Wake Forest Nets ACC High 79 Points in Defeat

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team came up on the losing end of a high-scoring affair, falling to Virginia, 87-79, Sunday afternoon at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Demon Deacons (4-20, 0-12 ACC) netted their second-highest point total of the season and their highest in ACC play this season. Additionally, the Deacs' 28 points in the fourth quarter was the second-highest total in ACC play this season with just 29 points in the third quarter against Virginia Tech being a higher total.

Virginia (12-12, 4-9 ACC) was forced into 17 turnovers, including nine in the second quarter, as the Deacs have now forced 10-or-more turnovers for the 34th time in the last 35 games, with the lone game coming against Syracuse on Jan. 11.

The Deacs were led by junior guard Elise Williams, who posted her third 20-point game of the season and second in the last three games, as she finished the contest with 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a season-high three steals. It also marked her 10th game this season with double-digit points and fifth time in ACC play. Of note, she entered the contest ranked ninth in the ACC in assists per game and now averages 3.9/game.

Redshirt freshman Kate Deeble posted her second-best scoring performance of the season and best since the opener against Wofford as she recorded 17 points, a team-high five assists and two steals. It marked her fourth double-digit scoring game of the season and third in ACC play. Fellow freshman guard Rylie Theuerkauf added 10 points of her own off the bench and set a career-high with three steals.

How It Happened

Virginia jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the first four minutes of action.
The two sides then exchanged field goals before a Kate Deeble triple brought the Demon Deacons to within three (12-9).
- The Cavaliers then went on a 10-2 run to close the opening frame.
Wake Forest trailed 22-11 after 10 minutes of play.
- The Deacs were led offensively by Deeble as she logged five points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field.
The Demon Deacons opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to even the ledger with 6:28 minutes remaining in the period.
- Rylie Theuerkauf, Alexandria Scruggs, Madisyn Jordan and Elise Williams all scored during the Deacs' spurt.
Virginia then responded with an ensuing 11-3 run to take an eight point lead.
The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter as the Cavaliers held a six point lead at the halftime break.
- Wake Forest trailed 38-32 after 20 minutes of action.
  - The Demon Deacons were led individually by Williams, who tallied 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Cavaliers started the third quarter on a 13-3 run, forcing a Wake Forest timeout at the 6:47 mark.
- Williams immediately drained a three coming out of the break in action.
Wake Forest and Virginia traded field goals for the remainder of the quarter.
The Deacs faced a 66-51 deficit, entering the final period.
- Williams recorded eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor in the third quarter.
The Demon Deacons went on an 8-2 run over the first two minutes of the fourth period.
At the 4:55 mark, Theuerkauf knocked down a three from the top of the key to force a Virginia timeout.
Williams knocked down a pair of free throws after a Virginia layup to keep it a seven-point game.
Deeble pick pocketed the opponent and went coast-to-coast with 56 seconds left to make it 68-76.
Williams and Deeble connected on back-to-back three pointers, but Virginia continued to knock down its free throws and kept a nine-point advantage with 36 seconds remaining.
After a pair of Deeble free throws, Williams closed out the scoring for Wake Forest with another triple with 10 seconds left.
The Cavaliers held on to win, 87-79.

Standout Stats

The Deacs went 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from beyond-the-arc against the Cavaliers.
- It marked the second-most made threes by Wake Forest this season and most in ACC play.
- Additionally, over the last four games the Demon Deacons have been on fire from deep, as the Deacs have shot a combined 33-of-79 (41.8 pct.) from behind the arc.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons forced double-digit turnovers for the 34th time in the last 35 games, with the lone game coming against Syracuse on Jan. 11.
- The 35-game stretch goes back to January of 2022.
- In total, the Deacs forced 17 turnovers against Virginia, tied for the third-most forced turnovers in an ACC game by Wake Forest this season.
Elise Williams finished an excellent all-around performance as she led the team with 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a season-high three steals.
- It was her third 20-point game of the season and second in the last three games.
  - It also marked her 10th game this season with double-digit points and fifth time in ACC play.

From Gebbia
"Elise and Katie had a great game tonight and had over 40 points and nine assists, collectively. Once we found a good lineup, we had good communication and were working well as a unit. We did not do what we needed on the defensive end of the floor tonight. I am happy with the steps we have taken to get better on the offensive end, but we won't win games when we have that kind of defensive result. We are too late in the season to have that kind of breakdown on that end of the floor. Those principles and habits happen in practice because this league is too good to not prepare every day like it's a game and that showed today. We can't come out flat and we have done that too many times. It happened twice today at the beginning of the game and to start the third quarter. We need to find our identity on defense because our tenacity and consistency on that defense is one of the cornerstones of our program. Luckily for us, we have the next two games here at home but we need good practices going into Thursday to be ready for a very good Florida State team." - Megan Gebbia

Next Up
The Demon Deacons continue their three-game homestand Thursday night as they play host to Florida State in the second game of the season against the Seminoles.

The 6:00 p.m. tipoff against the Blue Devils will also air on ACC Network Extra.

Next Event

Team Stats

Elise Williams

Kate Deeble

Rylie Theuerkauf

Kaia Harrison

Players Mentioned

Kate Deeble

Madisyn Jordan

Alexandria Scruggs

Rylie Theuerkauf

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics