Wake Forest to Start WNIT Against Morgan State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Postseason play is coming to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum! The Wake Forest women's basketball team is set to host Morgan State in the opening round of the WNIT Thursday night.

The Deacs (16-16) are postseason eligible for the fourth-consecutive season and will look to advance in WNIT play for the second-straight season after picking up a win over Akron in the first round last season. Wake Forest is coming off its third run to the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals in the last four seasons. In the run to the quarters, the Deacs picked up wins over Virginia and Florida State with the win over the Seminoles being the second-largest comeback in ACC Tournament history, erasing an 18-point deficit to win by double digits. Helping lead the Demon Deacons to two wins, junior guard Jewel Spear was named to the ACC All-Tournament team, the second time she has been named to the team.

The Bears (17-11) won their first 10 games in conference play and tied for second in the MEAC this season. In non-conference play, Morgan State played two ACC opponents, dropping contests to Boston College (75-34) and to Virginia (84-28). Coming into the tournament, the Bears have lost five of their last six games with the lone victory coming on senior day in the final regular season game against Coppin State, 57-49. This season Morgan State has been one of the better teams in the country on the defensive end of the floor, ranking 29th in the scoring defense (57.1 points per game), 15th in steals per game (10.8 per game), 11th in three-point defense (25.7 percent) and 11th in forced turnovers (20.57 per game).

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 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. You can also listen to the game on GoDeacs.com/Watch.

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

SUPPORT THE DEACS AT THE WNIT

Wake Forest fans, postseason returns to Winston-Salem and DEACTOWN on Thursday! All Wake Forest students, faculty and staff will receive free admission to the game with a valid ID.

WNIT tickets are on sale now and can be ordered online or by calling the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext 2 during normal business hours. All seats are lower level general admission; adults (age 19+) are $10 each, youth (age 2-18) are $5 each, and children one and under are free. The ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the LJVM Coliseum box office beginning 90 minutes prior to tipoff on gameday.

THE PATH TO POSTSEASON PLAY

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.

TOP DEFENSE

Through 32 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 59.8 points allowed per game. Wake Forest comes into Thursday ranked 70th nationally and fifth in the ACC in the category.

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 39.3 percent shooting from the field and just 27.3 percent shooting from behind the arc. The opponent shooting percentage ranks 134th in the nation, the Deacs also ranked 78th with 3.7 blocks per game and the three-point defense ranked 24th coming into the tournament. The three-point defense leads the ACC and ranks fifth among all Power-5 programs, trailing just South Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

The Deacs have achieved a block on 9.2 percent of possessions this season, the fifth-highest rate in the Her Hoops Stats era (2009-10 to present).

Over the last 27 games, the Demon Deacons have been playing their best defense of the season, holding 18 of 26 opponents to 61 points or less and 10 opponents in that stretch to less than 55 points.

Over the last 19 games against ACC opponents, Wake Forest has forced 14.6 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. Louisville (March 3)

Result: L, 74-48

Sophomore guard Elise Williams had a memorable tournament performance against the Cardinals. She netted 12 of the first 15 points for the Demon Deacons. Williams, a Raleigh, N.C. native, ended the afternoon with 16 points in the game. She also led the team in rebounding, posting 10 boards. It was her second double-double in the last five games, also recording a double-double in the penultimate home game of the regular season against No. 23 Florida State.
Along with Williams, Spear finished with double-figure points, something she has done in all seven of her ACC Tournament games. With 15 points in the defeat, the Colony, Texas native now has 133 points in the tournament in her three seasons at Wake Forest.

SERIES HISTORY

Versus Morgan State

Series: Wake Forest leads 4-0

Last: Jan. 11, 2006

Result: W – 83-33

The Demon Deacons have dominated the series with all four games coming in Winston-Salem over the years. The Deacs have won by 39 or more points in the four wins and the average margin of victory has been 48.0 points in those games.
Overall against MEAC opponents, Wake Forest is 42-7 against the conference all-time. The last matchup came last season when the Deacs defeated South Carolina State, 94-40.

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 79th percentile country, assisting on 59.1 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 13th during the ACC Tournament. She needs two points to move into the top 12 and 12 points to move into the top 10 in program history:

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.	Jewel Spear (2020-Pres.)	1,340
14.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	1,309
15.	Elisa Penna (2015-19)	1,269

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 23 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.)	234
4.	Nicole Levesque (1991-94)	193
5.	Heidi Coleman (1995-99)	191

OWNING THE ARC

Junior guard Jewel Spear ranks second in the conference with 86 three pointers made (19th nationally) and with 2.77 threes made per game (22nd nationally). Additionally, her 86 threes this season ranks in the top five in single-season program history:

Rank	Player	Year	Threes Made
1.	Cotelia Bond-Young	2004-05	97
2.	Jewel Spear	2021-22	90
T3.	Jewel Spear	2022-23	86
T3.	Chelsea Douglas	2013-14	86
5.	Cotelia Bond-Young	2005-06	85

Overall as a team, this has been one of the best three-point shooting years in program history, knocking down a 210 threes which is third in program history:

Rank	Threes Made	Season
1.	275	2004-05
2.	215	2005-06
3.	210	2022-23
4.	195	2021-22
5.	179	2008-09

On the defensive side of the floor, Wake Forest is limiting opponents to just 27.3 percent shooting from behind the arc, ranking 24th in the country. This leads the ACC and ranks fifth among all Power-5 programs, trailing just South Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

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 6.6 threes per game over their first 32 games. This also ranks 119th nationally:

Rank	Team	Threes Made Per Game
1.	Virginia Tech	7.8
2.	Florida St.	7.0
3.	Wake Forest	6.6
4.	Clemson	6.3
5.	North Carolina	6.2

BLOCKAGE

Olivia Summiel recorded four blocks against nationally-ranked Florida State in the ACC Tournament. She now ranks 60th nationally with 45 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. Additionally, Summiel is now fourth 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.	Olivia Summiel	2022-23	45
5.	Meki Valentine	2007-08	44

Her 1.45 blocks per game also rank third in the ACC and 70th nationally.

As a team, the Deacs have blocked 3.8 shots per game which is close to a school record and ranks 78th nationally. The school record was set in 2010-11 when that squad averaged 4.3 blocks per game. Additionally, Wake Forest's 120 blocks this season now ranks in the top five in Demon Deacon single-season history and is currently the fourth-highest total in program history:

Rank	Block Total	Season
1.	136	2010-11
2.	132	2015-16
3.	130	2017-18
4.	120	2022-23
5.	118	2011-12

UP NEXT

The winner of the game will face the winner of Florida (16-14) or Wofford (22-9). They tipoff at 6 p.m. Thursday with the location, date and time of the second round game being determined following the conclusion of all first round games.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaia Harrison

Jewel Spear

Olivia Summiel

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics