Sunday, January 21
Winston-Salem, N.C.
2:00 p.m.
Wake Forest University
4-15,0-7ACC
56
vs
75
Notre Dame
14-3,5-2ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Notre Dame
21
24
12
18
75
Wake Forest
14
19
11
12
56
Wake Forest Drops Sunday Matchup Versus No. 19 Notre Dame
1/21/2024 4:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Malaya Cowles led the Deacs offensively during the home outing while Alyssa Andrews joined her in double figures.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Stepping into its fourth test of the conference season versus a nationally-ranked opponent, Wake Forest women's basketball (4-15, 0-7) hosted No. 19 Notre Dame (14-3, 5-2) on Sunday afternoon inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Demon Deacons made a handful of gritty plays, especially on the defensive end, before ultimately suffering a 75-56 defeat.
Redshirt sophomore forward Malaya Cowles had another efficient showing, posting a team-high 13 points and making all but one of her field goal attempts (6-of-7). Wilkesboro, N.C. native has now scored 12 or more points in three of her last four appearances.
She continued her impressive play shooting percentage at home. Cowles holds a .675 shooting percentage (52-of-77) while inside LJVM Coliseum this season.
Junior guard Alyssa Andrews finished with double-figures in scoring as well, totaling 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (66.7 percent). Sunday included her highest point total versus a conference opponent thus far in 2023-24 and third double-figure game overall.
Fellow junior guard Elise Williams did a bit of everything to finish with nine points, five rebounds (team high), five assists and two steals. This was coming off a historic 14-10-7 performance on Thursday night at Boston College.
Graduate guard Alexandria Scruggs scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while grabbing three rebounds with all of her points coming in the first half. Making her first collegiate start, freshman guard Rylie Theuerkauf chipped in four points and two steals.
Wake Forest forced 16 turnovers by the Fighting Irish for the afternoon, as three Deacs collected two steals apiece. All nine of the Demon Deacons that played scored, seven grabbed at least one rebound and six had at least one assist.
An exciting season awaits at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the Wake Forest women's basketball team! There is no better time than now to become a season ticket holder and support your Demon Deacons at home this season.
Along with your purchase of a $60 season ticket package this season there are many added benefits exclusive only to those who buy season tickets.
How It Happened
"I am pleased with how we played for the most part. We gave up too many points in the first half but we did a great job holding them down in the second half. We dared them to shoot the three and they made them. They hit double the amount they normally do. We did a good job of forcing them to turn the ball over especially in the third quarter. Alyssa played really well today on both ends of the floor. We need to capitalize more on our forced turnovers and that would have gotten us right there going into the third quarter. Malaya played really well today on both ends. We needed to just hold them down shooting percentage wise. I am proud of how we fought all the way through this game and we need to just build on what has been a great four day stretch for us in these two games and during practice. I see us getting better and, if we keep bringing it, we will start to see the results come. We have a bye going into Sunday and I am looking forward to a good week of preparation going into that one." - Megan Gebbia
Next Up
The Demon Deacons will be off for a week before returning to the court on Jan. 28 when Wake Forest travels to Clemson for the first of two matchups against the Tigers this season.
The 6:00 p.m. tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum can also be seen on ACC Network.
Redshirt sophomore forward Malaya Cowles had another efficient showing, posting a team-high 13 points and making all but one of her field goal attempts (6-of-7). Wilkesboro, N.C. native has now scored 12 or more points in three of her last four appearances.
She continued her impressive play shooting percentage at home. Cowles holds a .675 shooting percentage (52-of-77) while inside LJVM Coliseum this season.
Junior guard Alyssa Andrews finished with double-figures in scoring as well, totaling 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (66.7 percent). Sunday included her highest point total versus a conference opponent thus far in 2023-24 and third double-figure game overall.
Fellow junior guard Elise Williams did a bit of everything to finish with nine points, five rebounds (team high), five assists and two steals. This was coming off a historic 14-10-7 performance on Thursday night at Boston College.
Graduate guard Alexandria Scruggs scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while grabbing three rebounds with all of her points coming in the first half. Making her first collegiate start, freshman guard Rylie Theuerkauf chipped in four points and two steals.
Wake Forest forced 16 turnovers by the Fighting Irish for the afternoon, as three Deacs collected two steals apiece. All nine of the Demon Deacons that played scored, seven grabbed at least one rebound and six had at least one assist.
An exciting season awaits at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the Wake Forest women's basketball team! There is no better time than now to become a season ticket holder and support your Demon Deacons at home this season.
Along with your purchase of a $60 season ticket package this season there are many added benefits exclusive only to those who buy season tickets.
How It Happened
- After collecting an early steal, Elise Williams found Alexandria Scruggs for a layup in transition.
- The scoreboard was tied at 2-2 after two minutes of action.
- Notre Dame responded with a 5-0 run through the next 90 seconds.
- Freshman guard Madisyn Jordan was the first Deac to sub in – checking into the contest with 6:17 on the clock in the opening period.
- Making her first collegiate start, freshman Rylie Theuerkauf next swished in a pull-up jumper for Wake Forest's second basket.
- At the first media timeout, the Demon Deacons trailed 8-4.
- Williams scored her first points of the afternoon on a driving layup, with her squad trailing 11-6.
- Alyssa Andrews followed with a pull-up near the charity stripe and Williams netted a triple.
- Notre Dame held a 15-11 lead at the time with 2:48 to go in the first.
- Scruggs then converted a traditional three-point play, as Wake Forest made four consecutive field goals in just under two minutes.
