Wake Forest University
17-16,5-13ACC
Morgan State
17-12,10-4MEAC
Demon Deacons Advance to Second Round of WNIT with a 26-Point Win
3/16/2023 9:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
With the victory, head coach Megan Gebbia became the winningest first-year head coach in program history.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind an all-around team effort, with 10 Demon Deacons scoring, the Wake Forest women's basketball team booked a spot in the second round of the WNIT with a 75-49 win over Morgan State inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Thursday night.
With the victory, head coach Megan Gebbia became the winningest first-year head coach in program history. The Demon Deacons (17-16) went 28-for-55 (50.9 percent) from the floor, the highest percentage of the season and the highest since Nov. 27, 2021 against UMBC.
From behind the line, the Deacs hit 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from beyond-the-arc in the dominant 26-point victory. Over 30 percent of the scoring from the Deacs came in the fourth quarter, as they went 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the floor for 25 points.
Wake Forest dominated inside for the entirety of the contest, as it outrebounded Morgan State (17-12), 34-21, and tacked on 18 second chance points. Additionally, the Deacs outscored the Bears, 38-14, in the paint. Additionally, the Deacs were plus-13 on the glass and claimed 16 offensive rebounds, resulting in 18 second-chance points.
Junior guard Jewel Spear led the way for Wake Forest with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 3-of-9 from three, the 11th time she has gone for 20 or more points this season. With Thursday's scoring output, Spear surpassed Jane Jackson (1977-80), Lisa Stockton (1982-86) and Liz Strunk (2002-06) to crack the top 10 in school history with 1,360 career points. She is now less than 450 points away from the all-time scoring record.
Junior forward Demeara Hinds finished with 16 points on an efficient 7-for-10 shooting and tied her career high with 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. This marks her second-career double-double and the sixth from a Demon Deacon this season.
Alyssa Andrews led the team with a career-high six assists in addition to 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. This is the first game she's led the team in assists, as she doubled her previous career-high of three.
The Demon Deacons earned the right to host the second round and will play Florida on Monday night at 6 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-
Morgan State opened the scoring 29 seconds into the contest as Charlene Shepherd canned a triple from the top of the key.
-
Wake Forest quickly responded as Demeara Hinds finished a layup on an assist from Olivia Summiel.
-
The Bears scored five unanswered behind a pullup jumper from Sedayjha Payne and a three from Ja'niah Henson.
-
Morgan State held an 8-2 lead at the 5:47 mark.
-
-
Hinds then went on a personal 5-0 run to pull the Deacs within one just a minute later.
-
The two sides traded field goals for the ensuing two minutes as Wake Forest held a 14-13 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the frame.
-
Morgan State scored consecutive field goals before a Jewel Spear jumper with four seconds left in the quarter closed the frame.
-
Wake Forest trailed 17-16 after 10 minutes of play.
-
The Deacs were led by Hinds in the opening period as she logged a game-high nine points and five rebounds.
-
Hinds shot an impressive 4-of-6 from the field for the quarter.
-
-
-
Spear and Elise Williams drained back-to-back trey's, giving the Demon Deacons a five point lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.
-
The two teams traded field goals, before a quick 4-0 Morgan State spurt pulled the Bears within one.
-
The Deacs then went on a 7-1 run to take a 32-25 lead with just over one minute remaining in the quarter.
-
-
Wake Forest owned a 32-27 advantage at the halftime break behind a combined 18 points from Hinds and Spear.
-
The Demon Deacons outrebounded the Bears, 17-11, in the first half.
-
Individually, Hinds led the charge with six boards.
-
-
-
Morgan State scored six unanswered to open the third quarter, but Wake Forest immediately responded with a 14-2 run.
-
Spear scored eight of the Demon Deacons' 14 points during the run.
-
Additionally, Hinds added a pair of layups.
-
-
Payne of Morgan State made a layup to narrow the Bears' deficit to nine with just over three minutes left in the third period.
-
Alyssa Andrews closed the third quarter scoring as she knocked down a triple from the right wing with six seconds left in the frame.
-
The Demon Deacons held a 49-38 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
-
After a Morgan State layup marked the first points of the fourth quarter, Wake Forest went on a 6-0 run.
-
The Bears responded with a triple but Alexandria Scruggs drained one of her own 25 seconds later.
-
Scruggs' three sparked a 9-0 Demon Deacon run.
-
-
-
Wake Forest owned a 64-43 lead with 4:12 remaining in the contest.
-
Over the final four minutes of the game, Wake Forest outscored Morgan State, 11-6, to earn the 75-49 victory.
STANDOUT STAT
-
With 20 points Thursday night, Jewel Spear surpassed Jane Jackson (1977-80), Lisa Stockton (1982-86) and Liz Strunk (2002-06) to crack the top 10 in school history with 1,360 career points.
-
This marks the 11th time this season The Colony, Texas native reached the 20-point mark in a game.
-
Of note, the junior guard leads the team in scoring this season, averaging 16.3 points per game.
-
-
-
Thursday's victory over Morgan State marked the second-straight season the Deacs have advanced to the second round of the WNIT after picking up a win over Akron in the first round last season.
FROM GEBBIA
"I felt like we started off a little slow, a little sluggish. We started to press to get ourselves back into the intensity of game speed, which really helped us. In the second half, it slowed the game down a little bit in the first half and then we started to get some steals and hit some big shots. Demeara carried us in that first quarter, which was important. When you need to get easy baskets, they stepped up to the table and scored when we needed them to score. Morgan State came out ready to play. They hit shots. They were making a lot of shots and that's credit to them and their preparation for us. In the fourth quarter, we just started to breathe a little bit, relax, and it just seemed that everything was flowing a little bit better when we got to the second half. We talked about coming out of halftime because our last game in the third quarter was not fun coming out of that third quarter. We wanted to make sure we changed that and they locked in and it was nice to be able to get some of the bench in towards the end of the game." - head coach Megan Gebbia
NEXT UP
Wake Forest will now host Florida in the second round of the WNIT on Monday, March 20 at 6:00 p.m. inside Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.
