Deacs Conclude Regular Season on Senior Day

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Holding a record of 11-3 inside of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum this season, the Wake Forest women's basketball team looks to close out the regular season with a win against Boston College on Senior Day Sunday.

The Deacs (14-14, 5-12 ACC) are in 11th place in the ACC standings entering Sunday afternoon with a chance to solidify their spot heading into the conference tournament. Wake Forest is 13-4 against the Eagles in the last 17 matchups, owning a 6-2 record at home over that period. Additionally, a sixth ACC win would give Megan Gebbia the most by a first-year head coach in program history. No Wake Forest coach has reached six wins in conference play until at least their third year on campus. Currently, Gebbia has the third-most overall wins by a first-year head coach in program history and is three away from the program record of 17 wins.

The Eagles (14-16, 4-13 ACC) are currently on a six-game slide with their last win coming against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jan. 29. Currently, the Eagles sit at No. 13 in the conference standings and have the possibility to finish anywhere from No. 11 to No. 15 depending on results around the league in the ACC on Sunday. Offensively, the Eagle boast four double-digit scorers within their small rotation of players with junior guard Dontavia Waggoner leading the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game and while also leading them in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game. Freshman guard Taina Mair has garnered multiple ACC Freshman of the Week honors this season, leading the league with 201 total assists and ranking second in the conference with 6.7 assists per game.

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).

SENIOR DAY

Help us pay tribute to an amazing senior class as we honor our five outstanding seniors on Sunday afternoon. Niyah Becker, Kaia Harrison, Mack Maier, Alexandria Scruggs and Olivia Summiel will be honored in our Senior Day ceremony prior to the game. Please arrive early to help us recognize the special group.

This group has accounted for 403 combined games played, 185 combined starts, 1,856 combined points, 1,280 combined rebounds, 462 combined assists and 8,088 combined minutes played in their Wake Forest careers.

Claim your spot for Sunday at GoDeacs.com/Tickets and be sure to arrive early.

UPCOMING ACC TOURNAMENT

Postseason play is here. Come make the short drive over to Greensboro for the annual ACC Tournament and support your Wake Forest women's basketball team.

Hosted at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the tournament will run through the championship game, which is set for noon (ET) on Sunday, March 5.

Purchase your tickets today and come cheer on the Deacs in Greensboro.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Demon Deacons have been spectacular at home this season, holding a 11-3 record with the lone losses coming to nationally-ranked Duke, nationally-ranked NC State and nationally-ranked Florida State. Wake Forest is looking to finish with one if it's best winning percentages at home in program history:

Rank	Season	Wins	Losses	Win Pct.
1.	1987-88	11	2	84.6 pct.
2.	2022-23	11	3	78.6 pct.
T3.	2008-09	15	5	75.0 pct.
T3.	1988-89	9	3	75.0 pct.
5.	2009-10	14	5	73.7 pct.

The Deacs defense has been great all season long, but it has gone to a different level in home games this season, holding opponents to just 53.4 points per game. Additionally, only Florida State (61) Coastal Carolina (61 points) and Duke (60 points) have scored more than 60 points in regulation at the Joel this season. Opponents are shooting just 35.6 percent from the field and just 23.9 percent from the three-point line. In the last five games against Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Louisville and Georgia Tech, Wake Forest has held them to a combined 9-of-66 (13.6 percent) from behind the arc with Florida State, Louisville and Miami managing just one make each. Additionally, the Deacs held No. 22 NC State without a three (0-of-10), marking the first time since Columbia on Jan. 4, 2010 that NC State was held to zero made three pointers. This ended a 434-game streak with a made triple for the Wolfpack.

Below are how ACC opponents have shot from three at the Joel this season:

Opponent	Date	Three Pointers
Pitt	Dec. 29, 2022	1-of-10 (10.0 pct.)
Duke	Jan. 5, 2023	6-of-14 (42.9 pct.)
Georgia Tech	Jan. 8, 2023	2-of-7 (28.6 pct.)
Louisville	Jan. 26, 2023	1-of-8 (12.5 pct.)
Miami	Jan. 29, 2023	1-of-11 (9.1 pct.)
Clemson	Feb. 5, 2023	4-of-17 (23.5 pct.)
NC State	Feb. 9, 2023	0-of-10 (0.0 pct.)
Florida State	Feb. 23, 2023	1-of-13 (7.7 pct.)
*Total*	*8 GP*	*16-of-90 (17.8 pct.)*

On the offensive end of the floor over that five-game stretch, the Demon Deacons have averaged 6.2 threes made per game. Additionally over the course of the home season, junior guard Jewel Spear has played her best basketball at home. She has averaged 19.0 points per game while shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from behind the arc (45-of-110).

The Deacs also have a high assist rate at home, averaging 13.6 assist per game while assisting on 60.3 percent of their made baskets.

TOP-55 DEFENSE

Through 28 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 59.1 points allowed per game, ranking 53rd nationally and fourth 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 39.1 percent shooting from the field and just 26.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 128th in the nation, the Deacs also rank 87th with 3.7 blocks per game and the three-point defense ranks 16th. The three-point defense leads the ACC and ranks third among all Power-5 programs, trailing just South Carolina and Ole Miss.

The Deacs have achieved a block on 9.1 percent of possessions this season, the fifth-highest rate in the Her Hoops Stats era (2009-10 to present).

Over the last 23 games, the Demon Deacons have been playing their best defense of the season, holding 16 of 22 opponents to 61 points or less and nine opponents in that stretch to less than 55 points.

Over the last 15 ACC games, Wake Forest has forced 14.8 turnovers including 20 in the win over Pitt, 20 in the win over Louisville, 19 in the win over Clemson and 19 against nationally-ranked Duke.

