Late Comeback Falls Short as Wake Forest Battles No. 17 NC State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A pair of Demon Deacons went for 20-plus points as the Wake Forest women's basketball team dropped a tight battle with No. 17 NC State, 90-83, Thursday evening inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Demon Deacons (8-13, 1-9 ACC) outscored the Wolfpack (17-4, 9-1 ACC) in the fourth quarter, 34-to-20 and nearly clawed back after facing a 24-point deficit in the third, cutting it down to as close as five. 34 points in the fourth mark the most in a single quarter in Wake Forest program history. The Deacs finished the last 3:30 of the game going on a 20-7 run.

Wake Forest finished a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line, which marked the second time in program history that the Demon Deacons finished 100 percent from the stripe with a minimum of 10 attempts. The other instance was a 10-for-10 performance against Maryland on Feb. 10, 2005.

For the third-consecutive game, sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf set a new career-high in scoring as she finished with 25 points against the Wolfpack. Of note, she tied her previous career high (21) with seven minutes remaining in the first half as she opened the game 8-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-3 from deep.

Theuerkauf has 65 points over the last three games (21.7 PPG) and now averages 11.0 points per game on the season, the second-most on the team.

Senior guard Raegyn Conley also set a new career-high with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 4-of-7 clip from beyond-the-arc and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Conley also logged four assists, two rebounds and led the team with a +13 plus/minus across 29 minutes.

With Theuerkauf and Conley's career performances, this marked the first time two Demon Deacons finished with 20+ in the same game since Dec. 13, 2021 when Jewel Spear (40) and Malaya Cowles (20) accomplished the feat against ETSU.

Senior guard Elise Williams and redshirt-senior forward Demeara Hinds also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

How It Happened

Theuerkauf opened the Deacs' scoring with a layup to cut the Pack's early lead to 6-2.
- Williams followed close behind with a layup of her own with an assist from Hinds.
Theuerkauf tied the game for the Deacs with a deep three at the 6:06 mark.
- Wake Forest took its first lead of the game with a layup also from Theuerkauf on the following possession.
- Hinds closed out a quick 7-0 run with a layup and extended the lead to 11-8 with 5:05 remaining in the first quarter.
Theuerkauf scored seven-straight for the Demon Deacons to make it 16-11.
- She hit a turnaround jumper before knocking down a three on the next possession.
- She remained perfect from the floor with her sixth field goal of the contest at the 3:41 mark.
Andrews notched her first points of the night with a jumper from beyond-the-arc.
- Sørbye followed with two of her own following an offensive rebound from Andrews to make it 23-17.
Conley closed out the quarter for the Deacs' with a layup to head into the second with the 25-21 lead.
- It marked just the sixth time this season the Wolfpack trailed after the first quarter.
Immediately after the start of the second, Theuerkauf knocked down a stepback jumper to open the quarter.
- Conley capitalized off a quick transition after a missed Wolfpack basket and connected on a jumper of her own.
- Continuing a dominant performance, Theuerkauf added another layup to make it 33-25 with 7:49 remaining.
With two points at the charity stripe, Theuerkauf tied her career-high of 21 points to extend the Deacs' lead to 35-30.
Hinds connected with Conely in the paint to keep Wake Forest ahead.
- On the following possession, Conley found Cowles for two more at the basket.
Hinds added another bucket with 2:40 remaining in the half.
The Deacs' trailed after the first half, 47-41.

