Deacs Fall to No. 25 Tar Heels on Sunday

Sunday, February 8

Winston-Salem, N.C.

2 p.m.

Wake Forest University

13-12,3-10ACC

North Carolina

20-5,9-3ACC

North Carolina

Wake Forest

2/8/2026 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Freshman guard Milan Brown had a fifth-straight performance of double-digit points, finishing the afternoon with a team-high 13 points to go along with five rebounds.

By: Andrew Kovar

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team returned to its home floor on Sunday afternoon, hosting No. 25 North Carolina in its third Big Four matchup of the season and annual Play4Kay game, falling to the Tar Heels, 84-56.

Freshman guard Milan Brown reached over double figures in scoring for a fifth consecutive game, finishing with 13 points to lead the Deacs (13-12, 3-10 ACC). She went 6-for-11 from the field and also added five rebounds and three assists.

The reigning freshman of the week is averaging 16.8 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game over the last five games.

Freshman forward Opal Bird and sophomore guard Aurora Sørbye chipped in eight points, as Bird also contributed three rebounds and a team-high four assists. Freshman guard Caitlyn Jones posted seven points and three assists.

Graduate forward Emily Johns was a spark off the bench against North Carolina (20-5, 9-3, ACC), tallying an ACC high seven points and five rebounds in just over 15 minutes of action.

The Deacs shared the ball well to finish with 13 assists on 20 made baskets (65.0 percent). On the defensive side, Wake Forest forced 13 turnovers while scoring 15 points off of its takeaways.

How It Happened

Freshman guard Milan Brown delivered Wake Forest's first points of the game on a wing three, assisted by her classmate, Caitlyn Jones.
Moments later, freshman forward Opal Bird found sophomore guard Aurora Sørbye on a cut to the basket, giving the Deacs a 5-0 start.
Brown continued the Deacs' strong start, making her way to the rim at the 7:27 mark of the first quarter before Bird created a Tar Heel turnover on the other end with a charge.
- Wake Forest forced four turnovers during the period's opening minutes.
By the first official timeout, the Deacs led 7-6.
- With the shot clock winding down, Jones smartly drew a foul right before the break, earning her first points with a pair of makes at the charity stripe.
Five points through two trips by North Carolina led to its first lead of the contest, 11-9, with just over four minutes to play in the first.
Wake Forest signaled for a timeout following a 13-0 Tar Heel run.
- The visitors were up 19-9 at the time.
Junior guard Madisyn Jordan added to the Deacs' scoring column with a layup on a nice feed from Jones right before the first frame came to a close.
- North Carolina held a 22-11 lead entering the second.
Junior forward Mary Carter made her first appearance of the afternoon to start the second period, immediately finishing a layup on a dish from Bird.
- Freshman guard Grace Galbavy made an impressive baseline block on the other end a minute later.
Bird swished one from deep before Brown was successful on back-to-back drives down the right lane line.
- Wake Forest cut the deficit to 30-20 with 6:03 on the second-quarter clock.
Fresh out of the media timeout, the Deacs scooped their fifth steal of the afternoon and finished a nice play in transition.
Bird then finished with her off hand under the rim to cut the Tar Heels' lead back down to single digits (32-24).
North Carolina scored twice before graduate forward Emily Johns tallied her first points of the day.
- Johns' bucket happened on another assist by Jones – her third of the half.
Johns continued her quick spree with an inside look and made a free throw late, right before the buzzer sounded.
The Tar Heels took a 39-29 lead into halftime.
- Wake scored nine points off of eight forced turnovers through the first half, shooting 44 percent from the floor.
- Brown led the Deacs with nine points while making four of her six field goal attempts.
- The Deacs also shared the ball well – totaling eight assists on 12 made baskets.
Jones got Wake on the board in the second half after Bird found the freshman on a pocket pass.
Sophomore forward Grace Oliver made a strong move under the cup for her first points at 7:12 in the third.
The Deacs continued to push their pace, as Brown swung the ball to Carter for a right-wing three.
The quarter's fast tempo led right into the media timeout, with North Carolina remaining ahead, 49-36.
A stepback jumper by Brown in the short corner led to her becoming the first Demon Deacon to reach double-digit points.
Scoring on five of six looks, the Tar Heels upped their lead to 60-40 with 1:35 to play in the quarter.
Sørbye drew a foul on an aggressive drive, netting both free throws, and the third period ended with North Carolina up 65-42.
Brown kept her scoring output going with a running floater early in the fourth.
The Demon Deacons defense was steady in holding the Tar Heels to a scoring drought for over 2.5 minutes.
Wake also drew a number of fouls down the stretch, as Oliver converted a traditional three-point play with just over six minutes remaining.
At the final media timeout, North Carolina led 75-48.
Bird soon checked back onto the floor and added three free throws.
- Sørbye also swished a triple as the quarter winded down.
Wake Forest fell, 84-56.

Standout Stats

The Demon Deacons forced the Tar Heels into 13 turnovers, converting 15 points off of those takeaways.
- Wake Forest has forced 10 or more takeaways 91 times in the last 94 games, a stretch dating back to January of 2022.
- Through 25 games, the Demon Deacons have forced 14.2 turnovers per game.
Wake Forest finished with 13 assists on 20 made baskets for the contest (65.0 percent). In 25 games this season, the Demon Deacons have totaled 421 assists on 627 field goals (67.1 percent) which would mark the highest percentage in a single season within the Megan Gebbia era.
- The Demon Deacons are averaging 16.8 assists, third in the ACC.
Freshman guard Milan Brown reached double figures in scoring for a fifth-consecutive game, totaling a team-high 13 points while shooting 6-for-11 from the floor (54.5 percent). The Baltimore, Md., native also snagged five rebounds and dished out three assists in 31 minutes of play.
- Through her last five appearances, Brown is averaging 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds.

From Gebbia
"This is not the team that we are. We were capable of playing much better today. We didn't execute the scout the way we needed to. Second chance points, points off turnovers and threes accounted for a majority of their points. We have five games to go and we need to turn it on now. We take this one personally because we were flat and I'm not happy with how we played today against a Big 4 team. We need to correct these things quickly cause we go to a really good Louisville team on Thursday. That starts tomorrow at practice." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
The Demon Deacons are back on the road Thursday when the Deacs travel to nationally-ranked Louisville.

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