Deacs Selected to Women’s NIT Field
3/12/2023 9:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Demon Deacons will learn their first round opponent, location and playing date Monday morning.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest women's basketball team was selected to the Women's National Invitational Tournament and will find out its first round opponent, location and playing date Monday morning.
The Demon Deacons are postseason eligible for the fourth consecutive season and in head coach Megan Gebbia's first season the Deacs have tied the most wins coming out of the ACC Tournament since the 2015-16 season.
"I am excited for this group who earned the right to play more basketball this season," Coach Gebbia said. "We have been close to taking that next step as a program and last week at the ACC Tournament really showed what this team is capable of doing. Being able to play in the postseason is always a privilege and having an opportunity to compete for a championship is something I know this group is looking forward to. We are thankful to the WNIT selection committee for their invitation and we are ready to get going this week."
Coming off a run to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, this is the third time in the last four years that the Demon Deacons have reached the quarterfinal round. The senior class for the Deacs is now 6-4 at the tournament during their time at Wake Forest. The two wins also match the most wins in the tournament in program history.
Additionally in three of the last four seasons, Wake Forest has been the highest seed left in the tournament. The Deacs are the only double-digit seed to make the quarterfinal round twice in the last two years and only one other school has done so once.
The run included a historic 20-point comeback effort over Florida State and it was the second-largest halftime comeback in ACC Tournament history, holding the Seminoles to just 16.6 percent shooting in the second half to win by double digits. The Demon Deacons were led by ACC All-Tournament team honoree in junior Jewel Spear, who led the Deacs in scoring in the wins over Virginia and Florida State.
Spear, who was a preseason All-ACC selection, was also named to the All-ACC Second Team heading into the tournament, marking the second-straight year she has been named as an All-ACC honoree.
The Demon Deacons season on the court was highlighted by a number of memorable victories including back-to-back home wins over NCAA Tournament teams in Louisville and Miami in late January. The Deacs made Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum into a fortress this season, finishing the regular season with an 11-4 mark including six wins in ACC play. The record at home is the sixth-best winning percentage in program history and if the Deacs are chosen to host they will have the chance to move up that list.
Additionally in non-conference action, Wake Forest went on the road and claimed a win over Minnesota in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge while also grabbing wins over NCAA Tournament qualifier ECU and WNIT qualifiers High Point and Rhode Island.