Hinds ended a 14-0 NC State run to open the second half with a jumper at the 4:04 mark.
After a Pack turnover, Andrews added a layup to cut the deficit.
Conley earned a trip to the line and went 2-for-2 with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Theuerkauf knocked down a fastbreak jumper from inside the paint as time expired in the third quarter.
- Wake Forest trailed 70-49 headed into the final quarter of the night.
Williams found Conley for an open three to open the fourth.
- Cowles added three more as she completed an and-one opportunity at the 8:51 mark.
On the following possession, Williams notched a driving layup to the net, 74-57.
- She then responded to a Wolfpack three with a driving layup on the following possession.
Theuerkauf continued her offensive dominance off a fast-break turnover to cut the deficit to 15 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Hinds went 2-for-2 in her first trip to the line out of a media timeout and made it 81-63 with 3:47 left.
- She added another layup on the Deacs' next possession.
Williams recorded a steal, went coast-to-coast and completed an and-one opportunity with just over three minutes left.
- She knocked a pullback jumper under pressure to make it 87-70.
Jordyn grabbed her first points of the night off an offensive turnover with an assist from Sørbye.
With a rebound from Moore, Conley completed a three-point play with an and-one opportunity to make it 87-75.
- The duo found each other again with a steal from Moore to set up Conley for three.
Conley capitalized on a rebound from Sørbye and hit a jumper to cut the deficit to six with 15 seconds remaining.
- Sørbye went 2-for-2 at the line to make it 88-83 with 14 seconds remaining.
Wake Forest's final efforts from the charity stripe were not enough as they fell to NC State, 90-83.

Standout Stats

Four Demon Deacons finished in double figures, including two with more than 20.
- Theuerkauf - 25 points
- Conley - 21 points
- Williams - 11 points
- Hinds - 10 points
Of note, this marked the first time two Demon Deacons finished with 20+ in the same game since Dec. 13, 2021 when Jewel Spear (40) and Malaya Cowles (20) accomplished the feat against ETSU.
34 points in the fourth marked the most points in a single quarter in Wake Forest program history.
- The previous Wake Forest high came in Megan Gebbia's first season when the Deacs scored 33 points in the third quarter against Longwood.
Going a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line, it marked the second time in program history that the Demon Deacons finished 100 percent from the stripe with a minimum of 10 attempts.
- The other instance was a 10-for-10 performance against Maryland on Feb. 10, 2005.
For the third-consecutive game, sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf set a new career-high in scoring as she finished with 25 points against the Wolfpack.
- She tied her previous career high (21) with seven minutes remaining in the first half. She opened the game 8-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-3 from deep.
- She has 65 points over the last three games and now averages 11.0 on the season, the second-most on the team.
- It marked her 12th game of the season with double-digit, fifth with at least 15 and second-consecutive with at least 20.
- 25 points is the most in a game by a Demon Deacon since Williams had 31 at Georgia Tech last season on Feb. 25, 2024.
Senior guard Raegyn Conley also set a new career-high with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a 4-of-7 clip from beyond-the-arc and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
- She also logged four assists, two rebounds and led the team with a +13 plus/minus across 29 minutes.
- 12 of her 21 points came in the fourth quarter as she connected on three of her four three-point attempts in the final frame.

From Gebbia
"We have spent a lot of time on our offense and it is showing up. We are hitting all of our numbers on the offensive end. Rylie and Raegyn both had career highs today and scored 20-plus points which was huge. We didn't give up and cut it to five after being down 20 with 3:30 to go in the game. I am so proud of this team and how they don't give up regardless of the score. We were locked in from our starters to bench all the way to the end. We executed well offensively especially in the first half. That run to end the second and to start the third killed us especially not scoring for the first six minutes coming out of halftime. We need to focus on the defensive end of the floor cause giving up 90 points is hard to win games. We allowed them to get to the free throw line too many times in this game. 33 free throws is too many. We need to make a few adjustments on the defensive end and we need to find a way to come out better out of halftime. We are close to getting big wins like tonight and I am excited to get back in the gym with this team tomorrow and focus on a good Florida State team." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons end the weekend on the road, traveling to No. 25 Florida State for a Sunday night tipoff at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.

Wake Forest Athletics

Late Comeback Falls Short as Wake Forest Battles No. 17 NC State

Related News

Players Mentioned

Raegyn Conley

Malaya Cowles

Demeara Hinds

Rylie Theuerkauf

Elise Williams

Related Videos