Demon Deacons Grab Home Win Over SMU

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind a season-high 20 points from senior guard Elise Williams, the Wake Forest women's basketball team defeated SMU, 67-64, Thursday evening inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Demon Deacons (9-17, 2-13 ACC) led for all but 11 seconds in the game as they took an early first quarter lead and went on to lead for the final 36:59 of the game.

The Deacs held the Mustangs (10-17, 2-13 ACC) leading scorer in junior guard Nya Robertson to just six points in the game, her second-lowest scoring output of the season and just the second time all season she had finished with single-digit points. Robertson was just 3-of-12 from the field and 0-of-5 from behind the arc.

The Demon Deacons held SMU to just 3-of-15 shooting from behind the arc while also forcing them to turn it over 16 times in the game. Those turnovers led to 23 points on the other end for Wake Forest and the Deacs were also +11 in fast break points, scoring 13 in the victory.

In addition to Williams' game-high 20 points, she also led the team with six rebounds and four assists. It marked the senior's seventh-career game with 20-or-more points and first of the season. She was efficient, shooting 7-of-10 from the field, going 1-of-1 from three and 5-of-6 from the line.

Of note, Williams surpassed Lakevia Boykin (2009-13) for 14th in program history with 1,310 points and now sits 32 points behind Jane Jackson (1977-80) in 13th.

Sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf continued her dominant stretch with 16 points for her ninth-consecutive game with double-digit points. She has 136 points over the last eight games (17.0/game) and now averages a team-high 11.6 on the season.

With a 3-for-6 clip from beyond the arc, senior guard Raegyn Conley has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 10 of her last 11 games. She finished with 12 points to go along with four rebounds against the Mustangs.

Additionally over the last six games, Conley is now 13-of-22 from behind the arc (59.1 pct.).

The Demon Deacons had one of their best nights at the free throw stripe all season as their 18 makes were the most all season and the 25 attempts were the most since defeating Davidson in November. The Deacs salted the game away at the line in the fourth, shooting 12 free throws in the final quarter alone.

How It Happened

After SMU opened the scoring, Williams got things going for the Demon Deacons as she found Hinds for a layup and knocked down a jumper on the following possession.
Theuerkauf recorded a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the 7:41 mark.
Conley connected from deep and gave Wake Forest a 9-6 lead with 6:58 remaining.
Sørbye gave the Demon Deacons a five-point advantage at the halfway point in the first with her first three-pointer of the evening.
Over the final 2:25, the Deacs went on a 10-0 kick-started by a Theuerkauf layup.
- Williams added another basket before Theuerkauf went 4-for-4 from the line on the next two possessions.
- Cowles closed out the quarter with a layup following a steal from Jones with just over 20 seconds left.
Wake Forest went into the second quarter with a 26-15 lead.
- The Deacs forced nine turnovers in the first quarter and shot 10-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line.
The Mustangs cut their deficit to five (26-21) until Williams continued her strong start to the contest with a pullup jumper at the 6:40 mark.
The Demon Deacons kept turning defense into offense as Jones forced a turnover and converted on the other end to make it 30-21.
Conley recorded her second three-pointer of the game with four minutes left in the half.
Wake Forest closed out the half with a turnaround jumper from Theuerkauf and a pair of free throws from Williams.
The Demon Deacons went into the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
- Williams and Theuerkauf led the team with 10 points apiece. Williams also led the squad in rebounds (4) and assists (4) over the first 20 minutes.
Williams opened the second-half scoring just eight seconds in with an assist from Sørbye.
- The Norwegian then knocked down a turnaround jumper on the following possession.
Theuerkauf ended a quick 6-0 run from the Mustangs with a tough driving layup through contact to make it 45-37 at the 5:32 mark.
Conley converted a three-point play after an offensive rebound with 3:36 remaining in the third.
Williams extended the lead to 50-39 with a 2-for-2 trip to the line.
The Deacs led headed into the fourth, 50-43.
After SMU cut it to three, Wake Forest went on a 10-0 run capped off by consecutive threes from Williams and Conley.
The Demon Deacons essentially sealed the game with a minute and half remaining as Williams took advantage of another SMU turnover and made it 63-54.
Wake Forest knocked down its free throws down the stretch and defeated the Mustangs, 67-64.

Standout Stats

Senior guard Elise Williams logged a season-high 20 points and finished 7-of-10 from the floor with a team-high six rebounds and four assists.
- It marked the seventh 20-point game of her career.
- Additionally, with her 20 points in the game, Williams surpassed Lakevia Boykin (2009-13) for 14th in program history with 1,310 points and now sits 32 points behind Jane Jackson (1977-80) in 13th.

Rank	Player	Career Points
7.	Cotelia Bond-Young (2002-06)	1,507
8.	Amber Campbell (2014-18)	1,489
9.	Ivana Raca (2017-21)	1,482
10.	Jewel Spear (2020-23)	1,385
11.	Liz Strunk (2002-06)	1,352
12.	Lisa Stockton (1982-86)	1,347
13.	Jane Jackson (1977-80)	1,342
14.	Elise Williams (2021-Pres.)	1,310
15.	Lakevia Boykin (2009-13)	1,309
16.	Elisa Penna (2015-19)	1,269

The Deacs finished the contest 22-of-50 (44 percent) from the floor, the eighth-consecutive game the team finished 40 percent or better.
The Demon Deacons improved to 4-1 all-time against the Mustangs.
- The Deacs won the only other home meeting against the SMU on Jan. 2, 2011, defeating the Mustangs 66-49.
The Deacs limited one of the nation's top scorers in Nya Robertson to just six points, just the second time all season she has scored under 10 points and 13 points below her season average of 19.

From Gebbia
"This is a great win. We hadn't been in that position with the lead at the end and that showed. We were huge at the line. We hit the ones that we needed especially there at the end in the fourth. We only won the first quarter but we found a way to keep the lead. We did a great job on their leading scorer, holding her to just six points. Elise did a great job and our guards overall did a great job scoring the basketball. We valued the basketball and didn't turn it over really until late in the game. This is a great win and now we need to build on it going into a road game at Miami on Sunday." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons make their final flight of the season Sunday when they travel to Miami at Watsco Center.

Tipoff is scheduled for Noon on ACC Network.

Next Event

Team Stats

Elise Williams

Rylie Theuerkauf

Raegyn Conley

Demeara Hinds

Players Mentioned

Raegyn Conley

Rylie Theuerkauf

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics