Wake Forest University
15-15,5-13ACC
Virginia
15-15,4-14ACC
Deacs Hold Off Virginia, Advance to Second Round of ACC Tournament
3/1/2023 3:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
This marks the fourth-consecutive year the Deacs have advanced in the tournament and are set to take on No. 5 seed Florida State Thursday.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Powered by an explosive third quarter, the Wake Forest women's basketball team earned a spot in the second round of the ACC Tournament for the fourth-consecutive season with a 68-57 win over Virginia Wednesday afternoon inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons (15-15) used a 28-point third quarter to build a 15-point lead before the final frame. As a team, the Deacs went 11-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-6 from beyond-the-arc in the third, including eight points from junior guard Jewel Spear.
Spear finished the contest with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting in addition to three rebounds and a pair of assists. This marks the 15th time The Colony, Texas native has eclipsed 15 points in a game this season.
Wake Forest outscored Virginia (15-15), 34-22, inside the paint. Additionally, the Deacs added 23 points off 16 forced turnovers, including 11 points off turnovers in the third quarter. The Demon Deacons have now forced 15 or more turnovers in 14 different games this season.
Sophomore guard Elise Williams finished an all-around performance with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, four steals, three rebounds and three assists. This marks the 13th time this season she has led the Deacs in assists and 12th time for steals.
Junior forward Demeara Hinds fell just two points shy of her second career double-double as she finished a dominant performance in the paint with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Virginia opened the scoring at the 9:34 mark as Camryn Taylor canned a triple from the left wing.
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Taylor then knocked down 1-of-2 free throws, giving the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead one minute into the contest.
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Senior Kaia Harrison then scored consecutive baskets to even the ledger less than a minute later.
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Wake Forest took its first lead of the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening frame as Spear finished a layup.
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Spear's layup sparked a 12-0 Demon Deacon run, which gave the Deacs a 16-4 lead.
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Spear and Williams combined for 10 of the Deacs' 12 points during the five-minute span.
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Additionally, Alexandria Scruggs added a layup during the run.
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Virginia snapped its near seven-minute scoring drought as London Clarkson finished a layup.
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The Demon Deacons quickly responded as Niyah Becker drained a three from the top of the key less than 30 seconds later.
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Wake Forest held a 19-8 lead after 10 minutes of action behind a game-high six points from Spear.
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Defensively, the Deacs held the Cavaliers to only 21.4 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
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Wake Forest's first quarter defensive performance marked only the eighth time this season Virginia has been held to single digits in a quarter.
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Alexia Smith of Virginia scored the first points of the second quarter as she drove to the basket and made a layup with her right.
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After Taylor Valladay of Virginia scored a field goal to bring the Cavaliers within seven, Williams finished a layup and Spear knocked down a mid-range jumper to extend the Deacs' lead to double-digits.
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A Scruggs free throw 50 seconds later extended the Deacs' lead to 12 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.
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Virginia went on an ensuing 7-0 run to cut its deficit to five but a pair of Williams free throws and a Scruggs layup gave Wake Forest a nine point cushion with 90 seconds left in the frame.
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The Cavaliers closed the first half on a 6-0 run, making it a three point game heading into the intermission.
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Wake Forest owned a 28-25 lead after 20 minutes of action.
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Defensively, the Deacs forced 10 turnovers in the first half.
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The Demon Deacons were led in the score column by Spear and Williams as they combined for 16 points.
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After a jumper from Smith of Virginia opened the second half scoring, Wake Forest went on a 9-0 run behind baskets from Spear, Summiel, Hinds and Williams.
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Clarkson of Virginia made a free throw to stop the Cavaliers' scoring drought, but the Deacs responded with an ensuing 7-0 run as Hinds made consecutive layups and Williams canned a triple.
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A three from Olivia Summiel and a layup from Scruggs gave Wake Forest a 21-point lead with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
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Virginia responded with an 11-1 run, narrowing its deficit to 11.
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Spear went on a personal 6-0 run over a 20-second span to give Wake Forest a 17-point lead but a last-second layup from the Cavaliers narrowed the Deacs' advantage to 15 at the end of the third quarter.
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Wake Forest owned a 56-41 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
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Virginia came out aggressive in the fourth quarter, going on a 14-4 run over the first five minutes of the frame.
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The Demon Deacons held a 61-55 advantage with just over four minutes left.
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With under two minutes remaining, Scruggs extended the Demon Deacon advantage to seven with a two-point jumper off an assist from Williams.
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Spear and Williams combined for four free throws over the final 58 seconds to secure the 68-57 Wake Forest victory.
STANDOUT STAT
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With Wednesday's opening round victory over Virginia, Wake Forest has now advanced in each of the last four ACC Tournaments. The Deacs own a 5-3 record over the past four years in ACC Tournament action and are allowing only 61.8 points per game defensively in those contests.
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Over the past three seasons, Jewel Spear has averaged 18.8 points per game in the ACC tournament, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field over five games.
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FROM GEBBIA
"We talked about alot in the locker room. We needed to execute in order to win the game at both ends of the floor. And we have been moving towards that in the month of February and it didn't really turn out to season W's. We were really focused today. We're able to execute both ends. As a collective, we made some plays. We really needed to make some plays. We came out of the locker room in the third quarter, we were able to score in different ways, which was nice. And then differently kind of held on to the lead in the fourth quarter. We did talk about taking some better shots earlier into shot clock in the fourth quarter and, we're a team that's growing and getting better every day. We'll take this game and we'll learn from it and hopefully perform better demand." - head coach Megan Gebbia
NEXT UP
The Deacs will now face No. 5 seed Florida State (23-8, 12-6 ACC) at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
All games through the semifinal round will be broadcast on ACC Network.