LAST TIME

Wake Forest vs. No. 23 Florida State (Feb. 23)

Result: L, 61-60

The Demon Deacons held the Seminoles to just 21-of-60 (35 percent) from the field which is over eight percent lower than their season average. Florida State was also limited to just one three on 13 attempts. ACC opponents are now shooting 17.7 percent from behind the arc inside of LJVM Coliseum this year, 16-of-90 from behind the arc.
- This was the first time since Jan. 20, 2019 that Florida State has been held to one or less three-point make in a game.
Elise Williams paced Wake Forest, as she finished her first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, leading the team in both categories. The sophomore guard scored nine of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. This is the eighth time this season Williams has led the team in scoring.
- Of note, her double-double is the fourth by a Demon Deacon this season and first in ACC play. Over the last two home games, Williams has tallied 23 rebounds, setting her career high in both games.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Boston College

Series: Wake Forest leads 13-7

Last: Feb. 20, 2022

Result: L, 82-70

During the comeback effort in the third, the Demon Deacons got 11 points from freshman guard Elise Williams, who was one of four Demon Deacons finishing in double figures.
This marked the fifth consecutive game Wake Forest has had four or more double-figure scorers. This was also the third game in that stretch that the Deacs have scored 70 or more points in a game.
- Williams and junior guard Kaia Harrison both finished the game with a team-best 15 points while sophomore guard Jewel Spear ended the night with 11 points and senior forward Christina Morra added 10 points with eight coming in the first half, pacing the Demon Deacons in the first 20 minutes.

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 81st percentile country, assisting on 59.7 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 continued to climb the rankings as she moved into 16th against No. 22 NC State. She needs 14 points to move into the top 15 and likely will finish the afternoon 14th overall:

Rank	Player	Career Points
10.	Liz Strunk (2002-06)	1,352
11.	Lisa Stockton (1982-86)	1,347
12.	Jane Jackson (1977-80)	1,342
13.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	1,309
14.	Elisa Penna (2015-19)	1,269
15.	Brittany Waters (2007-11)	1,267
16.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,264
17.	Alice Neal (1985-89)	1,214
18.	Alex Tchangoue (2005-09)	1,212
19.	Barbara Durham (1979-83)	1,203
20.	Sandra Garcia (2009-13)	1,201

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 35 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.)	222
4.	Nicole Levesque (1991-94)	193
5.	Heidi Coleman (1995-99)	191

OWNING THE ARC

Junior guard Jewel Spear ranks fourth in the conference with 74 three pointers made (26th nationally) and second in the conference with 2.74 threes made per game (27th nationally). Additionally, her 74 threes this season ranks in the top five in single-season program history.

Overall as a team, this has been one of the best three-point shooting years in program history, knocking down a 182 threes which ranks fourth in program history:

Rank	Threes Made	Season
1.	275	2004-05
2.	215	2005-06
3.	195	2021-22
4.	182	2022-23
5.	179	2008-09

On the defensive side of the floor, Wake Forest is limiting opponents to just 26.5 percent shooting from behind the arc, ranking 16th in the country. This leads the ACC and ranks third among all Power-5 programs, trailing just South Carolina and Ole Miss.

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 6.5 threes per game over their first 28 games. This also ranks 120th nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	7.9
2.	Florida St.	7.1
3.	Wake Forest	6.5
4.	North Carolina	6.2
T5.	Clemson	6.1
T5.	Syracuse	6.1

BLOCKAGE

Olivia Summiel recorded three blocks against nationally-ranked Florida State on Thursday. She now ranks 52nd nationally with 41 blocks on the season and her total already is the most by a Demon Deacon since the 2015-16 season when Milan Quinn had 49 blocks and Kandice Bell had 42 for the season. Additionally, Summiel is now tied for seventh in program history in blocks in a single season:

Rank	Player	Year	Total Blocks
1.	Lisa Dodd	1987-88	60
2.	Mekia Valentine	2006-07	50
3.	Milan Quinn	2015-16	49
4.	Meki Valentine	2007-08	44
5.	Lisa Dodd	1986-87	43
6.	Kandice Ball	2015-16	42
T7.	Olivia Summiel	2022-23	41
T7.	Ona Udoh	2018-19	41
9.	Jenny Mitchell	1989-90	40
T10.	Dearica Hamby	2012-13	36
T10.	Ona Udoh	2017-18	36

Her 1.46 blocks per game also rank third in the ACC and 70th nationally.

As a team, the Deacs have blocked 3.7 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. Additionally, Wake Forest's 104 blocks this season now ranks in the top 10 in Demon Deacon single-game history and is currently tied for the seventh-highest total in program history:

Rank	Block Total	Season
1.	136	2010-11
2.	132	2015-16
3.	130	2017-18
4.	118	2011-12
5.	116	2014-15
6.	109	2016-17
T7.	104	2022-23
T7.	104	2000-01
T9.	101	2006-07
T9.	101	2012-13
T9.	101	2013-14

UP NEXT

The Demon Deacons now enter postseason play. Going into Sunday Wake Forest held the No. 11 spot in the conference standings and are set to play in the opening round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday. The Deacs will either be in the No. 11 vs. No. 14 game which tips at 6:30 p.m. or the No. 12 vs. No. 13 game which tips at 1:00 p.m.

For those who are unable to attend on Wednesday, all games through the semifinal round will be broadcast on ACC Network.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Niyah Becker

Kaia Harrison

Mack Maier

Christina Morra

Alexandria Scruggs

Jewel Spear

Olivia Summiel

Ona Udoh

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics