Deacs Look to Continue Winning Ways at Home

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After winning two of the last three, the Wake Forest women's basketball look to continue their winning way at home on Sunday against Clemson.

The Deacs (13-10, 4-8 ACC) will look to secure their hold in the ACC standings as they are currently in a tie for 10th along with Clemson and Boston College. With a Demon Deacons win and a loss from Syracuse, Wake Forest would be tied for ninth in the standings. The ninth place team earns a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. At home in conference play, the Deacs hold a 4-1 record with the lone loss coming to a top-20 Duke team. Overall at home this season, Wake Forest holds a 10-1 record and has held every opponent to 61 points or less this season and only one ACC opponent has reached 60 points at the Joel this season.

The Tigers (13-11, 4-8 ACC) enter the game on a three-game slide after falling at home to Miami in overtime on Thursday night. On the road, Clemson has claimed two of the last three in conference play with wins at Pitt and Boston College. The Tigers come into the game at No. 66 in the latest NET rankings. Clemson thrives off forcing turnovers ranking second in the ACC and 39th nationally with 10.0 steals per game while ranking 58th nationally and fourth in the conference with an average of 18.79 turnovers forced per game.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. (ET) at LJVM Coliseum. For those not at the arena, fans can tune in to ACC Network. A live stats feed can be found here.

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

NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
Sunday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum the Demon Deacons will be hosting their annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day game. Arrive early to meet, learn and participate with other Wake Forest women's athletic teams on the concourse as they will show off their skills and demonstrate lessons for their specific sport.

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

Family Four packs will also be on sale. The package includes 4 tickets to the game and 4 popcorn vouchers for just $24.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Demon Deacons have been spectacular at home this season, holding a 10-1 record with the lone loss coming to a nationally-ranked Duke team. 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.	2022-23	10	1	90.9 pct.
2.	1987-88	11	2	84.6 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.
6.	1989-90	10	4	71.4 pct.
7.	2016-17	12	5	70.6 pct.
8.	2011-12	14	6	70.0 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 51.9 points per game. Additionally, only Coastal Carolina (61 points) and Duke (60 points) have scored more than 60 points in the Joel this season. Opponents are shooting just 35.2 percent from the field and just 27.0 percent from the three-point line. In the last three games against Miami, Louisville and Georgia Tech, Wake Forest has held them to a combined 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) from behind the arc with Louisville and Miami managing just one make each.

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.)
Total	5 GP	11-of-50 (22.0 pct.)

On the offensive end of the floor over that three-game stretch, the Demon Deacons have gone 20-of-53 (37.7 percent) from three, averaging 6.7 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 19.6 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and an eye-popping 46.7 percent from behind the arc (35-of-75).

The Deacs also have a high assist rate at home, averaging 15.2 assist per game while assisting on 65.0 percent of their made baskets.

TOP-55 DEFENSE

Through 23 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 58.5 points allowed per game, ranking 55th 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 38.7 percent shooting from the field and just 27.8 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 116th in the nation, the Deacs also rank 74th with 3.9 blocks per game and the three-point defense ranks 39th. The Deacs have achieved a block on 9.7 percent of possessions this season, the fifth-highest rate in the Her Hoops Stats era (2009-10 to present).

Over the last 18 games, the Demon Deacons have been playing their best defense of the season, holding 14 of 18 opponents to 61 points or less and eight opponents in that stretch to less than 55 points.

Over the last eight ACC games, Wake Forest has forced 15.9 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. Florida State (Feb. 2)

Result: L, 72-44

This ended the two-game winning streak for the Deacs which coming into the game was the third-longest streak in the conference.
Wake Forest had a balanced scoring effort with junior guard Jewel Spear leading the way offensively. All but one of the 10 Demon Deacons who played found the score column.
- Spear ended the night with 11 points including going a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Sophomore guard Elise Williams had another strong game for the Demon Deacons, recording a career-best seven steals in the game to go along with nine points. This ended her nine-game streak of scoring in double figures.
- The seven steals marked the most by a Wake Forest player since Amber Campbell tallied seven in a 61-50 victory over Miami on Jan. 7, 2018.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Clemson

Series: Clemson leads 54-26

Last: Jan. 1, 2023

Result: L, 60-59

Summiel had an impressive performance to lead the Demon Deacons, totaling 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. She led the Deacs in rebounds, assists, blocks and steals in the loss to the Tigers.
- This marks the first time since Ivana Raca on Nov. 20, 2020 in a win over Missouri State that a Demon Deacon has had that many points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in a single game. Additionally, this is just the fifth time since 2009-10 that a Deac has finished with such a statline.
Sophomore guard Elise Williams finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field while senior guard Kaia Harrison posted eight points on 3-of-5 from the field.

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 90th percentile country, assisting on 62.4 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 11 points to tie Corinne Groves (2005-09) for 20th and could move into the top 16 with a 31-point performance:

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
21.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,183
22.	Beth Davis (1988-91)	1,172
23.	Alex Sharp (2016-20)	1,149
24.	Raeanna Mulholland (1993-97)	1,110
25.	Secily Ray (2008-12)	1,099

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 49 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.)	208
4.	Nicole Levesque (1991-94)	193
5.	Heidi Coleman (1995-99)	191

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 116-of-317 attempts from distance or 36.6 percent. Spear has hit 60-of-163 (36.8 percent), Summiel has knocked down 26-of-73 (35.6 percent) and Williams has hit 30-of-81 (37.0 percent).

Spear leads the conference with 60 three pointers made (26th nationally) and 2.73 threes made per game (30th nationally). Additionally, she is one of just three players in program history to reach 200 career threes, achieving the milestone against Virginia Tech.

On the defensive side of the floor, Wake Forest is limiting opponents to just 27.8 percent shooting from behind the arc, ranking 39th 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 23 games. This also ranks 110th nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	7.7
2.	Florida St.	7.3
T3.	Wake Forest	6.7
T3.	North Carolina	6.5
5.	Clemson	6.4

BLOCKAGE

Olivia Summiel a block against Miami Sunday. She now ranks 43rd nationally with 36 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 tied for ninth 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
7.	Ona Udoh	2018-19	41
8.	Jenny Mitchell	1989-90	40
T9.	Olivia Summiel	2022-23	36
T9.	Dearica Hamby	2012-13	36
T9.	Ona Udoh	2017-18	36

Her 1.57 blocks per game also rank third in the ACC and 58th nationally.

As a team, the Deacs have blocked 3.9 shots per game which is close to a school record and ranks 74th nationally. The school record was set in 2010-11 when that squad averaged 4.3 blocks per game. Additionally, Wake Forest's 90 blocks this season are just 11 away from cracking the top 10 in Demon Deacon single-game history.

UP NEXT

The Demon Deacons remain home for a Big-4 clash against NC State Thursday night at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Wolfpack go into Sunday ranked at No. 15 in the latest AP poll.

For those who are unable to attend on Thursday night, the game can be seen on ACC Network with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.

Wake Forest Athletics

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Kaia Harrison

Ivana Raca

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Jewel Spear

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Ona Udoh

Elise Williams

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