Demon Deacons Down Pirates, 77-48, to Wrap Perfect Opening Week at Home

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C – The Wake Forest women's basketball team completed a perfect opening week at home with a 77-48 victory over the Hampton Pirates, Sunday afternoon inside the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The victory over the Pirates (1-1) marks the Deacs' best start under head coach Megan Gebbia.

The Demon Deacons (3-0) had another excellent game in the paint, with 56 points posted inside. Through three games this season, the Deacs have totaled 130 points in the paint, while allowing the Pirates to score just eight points in the paint, a 48-point differential.

The Deacs had 22 assists on Sunday, the most since Wake Forest had 24 helpers in a victory over Saint Louis the North Shore Showcase in Nov. 2023. The Deacs assisted on 22 of 31 made baskets (71.0 percent) which was the Demon Deacons highest percentage so far this season.

With a team-high 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston recorded another solid performance for the Demon Deacons. The Elon-transfer has been clutch at the stripe, with a .733 free-throw percentage so far this season.

Sophomore forward Grace Oliver earned her first double-digit game as a Deac, with 12 total points. The Colorado-transfer also had a team-high tying seven rebounds in the win, her highest total of the season.

Junior guard/forward Mary Carter finished in double figures for the second time this season, posting 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting while knocking down a pair of threes.

How It Happened

Wake Forest went on a 13-0 run in the first quarter to begin the afternoon.
- Freshman guard Milan Brown posted back-to-back layups to open up the Deacs' offense.
- Redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston notched three points off the bench to give the Demon Deacons a 9-4 lead over the Pirates.
Despite Hampton scoring the first points of the afternoon, the Deacs allowed just two six points in the opening quarter to hold their 15-6 lead.
Freshman guard Caitlyn Jones connected with freshman forward Opal Bird at the basket to begin the second quarter.
Brown went coast-to-coast to extend the Demon Deacons' lead 20-10.
Preston found sophomore guard Aurora Sørbye for a layup to go up 31-17 with two minutes remaining.
Wake Forest ended the half leading 33-21.
The Demon Deacon went 4-for-4 on field goals out of the locker room.
A turnaround jumper from junior guard/forward Mary Carter began a 14-0 run for the Deacs.
- Sophomore forward Grace Oliver reached double digits with a layup in the paint.
- Jones worked a layup off a fast break to make it 52-26.
Wake Forest closed out the third at 58-32 with freshman forward Savannah Metcalfe going 2-for-2 at the line.
Carter reached double digits with a three-point jumper.
With four minutes remaining, Preston went under the net and connected with Oliver to make it 69-43.
The Deacs went on an 8-0 run with two minutes left in the game.
- Metcalfe tabbed consecutive layups in the paint to extend the Demon Deacon lead to 76-46.
Wake Forest defeated Hampton, 77-48.

Standout Stats

The Deacs had 22 assists on Sunday which marked the most since Wake Forest had 24 in a victory over Saint Louis the North Shore Showcase in Nov. 2023.
- The Deacs assisted on 22 of 31 made baskets (71.0 percent) which was the Demon Deacons highest percentage so far this season.
The Demon Deacons had another excellent game in the paint, with 56 points posted inside while allowing the Pirates to score just eight points in the paint, a 48-point differential.
- Across three games, the Deacs have totaled 130 points in the paint including having over 45 in the last two games.
Redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston recorded another solid performance with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.
- The Elon-transfer has been clutch at the stripe, with a .733 free-throw percentage so far this season.
- She has been the firestarter for the Deacs in the last two games as she has averaged 9.5 points in the first half in the last two games, including scoring nine of her team-high 13 points in the first half on Sunday.

From Gebbia
"Just so happy with the way we have started the season. There is so much to say. 56 points in the paint to their eight. 22 assists and a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. We did a great job against their press and once we figured that out we were really able to push the lead up. So many great individual performances that led to a great overall team win. I am proud of this group. To win three games in one week isn't easy and we got better each game which is exciting this early in the year. Now, we need to continue to build on it going into Thursday against Mercer." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons continue the season-opening homestand on Thursday when the Deacs play host to Mercer at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

Demon Deacons Down Pirates, 77-48, to Wrap Perfect Opening Week at Home

Next Event

Team Stats

Raven Preston

Grace Oliver

Mary Carter

Savannah Metcalfe

Players Mentioned

Opal Bird

Milan Brown

Mary Carter

Caitlyn Jones

Savannah Metcalfe

Grace Oliver

Raven Preston

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Down Pirates, 77-48, to Wrap Perfect Opening Week at Home

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Raven Preston

Grace Oliver

Mary Carter

Savannah Metcalfe

Players Mentioned

Opal Bird

Milan Brown

Mary Carter

Caitlyn Jones

Savannah Metcalfe

Grace Oliver

Raven Preston

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