- At the conclusion of the first quarter, the Fighting Irish led 21-14.
- Theuerkauf opened the second frame with a strong drive to the rim from the right side.
- An up-and-under finish by Malaya Cowles cut the deficit to 25-18 at the 8:12 mark.
- The forward made a nice find to Scruggs under the rim for an easy lay-in before Kaia Harrison scooped a steal to finish in the open floor.
- An up-and-under finish by Malaya Cowles cut the deficit to 25-18 at the 8:12 mark.
- Notre Dame connected on three straight shots but Wake Forest stayed close by, 30-22, with 5:48 remaining in the second.
- A 7-0 run bumped the visitors' advantage to 34-22.
- Jordan put an end to the surge with a mid-range jumper, followed by a Katie Deeble layup.
- Williams drew a shooting foul right before the media timeout.
- Wake Forest trailed 39-27 with 3:11 to go in the second quarter.
- Williams made both of her tries at the free-throw line fresh out of the break.
- The Deacs held Notre Dame to a two-minute scoring drought before the latter earned two free throws.
- The Fighting Irish scored six in a row before Williams hit a stepback jumper just before time expired in the first half.
- Wake Forest trailed 45-33 at the break.
- The team posted a 51.9 field goal percentage for the first two periods, knocking in 14 of 27 field goal attempts.
- Williams led with a team-high nine points and three rebounds. Scruggs chipped in seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
- A pick-and-roll connection between Williams and Cowles started the third-quarter scoring.
- With 7:14 on the board, a pair of Notre Dame free throws extended the team's lead to 49-35.
- Cowles cleaned up an offensive putback to put the Deacons back in the scoring column during the very next possession.
- Back-to-back trey balls gave the Fighting Irish a 57-38 edge, leading into a Deacon timeout with four minutes to go in the third.
- Raegyn Conley had a nice defensive sequence of a block and steal before making a trip to the line for two free throws.
- The Deacon defense forced five turnovers in just under three minutes, as Andrews finished a basket under the rim.
- Harrison shifted her way into the lane for an off-hand finish as the clock winded down.
- Wake Forest was able to get one additional stop right before the third-quarter buzzer sounded, down 57-44.
- The Deacs were able to hold Notre Dame scoreless for the final four minutes and 11 seconds of the frame, along with finishing on a 6-0 push.
- Some back-and-forth actions opened up the fourth, with Notre Dame staying in front, 62-46, after three minutes.
- Cowles reached 11 points on a made free throw.
- She finished a nice feed from Harrison shortly afterward, and Andrews then rang in a three from the right wing.
- Notre Dame took a timeout with 4:18 left, still ahead, 65-52.
- Both sides mainly earned free throws through the next couple of minutes, as Harrison made one with 2:27 to play.
- Andrews sunk her second triple of the day, this time from the left corner, for her tenth point at the 1:46 mark.
- Wake Forest fell, 75-56.
- Defensively, the Demon Deacons forced double-digit turnovers for the 30th time in the last 31 games, with the lone game coming against Syracuse on Jan. 11.
- The 30 game stretch goes back to January of 2022.
- In total, the Deacs forced 16 turnovers by Notre Dame, as five Wake Forest individuals picked up a steal, along with three players finishing with two apiece.
- The Demon Deacons recorded 12 assists on 22 made baskets (55 percent) versus the Fighting Irish.
- Wake Forest has had 10 or more assists on 15 separate occasions this season.
- Malaya Cowles led the way with a team-high 13 points and has now scored 12 or more points in three of her last four appearances.
- Versus No. 19 Notre Dame (1/21/24) – 13 points
- At Boston College (1/18/24) – 12 points
- Versus Syracuse (1/11/24) – 13 points
- Cowles holds a .675 shooting percentage (52-of-77) while inside LJVM Coliseum this season:
- 8-of-12 vs. Wofford
- 2-of-2 vs. NC A&T
- 10-of-13 vs. Villanova
- 2-of-4 vs. Texas A&M
- 9-of-13 vs. Charlotte
- 3-of-9 vs. Norfolk State
- 5-of-5 vs. Marshall
- 1-of-2 vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech
- 6-of-11 vs. Syracuse
- 6-of-7 vs. No. 19 Notre Dame
- Alyssa Andrews contributed 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (66.7 percent) on Sunday – performance that featured her highest point total versus an ACC opponent thus far in 2023-24.
"I am pleased with how we played for the most part. We gave up too many points in the first half but we did a great job holding them down in the second half. We dared them to shoot the three and they made them. They hit double the amount they normally do. We did a good job of forcing them to turn the ball over especially in the third quarter. Alyssa played really well today on both ends of the floor. We need to capitalize more on our forced turnovers and that would have gotten us right there going into the third quarter. Malaya played really well today on both ends. We needed to just hold them down shooting percentage wise. I am proud of how we fought all the way through this game and we need to just build on what has been a great four day stretch for us in these two games and during practice. I see us getting better and, if we keep bringing it, we will start to see the results come. We have a bye going into Sunday and I am looking forward to a good week of preparation going into that one." - Megan Gebbia
Next Up
The Demon Deacons will be off for a week before returning to the court on Jan. 28 when Wake Forest travels to Clemson for the first of two matchups against the Tigers this season.
The 6:00 p.m. tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum can also be seen on ACC Network.
Team Stats
ND
WF
FG%
.519
.407
3FG%
.556
.211
FT%
.786
.727
RB
33
21
TO
16
13
STL
10
9
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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