Demon Deacons Drop Heartbreaker at Miami

MIAMI, Fla. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team dropped a road ACC contest to Miami, 62-60, Sunday afternoon inside the Watsco Center.

The Demon Deacons (9-18, 2-14 ACC) led for 35:26 minutes of game time (89 percent) and led by as many as nine in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes (14-13, 4-12 ACC) were only in front for 1:44 (4 percent).

Sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf led the charge for Wake Forest as she finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 from the floor in addition to a block and two steals on the other end. It marked her 10th-consecutive game scoring in double figures and 18th time doing so this season.

Theuerkauf leads the team with 11.9 points per-game this campaign and averages an impressive 17.1 PPG over the last nine outings.

The senior duo of forward Demeara Hinds and guard Elise Williams also chipped in double-digit points with 12 and 10, respectively. Hinds finished an efficient 5-of-9 from the floor and led the team with seven rebounds.

Williams continued her push to enter the top-10 in program history for points scored as she is now just 22 points behind Jane Jackson (1977-80) for 13th at 1,342 points. Of note, she is 65 points away from tying Jewel Spear (2020-23) in 10th.

How It Happened

After falling behind early, the Demon Deacons responded, going on a 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead in the first quarter.
The Demon Deacons continued to hold the lead throughout the entire first quarter with the help of getting to the basket.
- 12 of the Deacs 20 points in the first quarter came in the paint with senior forward Demeara Hinds leading the way with six points in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
Wake Forest forced Miami into seven first quarter turnovers which led to eight points on the other end of the floor.
Hinds continued her strong start to the contest and notched the first Wake Forest points of the second quarter at the 8:15 mark.
The Hurricanes cut it to 22-20, but back-to-back buckets from Williams and Sørbye had the Deacs up six at the second quarter media timeout.
With 3:58 remaining in the first half, Theuerkauf knocked down a second-chance three and gave Wake Forest its largest lead of the game (29-20).
Miami went on a 6-0 run, but Sørbye connected on a jumper at the buzzer as the Deacs went into the locker room with a 31-26 lead.
Williams got Wake Forest started in the second half by immediately answering a Miami basket with one of her own.
Theuerkauf made a three and followed it up with a pair of free throws on the next trip down the court as the Demon Deacons took a 40-34 lead with 6:31 remaining in the third.
Out of the media timeout, Williams knocked down a three.
Wake Forest took a six-point lead (49-43) into the fourth quarter.
Miami took a 53-51 lead with six minutes left, but the Demon Deacons came out of the final media timeout with an instant three from Jones followed by a driving layup from Theuerkauf.
Tied at 58-58, Theuerkauf found her way to the basket and finished a driving layup with 1:18 remaining.
The Hurricanes closed the contest with four-consecutive points and defeated Wake Forest, 62-60.

Standout Stats

Wake Forest logged 15 assists on 24 made baskets (62.5 percent).
The Deacs forced Miami into 18 turnovers, the 15th time this season the team forced 15-or-more.
The Demon Deacons led for 35:26 minutes of game time (89 percent) and led by as many as nine in the second quarter.
- Meanwhile, the Hurricanes were only in front for 1:44 (4 percent).
For the 10th-consecutive game, sophomore guard Rylie Theuerkauf reached double figures with a team-high 18 points against the Hurricanes on 7-of-14 shooting and two three-pointers.
- She has 154 points over the last nine games (17.1/game) and now averages a team-best 11.9 on the season.
- It marked her 18th game of the season with double-digit points.

From Gebbia
"We were better than them in almost every category other than free throws. We made a lot of winning plays and the effort was there for being on the road on a Sunday. I am inspired by how they played today. We put everything on the floor tonight and I am upset for this team that we weren't able to get this one. There were a couple loose ball plays that if they go the other way we win this one. We turned them over and they have done a great good all year of taking care of the basketball. We played to win down the stretch of this one and they did everything we asked them to do. We have two big ones left and we can build on this effort going into the last weekend as we fight for postseason." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons play their final road game of the season Sunday when they travel to nationally-ranked NC State on Thursday night.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.

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Team Stats

Rylie Theuerkauf

Demeara Hinds

Elise Williams

Aurora Sørbye

Players Mentioned

Demeara Hinds

Rylie Theuerkauf

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Athletics