftime, we knew it was these 20 minutes or we would go home. They willed themselves to a win tonight. We found ways to get stops. We found ways to get Jewel Spear some shots. She found some ways to get her own shot, but her teammates helped her with some ball screens. Everyone stepped up and hit some sort of big shot in the run that we made. I told them in one of our last timeouts that our defense is what we relied on early in the season and that was what was going to get this win for us. Happy to be back here and be able to stay in Greensboro and play another game." - Head Coach Jen Hoover
NEXT UP
The winner of the game will face No. 6 seed Georgia Tech (20-9, 11-7 ACC) at 8 p.m. on Thursday in Greensboro Coliseum.
The game will also be broadcasted on Regional Sports Networks.
