Friday, November 28
San Juan, Puerto Rico
10 a.m.
Wake Forest University
9-0,0-0ACC
57
vs
44
Illinois State
4-4,0-0MVC
1
2
3
4
F
Wake Forest
21
9
16
11
57
Illinois St.
8
17
14
5
44
Wake Forest Wraps Perfect Trip in Puerto Rico with Win Over Illinois State
11/28/2025 1:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Oliver and Carter tied for a team-best 11 points and six combined rebounds while the Deacs limited Illinois State to season lows in scoring, field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
SAN JUAN, P.R. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team maintained its perfect mark and improved to 9-0 overall with a 57-44 victory over the Illinois State Redbirds, Friday morning at Coliseo Guillermo Angulo in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Wake Forest (9-0) now has its best start since the 2008-09 season, when the Deacs had 12 wins to start the season. Additionally, the Demon Deacons went into Friday as one of just 35 teams in the country to still be unbeaten and one of just two teams in the ACC to remain undefeated joined only by Stanford.
The Deacs shot better from the field and three than the Redbirds (4-4) and were led by double-digit performances from sophomore forward Grace Oliver and junior guard/forward Mary Carter.
The Wake Forest defense led the team to the victory, holding Illinois State to season lows in points (44), field goal percentage (26.7 pct.) and three-point percentage (13.8 pct.). The Deacs came into the day with one of the best defenses in the country, ranking inside the top 25 in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
Additionally, Wake Forest outrebounded the Redbirds, with six different Deacs picking up three or more alongside eight team rebounds.
Redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston went 3-for-5 from the floor with four steals, while freshman guard Milan Brown grabbed a team-best five rebounds. Both Deacs lead the squad in their respective categories, with Preston totaling 19 steals on the season and Brown averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.
How It Happened
"It's hard to play three games in three days. This is an experience that this team needed to have. We found a way. We rebounded when it mattered there at the end. We got a lead and made the plays we needed to win at the end. We are continuing to shoot the three better. We made it hard for them to come all the way back after building a great lead. We need to bring this same energy back home to finish non-conference strong. I am extremely proud of this group." - Megan Gebbia
Up Next
The Demon Deacons return home for the annual school day game on Wednesday when the Deacs play host to William & Mary at LJVM Coliseum.
Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
Wake Forest (9-0) now has its best start since the 2008-09 season, when the Deacs had 12 wins to start the season. Additionally, the Demon Deacons went into Friday as one of just 35 teams in the country to still be unbeaten and one of just two teams in the ACC to remain undefeated joined only by Stanford.
The Deacs shot better from the field and three than the Redbirds (4-4) and were led by double-digit performances from sophomore forward Grace Oliver and junior guard/forward Mary Carter.
The Wake Forest defense led the team to the victory, holding Illinois State to season lows in points (44), field goal percentage (26.7 pct.) and three-point percentage (13.8 pct.). The Deacs came into the day with one of the best defenses in the country, ranking inside the top 25 in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
Additionally, Wake Forest outrebounded the Redbirds, with six different Deacs picking up three or more alongside eight team rebounds.
Redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston went 3-for-5 from the floor with four steals, while freshman guard Milan Brown grabbed a team-best five rebounds. Both Deacs lead the squad in their respective categories, with Preston totaling 19 steals on the season and Brown averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.
How It Happened
- Wake Forest went on a 17-3 run to begin the afternoon.
- Sophomore forward Grace Oliver opened the contest with a layup, followed soon by a pair of threes from junior guard/forward Mary Carter and sophomore forward Kennedy Moore.
- The Deacs went up 11-3 off a fast break three-pointer from Moore.
- Oliver converted a perfect trip at the line to make it 17-3.
- The two squads traded baskets, with a driving layup from redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston wrapping the first quarter, 21-8.
- Coming off an Illinois State turnover, graduate student forward Emily Johns knocked back a jumper less than a minute into the second quarter.
- A layup from freshman forward Opal Bird at the 4:07 mark began a 7-0 scoring run for the Deacs.
- Off a steal from Bird, Carter drained three points to make it 28-21.
- Moore tabbed a jumper in the paint to close out the stretch.
- Wake Forest led Illinois State, 30-25, at the half.
- Moore led Wake Forest with eight points on 3-for-4 shooting while also grabbing three rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
- Both teams swapped points throughout the third quarter, with the Demon Deacons holding its lead at 35-29 with 4:52 on the clock.
- Oliver extended the Deac advantage with a perfect trip to the charity stripe.
- Freshman forward Savannah Metcalfe made it 41-35 with a second-chance layup.
- With 1:42 remaining, Oliver drained three to go up 44-39.
- The Demon Deacons led 46-39 at the end of the third frame.
- Preston opened the fourth with a tip-in layup at the 8:24 mark.
- Carter drilled a mid-range jumper to make it 50-39.
- The Deacs held the Redbirds to just two points throughout nine minutes of the fourth.
- Carter drained a three to make it 57-41 with 0:33 left in the contest.
- Wake Forest defeated Illinois State, 57-44.
- Wake Forest tallied 13 total assists on the night on 23 made baskets (56.5 percent). In nine games this season, the Demon Deacons have totaled 162 assists on 235 field goals (68.9 percent) which would mark the highest percentage in the Megan Gebbia era.
- The Deacs forced the Redbirds into 14 turnovers on Friday, and have forced 10 or more takeaways 76 times in the last 80 games, a stretch dating back to January of 2022.
- The Demon Deacons had another excellent game in the paint, with 28 points posted inside, while allowing Illinois State to score 18 points in the paint, a 10-point differential.
- Across nine games, the Deacs have totaled 356 points in the paint.
- Tallying 11 points each on the afternoon, sophomore forward Grace Oliver and junior forward/guard Mary Carter led the Deacs in scoring with a combined six rebounds.
- Oliver shot 4-of-6 from the stripe, while Carter drained 3-of-6 three-pointers.
- Sophomore forward Kennedy Moore put up another solid showing for the Deacs, going 3-for-5 from the field with eight points while also adding two blocks and three rebounds.
- Redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston went 3-for-5 from the floor with four steals, while freshman guard Milan Brown grabbed a team-best five rebounds.
- Preston now leads the Deacs with 19 total steals in nine games, while Brown paces the squad with 56 rebounds, averaging 6.2 per game.
"It's hard to play three games in three days. This is an experience that this team needed to have. We found a way. We rebounded when it mattered there at the end. We got a lead and made the plays we needed to win at the end. We are continuing to shoot the three better. We made it hard for them to come all the way back after building a great lead. We need to bring this same energy back home to finish non-conference strong. I am extremely proud of this group." - Megan Gebbia
Up Next
The Demon Deacons return home for the annual school day game on Wednesday when the Deacs play host to William & Mary at LJVM Coliseum.
Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
WF
ILS
FG%
.511
.267
3FG%
.333
.138
FT%
.667
1.000
RB
35
32
TO
19
14
STL
11
8
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard/Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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