Wake Forest University
Georgia Tech
Deacs Look to Bounce Back Against Georgia Tech
1/7/2023 7:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
After a close battle with No. 19 Duke on Thursday night, the Demon Deacons will close the week against Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon at LJVM Coliseum.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After a close loss on Thursday night to No. 19 Duke, the Wake Forest women's basketball team looks to close the weekend strong on Sunday, facing Georgia Tech at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Deacs (10-6, 1-4 ACC) will look to bounce back from their first home loss of the season Thursday to No. 19 Duke. The Demon Deacons hold a 7-1 record at LJVM Coliseum this season where they have played some of their best basketball. Wake Forest is coming off a close battle with the nationally-ranked Blue Devils where the Deacs' defense shine, forcing Duke to turn the ball over 19 times in the game, their most in over a month. Senior forward Olivia Summiel continues to impress this season as she pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and continued to build on her top-20 nationally ranked block total.
The Yellow Jackets (9-6, 0-4 ACC) go into Sunday in search of their first ACC win of the season. Georgia Tech hangs their hat on the defensive end of the floor ranking 42nd nationally with opponents shooting just 36.0 percent from the field while their 24.7 opponent three-point shooting percentage is 13th in the country. On the offensive end of the floor, the Yellow Jackets have been the best team in the ACC at hitting their free throws, converting at a 77.5 percent clip which also ranks 20th in the country.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. (ET) at 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 16 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 36.1 percent shooting from the field and just 28.8 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 44th in the nation and the Deacs also rank 56th with 4.2 blocks per game. The Deacs achieve a block on 10.5 percent of possessions this season, the highest rate in the Her Hoops Stats era (2009-10 to present).
Additionally, their 56.2 points allowed per game ranks 33rd nationally and fourth in the ACC.
The best defensive effort of the season came during the month of December. Over six games, the Deacs limited opponents to just 51.8 points per game with opposing teams shooting just 32.6 percent from the field and just 23.5 percent from behind the arc. In three games, the Deacs held opponents to 51 points or fewer including the ACC home opener against Pitt.
In the win over Pitt, Elise Williams finished the game with a career-best six steals and led the Demon Deacons to a season best effort in that category as Wake Forest ended the game with 11 total steals and 20 forced turnovers, resulting in 17 points off turnovers.
LAST TIME
Wake Forest vs. No. 19 Duke (Jan. 5)
Result: L, 60-50
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The Demon Deacons were led by a strong defensive effort as the Deacs forced the Blue Devils into 19 turnovers, marking the most turnovers Duke has committed in a single game since facing Northwestern on Dec.1. Additionally, Duke's 19 turnovers were the most the Blue Devils had committed in ACC play this season.
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Elise Williams had another all-around performance Thursday as the sophomore guard tallied 12 points, four rebounds and four steals in the loss. Over the last three games, Williams has recorded 11 steals.
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Senior forward Olivia Summiel finished with a game-high 10 rebounds in addition to five points, marking the third time this season she had recorded double-digit rebounds in a game.
SERIES HISTORY
Versus Georgia Tech
Series: Georgia Tech leads 49-27
Last: March 3, 2022
Result: L, 45-40
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Sophomore guard Jewel Spear led the way in scoring for the Deacs, posting 11 points. Junior guard Kaia Harrison contributed six points, five rebounds, and two steals.
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The Deacs held Georgia Tech to 17-of-46 shooting (37.0 percent) while only making four attempts from three-point territory (23.5 percent). The Yellowjackets also struggled to protect the ball, finishing with 19 turnovers.
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This marked the eighth time last season Wake Forest held an opponent to 50 points or less in a game.
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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 94th percentile country, assisting on 63.8 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 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.
Elise Williams' 57 assists this season ranks 107th in the country and seventh in the ACC.
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 25th on Sunday. She needs six points to tie Secily Ray (2008-12) for 24th and 17 points to tie Raeanna Mulholland (1993-97):
|
Rank |
Player |
Career Points |
|
23. |
Raeanna Mulholland (1993-97) |
1,110 |
|
24. |
Secily Ray (2008-12) |
1,099 |
|
25. |
Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.) |
1,093 |
|
26. |
Ariel Stephenson (2015-19) |
1,079 |
|
27. |
Tonia Brown (2000-04) |
1,073 |
|
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 and moved into the top three on Thursday and will become just the third player in program history to reach 200 threes with six more threes:
|
Rank |
Player |
Career Threes |
|
1. |
Cotelia Bond Young (2003-06) |
267 |
|
2. |
Chelsea Douglas (2010-14) |
257 |
|
3. |
Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.) |
194 |
|
4. |
Nicole Levesque (1991-94) |
193 |
|
5. |
Heidi Coleman (1995-99) |
191 |
|
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 high clips. They have combined to knock down 64-of-166 attempts from distance or 38.6 percent. Spear has hit 46-of-115 (40.0 percent) while Williams has hit 18-of-51 (35.3 percent).
On the defensive side of the floor, Wake Forest is limiting opponents to just 28.8 percent shooting from behind the arc.
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 7.1 threes per game over their first 16 games. This also ranks 96th nationally:
|
Rank |
Team |
Threes Made Per Game |
|
1. |
Virginia Tech |
8.2 |
|
2. |
Florida St. |
8.0 |
|
3. |
Wake Forest |
7.1 |
|
T4. |
Clemson |
6.6 |
|
T4. |
Miami |
6.6 |
BLOCKAGE
Olivia Summiel recorded another block against No. 19 Duke Thursday. She now ranks 21st nationally with 28 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 1.80 blocks per game also rank third in the ACC and 34th nationally.
As a team, the Deacs have blocked 4.2 shots per game which is close to a school record and ranks 56th nationally. The school record was set in 2010-11 when that squad averaged 4.3 blocks per game.
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons hit the road for three consecutive games starting on Thursday when the Deacs travel to face Notre Dame, who is the highest ranked ACC team at No. 4 in the country. Tipoff for the road clash is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion.
For those who cannot attend, the game will air on ACC Network Extra.
