Wake Forest Falls at No. 13 North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite a career-high 19 points from sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf, the Wake Forest women's basketball team dropped a road contest at No. 13 North Carolina, 76-51, Thursday evening inside Carmichael Arena.

Theuerkauf shined in the second half, as she recorded 15 of the Demon Deacons' (7-12, 0-8 ACC) 23 points over the final two quarters en route to her 11th double-digit scoring performance of the season. She finished an incredibly efficient 8-of-13 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.

With 10 points on 4-of-7 from the floor Thursday night, redshirt junior forward Malaya Cowles surpassed 500 for her career and became the second active Demon Deacon to reach the mark, joining Elise Williams.

Redshirt senior forward Demeara Hinds led Wake Forest with four rebounds, five steals and five assists. Her five steals and five assists both marked career highs.

In her first game back since Fairfield (Nov. 27), senior guard Alyssa Andrews finished with six points and was 2-for-2 from beyond-the-arc.

Defensively, Wake Forest forced the Tar Heels (18-3, 6-2 ACC) into 18 turnovers and have now forced double-digit turnovers for the 60th time in the last 61 games. 18 turnovers is tied for the most by the Tar Heels in a game this season.

How It Happened

After a layup from North Carolina on the first possession, Cowles got Wake Forest on the board at the 8:19 mark with a layup assisted by Hinds.
- Williams then gave Wake Forest an early lead at the free throw line on the following possession.
Sørbye found Theuerkauf on a fastbreak to make it 5-2 following a block by Hinds.
The Demon Deacon defense held the Tar Heels scoreless for 4:35 of action, forcing the hosts into three turnovers and an 0-for-6 mark from the floor during that span.
Hinds ended a 10-0 North Carolina run at the free throw line with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter.
Wake Forest trailed, 22-6, at the end of the first quarter.
Returning to the court for the first time since Nov. 27, Andrews knocked down back-to-back threes for the first six points of the quarter and cut the deficit to 22-12 with 6:55 remaining in the half.
North Carolina was held scoreless until nearly four minutes into the quarter.
Wake Forest cut it to seven (24-17) after a triple from Conley and a layup from Theuerkauf kept the momentum in the Deacs' favor.
Cowles made it a 9-0 Wake Forest run as she had a perfect 2-for-2 trip to the free throw line followed by a layup on the next possession to make it 24-21.
- The redshirt junior continued her strong second quarter with yet another finish down low to make it a two-point game (23-25) with just over three minutes to go in the quarter.
Williams recorded her first points of the contest with a nice pull-up jumper from just inside the arc at the 1:59 mark.
- She then closed out the first-half scoring for the Demon Deacons as she knocked down a three with 28 seconds left.
After outscoring the Tar Heels, 22-10 in the second quarter, Wake Forest went into the locker room only trailing 32-28.
- The Demon Deacons limited the Tar Heels to just two made field goals on seven attempts in the second quarter and forced the hosts into nine turnovers.
- Offensively, Wake Forest went 8-of-12 from the floor in the second quarter and 4-of-6 from three.
North Carolina opened the third quarter on a 4-0 run until Theuerkauf got the Deacs going with a layup at the 8:00 mark
Theuerkauf then converted a three-point play to make it 39-33 North Carolina with 6:24 to go in the third.
Williams answered a Tar Heel layup with one of her own on the next Wake Forest possession.
North Carolina extended its lead to 48-35 before Hinds found a cutting Theuerkauf in-stride, who then converted yet another three-point play and reduced the deficit to 10.
The Demon Deacons went into the final quarter trailing 50-38.
- Theuerkauf had eight of Wake Forest's 10 points in the third quarter.
Hinds earned a trip to the line and went 2-for-2 for the Deacs' first points of the fourth quarter.
Theuerkauf kept the Deacs within 10 with back-to-back layups.
- As of the 7:27 mark in the fourth, she had scored 12 of Wake Forest's last 16 points.
Cowles was the second Demon Deacon to reach double-digit points with a layup at the 5:05 mark.
Conley closed out the scoring for the Deacs with a layup at the 2:32 mark.
Wake Forest fell to North Carolina, 76-51.

Standout Stats

Sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting against the Tar Heels.
- It marked her 10th game of the season with double-digit points and third with at least 15.
- She recorded eight of Wake Forest's 10 points in the third quarter.
With 10 points Thursday night, redshirt junior forward Malaya Cowles surpassed 500 for her career and became the second active Demon Deacon to reach the mark (Williams).
- She finished 4-of-7 from the floor and reached double-figures for the 11th time this season.
Redshirt senior forward Demeara Hinds set new career-highs in steals and assists Thursday night, both with five.
- With four rebounds against the Tar Heels, she is now seven boards away from 500 for her career.
- Hinds led the Demon Deacons in steals, rebounds and assists against the Tar Heels.

From Gebbia
"We came back in the second quarter and cut it down, but our defense needed to be better especially at the guard position to make this a close game. Our starting posts did a good job but collectively we need to be better on that end of the floor to beat good teams in this league. We had the momentum going into halftime but we didn't play with the same energy coming out of the locker room. We had too many turnovers and that led to North Carolina having more opportunities than us on the offensive end. It's hard to win, especially in the ACC. There are a lot of little things we have to get better at. That has to start on the defensive end and continuing to play at a high level for 40 minutes. We have another challenge on Sunday against a good BC team and we have to come ready to go." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons are back at home inside of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Sunday afternoon as the Deacs play host to Boston College.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ACC Network.

Next Event

Team Stats

Rylie Theuerkauf

Malaya Cowles

Elise Williams

Alyssa Andrews

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Andrews

Malaya Cowles

Demeara Hinds

Rylie Theuerkauf

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics