Wake Forest University
Florida State
Deacs Fly to Tallahassee for Thursday Night Tilt at No. 23 Florida State
2/1/2023 8:36:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons look to continue momentum after finishing the week 2-0 at home, claiming two Quad Two victories over Louisville and Miami.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After finishing last week 2-0 at home, the Wake Forest women's basketball looks to bring their winning ways on the road, traveling to No. 23 Florida State Thursday night.
The Deacs (13-9, 4-7 ACC) claimed their first 2-0 week in the ACC season while also adding two Quad Two victories to their tournament resume with wins over Louisville and Miami. The Demon Deacons have continued to pester opponents on the defensive end of the floor as Miami was held to a season low in points on Sunday while Wake Forest held ACC second-leading scorer Hailey Van Lith to a season-low eight points on Thursday. On the offensive end of the floor, the Deacs have counted on consistent scoring from sophomore guard Elise Williams. She has netted double-digit points in the last nine games, the longest streak by any Demon Deacon this season. Williams has averaged 12.2 points over that stretch and is now averaging double-figure points over the course of the entire season.
The Seminoles (19-5, 8-3 ACC) enter the game as one of the highest regarded teams in the nation, coming in at No. 15 in the latest NET rankings and at No. 23 in the latest AP Poll. Additionally, Florida State has been near perfect at home this season, compiling a record of 11-1 with their lone loss coming to Louisville, 82-75, on January 15. The Noles have been one of the best teams in the country in scoring the basketball this season, netting 83.5 points per game which ranks seventh nationally and leads the ACC. They have also been one of the best teams in the country in rebounding, ranking eighth nationally with 44.71 rebounds per game while also ranking third nationally in blocks per game with a 6.5 average per game. Florida State also has the ACC's leading scorer in freshman Ta'Niya Latson who is averaging 22.7 points per game. This average also ranks sixth in the country.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET) at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. 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).
DOUBLE-FIGURE ELISE
Over the last nine games, sophomore guard Elise Williams has been consistent as they come, recording double-figure points in every game and is now averaging double-digit points for the season. Additionally over that stretch Williams has been near perfect from the free throw line, knocking down 23-of-25 attempts (92 percent).
Her streak of double-figure scoring is the longest in her career and the most consecutive games by a Demon Deacon this season:
|
Date |
Opponent |
Points Scored |
|
Dec. 29 |
Pitt |
12 |
|
Jan. 1 |
at Clemson |
12 |
|
Jan. 5 |
Duke |
12 |
|
Jan. 8 |
Georgia Tech |
15 |
|
Jan. 12 |
at Notre Dame |
13 |
|
Jan. 15 |
at Miami |
10 |
|
Jan. 22 |
at Virginia Tech |
12 |
|
Jan. 26 |
Louisville |
11 |
|
Jan. 29 |
Miami |
13 |
TOP-50 DEFENSE
Through 22 games this season, the Demon Deacons have done a stellar job of holding their opponents down in shooting and scoring. The Deacs have held their opponents to an average of 57.9 points allowed per game, ranking 43rd nationally and third in the ACC.
This is a massive improvement in the rankings from a season ago when the Deacs ended the year ranked 164th nationally and ninth in the ACC in the category at 63.0 points per game.
Wake Forest has held their opponents to just 38.4 percent shooting from the field and just 27.3 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 104th in the nation, the Deacs also rank 87th with 3.8 blocks per game and the three-point defense ranks 30th. The Deacs have achieved a block on 9.4 percent of possessions this season, the fifth-highest rate in the Her Hoops Stats era (2009-10 to present).
Over the last 17 games, the Demon Deacons have been playing their best defense of the season, holding 14 of 17 opponents to 61 points or less and eight opponents in that stretch to less than 55 points.
Over the last seven ACC games, Wake Forest has forced 15.7 turnovers including 20 in the win over Pitt, 20 in the win over Louisville and 19 against nationally-ranked Duke.
LAST TIME
Wake Forest vs. Miami (Jan. 29)
Result: W, 55-52
-
The Demon Deacons were led offensively by a balanced scoring effort as three players finished in double figures. Senior forward Olivia Summiel was huge, netting four threes on seven attempts, ending the game with a team-high 14 points.
-
For the ninth straight-game sophomore guard Elise Williams posted double-figure points and helped set the tone coming out of the halftime interval.
-
In the third, she posted 11 of her 13 points, leading the Deacs to 57 percent shooting in the quarter and Wake Forest started the quarter on a 12-0 run to swing momentum back in its favor. The Deacs led nearly the entire remaining part of the game.
-
-
In both matchups, the Deacs held the Hurricanes to the season lows in scoring. Additionally, Wake Forest has held the eight teams to 55 points or less in the last 17 games and 61 or less in 14 of the last 17 games.
SERIES HISTORY
Versus Florida State
Series: Florida State leads 33-19
Last: Jan. 9, 2022
Result: L, 87-46
-
The Demon Deacons and the Seminoles split the season series after Wake Forest claimed a come-from-behind home victory in late December. Additionally, this marked the second consecutive season the Deacs and Noles have split the regular season series.
-
Wake Forest was led by double-figure points from sophomore guard Jewel Spear and senior forward Christina Morra on Sunday.
-
Both Morra and Spear ended the afternoon with 10 points with Morra finishing 5-of-8 from the floor.
-
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 89th percentile country, assisting on 62.2 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.
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 21st on Sunday. She needs 22 points to tie Corinne Groves (2005-09) for 20th:
|
Rank |
Player |
Career Points |
|
16. |
Alice Neal (1985-89) |
1,214 |
|
17. |
Alex Tchangoue (2005-09) |
1,212 |
|
18. |
Barbara Durham (1979-83) |
1,203 |
|
19. |
Sandra Garcia (2009-13) |
1,201 |
|
20. |
Corinne Groves (2005-09) |
1,194 |
|
T21. |
Beth Davis (1988-91) |
1,172 |
|
T21. |
Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.) |
1,172 |
|
23. |
Alex Sharp (2016-20) |
1,149 |
|
24. |
Raeanna Mulholland (1993-97) |
1,110 |
|
25. |
Secily Ray (2008-12) |
1,099 |
|
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 and became the third player in program history to reach 200 threes at Virginia Tech and is 50 threes away from moving into second in program history:
|
Rank |
Player |
Career Threes |
|
1. |
Cotelia Bond Young (2003-06) |
267 |
|
2. |
Chelsea Douglas (2010-14) |
257 |
|
3. |
Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.) |
207 |
|
4. |
Nicole Levesque (1991-94) |
193 |
|
5. |
Heidi Coleman (1995-99) |
191 |
|
6. |
Lakevia Boykin (2009-13) |
167 |
OWNING THE ARC
The trio of senior Olivia Summiel, 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 112-of-296 attempts from distance or 37.8 percent. Spear has hit 59-of-153 (39.4 percent), Summiel has knocked down 25-of-66 (37.9 percent) and Williams has hit 28-of-77 (36.4 percent).
Spear leads the conference with 59 three pointers made (20th nationally) and 2.81 threes made per game (25th nationally). Additionally, she is one of just three players in program history to reach 200 career threes, achieving the milestone on Sunday against Virginia Tech.
On the defensive side of the floor, Wake Forest is limiting opponents to just 27.3 percent shooting from behind the arc, ranking 30th in the country.
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 6.7 threes per game over their first 22 games. This also ranks 110th nationally:
|
Rank |
Team |
Threes Made Per Game |
|
1. |
Virginia Tech |
7.7 |
|
2. |
Florida St. |
7.4 |
|
T3. |
Wake Forest |
6.7 |
|
T3. |
North Carolina |
6.7 |
|
5. |
Clemson |
6.4 |
BLOCKAGE
Olivia Summiel a block against Miami Sunday. She now ranks 44th nationally with 33 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. Additionally, Summiel is now two blocks away from entering the top 10 in single-season program history.
Her 1.48 blocks per game also rank third in the ACC and 65th nationally.
As a team, the Deacs have blocked 3.8 shots per game which is close to a school record and ranks 87th nationally. The school record was set in 2010-11 when that squad averaged 4.3 blocks per game.
UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons return home for the second matchup against Clemson this season as they look to even the season series Sunday afternoon.
For those who are unable to attend on Thursday night, the game can be seen on ACC Network with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
