Wake Forest Drops Home Clash With Florida State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On a night that helped spread breast cancer awareness in conjunction with the Kay Yow Foundation, the Demon Deacons honored fighters and survivors with both the Wake Forest women's basketball team and Florida State wearing special pink uniforms Thursday evening at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

In a competitive, four-quarter game, Wake Forest came out on the losing end against Florida State, 71-63.

The Demon Deacons (4-20, 0-12 ACC) dominated inside, as they outscored the Seminoles (12-12, 4-9 ACC) 40-to-26 inside the paint. Wake Forest also added 21 second-chance points off of 13 offensive rebounds.

Individually, the Deacs were led by junior guard Elise Williams, who finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting (2-of-4 from three), in addition to five rebounds, five assists and three steals. It marked her 11th game of the season with double-digit points and sixth time in ACC play, including three of the last four outings. Additionally, at home in ACC play, she averages 17.0 points per game while shooting 40-92 (43.5 percent) from the floor and 15-35 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc.

Williams became the fifth Demon Deacon in the HerHoopsStats era (2009-10) to record that statline (17 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals) and first since Gina Conti on Nov. 28, 2020.

Of note, Williams is now 72 points away from 1,000 in her career and needs to average 12.0 points per game over the last six guaranteed games this season.

Redshirt sophomore forward Malaya Cowles continued her strong campaign inside the Joel this season, as she added 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and tied a season-high eight rebounds, including four offensive. It was her fourth game this season with 10-or-more points and five-or-more rebounds, all of which have been at home.

Graduate guard Kaia Harrison recorded a season-high in scoring with 14 points in addition to five rebounds, two assists and a steal. She entered the game ranked sixth in the conference in free throw percentage (83.3 percent) and finished 4-of-5 from the stripe against the Seminoles.

How It Happened

Florida State opened the contest on a 7-0 run until Conley got the Deacs on the board at the 8:25 mark with a triple.
Harrison earned her first trip to the line and went a perfect 2-for-2 as she made it 9-5.
Wake Forest cut the deficit to two with a Cowles layup assisted by Williams with 6:24 to go in the quarter.
The teams traded baskets over the next two possessions as Harrison answered a Florida State layup with a pullup jumper.
After a Seminole triple, Andrews completed a three-point play with 4:13 remaining.
Williams connected on her first two baskets of the game with a driving layup followed by a three-pointer and tied the game at 17-17.
After four quick points from Florida State, the Deacs responded with back-to-back layups from Cowles and Harrison to make it 21-21.
The Deacs took the lead for the first time with 17 seconds to go in the first quarter as Cowles hauled in an offensive rebound and finished the second-chance layup.
Wake Forest finished the first quarter with a 23-21 lead.
- Harrison and Cowles finished with six points apiece on a combined 5-of-7 from the floor in the quarter.
Andrews opened the second quarter with a second-chance layup at the 9:39 mark of an assist from Deeble.
Theuerkauf responded to a Florida State three with a triple of her own after a pass from Andrews.
Williams capitalized on a Scruggs steal on the other end with a driving layup to make it 30-26 with just over seven minutes to go in the half.
Wake Forest ended a 7-0 Florida State run as Harrison found Cowles for a jumper after another forced turnover from Scruggs.
Cowles assisted a Scruggs basket with 2:08 remaining in the half to tie the game again at 35-35.
After Florida State took a two-point lead, Williams sent the two teams into the locker room tied at 37 with a driving second-chance layup with 18 seconds left.
- Williams led the Deacs at the half with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with two assists and two steals.
- Wake Forest used 10 offensive rebounds in the first half to add 14 second-chance points.
After a pair of threes from the Seminoles, Scruggs opened the second half scoring for the Deacs with a reverse layup off an assist from Williams at the 8:44 mark.
A layup from Harrison and a converted three-point play from Williams made it a one-point game (45-44 FSU).
Florida State went on a 9-1 run until Williams fought her way to the rim for a layup and made it 54-47 with 3:26 to go in the third.
Cowles reached double figures in scoring after she grabbed her own miss and put it back up at the 2:07 mark.
The Deacs held Florida State without a field goal for the final 2:32 of the quarter as the Seminoels led 58-49 heading into the fourth.
Wake Forest opened the fourth quarter with a good pass from Deeble to find Andrews in the paint for a layup.
On the other end, Deeble recorded a steal and found Harrison, who fought through contact for a layup and converted the and-one opportunity to make it a four-point contest at the 9:10 mark.
After a defensive battle over the next four minutes, the Seminoles held an eight-point advantage with five minutes to go.
Williams tallied another assist as she found Cowles for a layup at the 4:24 mark and cut the deficit to six.
Florida State added two free throws before Cowles came back with another layup, this time off an assist from Harrison.
Williams knocked down her second three-pointer of the night with 31 seconds left to make it 67-61 Florida State.
Harrison closed out the scoring with a layup as time expired.
Wake Forest fell to Florida State, 63-71.

Standout Stats

Defensively, the Demon Deacons forced double-digit turnovers for the 35th time in the last 36 games, with the lone game coming against Syracuse on Jan. 11.
- The 36-game stretch goes back to January of 2022.
- In total, the Deacs forced 16 turnovers against Florida State.
  - Over two games against this season, Wake Forest has forced 31 turnovers against the Seminoles.
On the boards, the Deacs hauled in 13 offensive rebounds as a team.
- This marks their second-straight game with 10 or more offensive rebounds.
- The Demon Deacons posted a season-high 21 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds.
Wake Forest finished the game with a dominant performance in the paint as Wake Forest was +14 in points in the paint, netting 40 points.
Elise Williams led the team with 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals against Florida State.
- She became the fifth Demon Deacon in the HerHoopsStats era (2009-10) to record that statline (17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals) and first since Gina Conti on Nov. 28, 2020.
- Williams is on the precipice of a career milestone as she now has 928 points in her career and needs 12.0 points per game over the last six guaranteed games for the Deacs this season to get to the 1,000-point milestone.

From Gebbia
"We're so close and we're getting there. Now, we have to be consistent with the same effort that we had today. Outside of some missed threes and a couple of stretches where we couldn't score in the third and fourth quarter, we played well. We held them to just two baskets in the fourth quarter. We played for 40 minutes even though we didn't score for a stretch. We are close but we just need a little more to get over the jump. This was one of the more complete games that we played. We were engaged throughout and executed for the most part. Alyssa on the defensive end made a difference in the second half. There are no moral victories in this league but if we can repeat this we can get some wins. This is a tournament team that we took to the very end and I am proud of the step we took today. Now, we need to take another step tomorrow and Saturday before playing another very good team in North Carolina here on Sunday. We are getting better and that is a good thing but we need to continue to stay on that upward path." - Megan Gebbia

Next Up
The Demon Deacons conclude their three-game homestand Sunday afternoon as they play host to North Carolina in the second game against a Big-4 opponent this season.

Senior and Graduates Day tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. against the Tar Heels and will also air on ACC Network.

Next Event

Team Stats

Elise Williams

Kaia Harrison

Malaya Cowles

Alyssa Andrews

Players Mentioned

Malaya Cowles

Kaia Harrison

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics