It's a Thanksgiving Fiesta for Wake Forest Women's Basketball
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For most of us, Thursday was spent gorging on turkey, green bean casseroles, and pumpkin pies, and Friday was reserved for Black Friday shopping and the start of football's rivalry week.
That wasn't the case for the Wake Forest women's basketball team. Instead, for them, it was just taking care of business and winning all three games in the Puerto Rico Shootout. With the wins, the team is now 9-0 and off to its best start since the 2008-09 season, when the team started 12-0.
On Wednesday, the team dominated Morgan State with a 93-35 win. They followed that with an overtime thriller on Thursday with a 65-60 win over UCF. Then, to cap off the trip to the Caribbean, the Deacs got their third win in three days on Friday with a 57-44 win over Illinois State.
“It’s hard to play three games in three days," said Wake Forest women's basketball head coach Megan Gebbia after Friday's game. "This is an experience that this team needed to have. We found a way. 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.”
Going into Friday, the Deacs were one of only 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.
Thursday, November 27 - Wake Forest vs UCF
The Deacs shot better from the field and three than the Knights (5-2) and were led by double-digit performances from freshman guard Caitlyn Jones and sophomore forward Grace Oliver.
Jones surpassed her career-high set the previous night with 17 points and shot 8-of-12 from the field. She was the closer for the Demon Deacons with 11 of her 17 points coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Oliver provided another consistent offensive showing, going 6-of-10 on field goals with 13 points and three steals. She hit a three later in overtime to put the Deacs up two possessions and they led for the remainder of the game, clinching the Deacs first Power-4 non-conference win since Nov. 30, 2022 at Minnesota.
With a team-best nine rebounds, redshirt-junior guard Raven Preston put up another outstanding performance for the Deacs, while also adding a team-high eight assists and six points in a near triple-double effort.
Game Stats | Wake Forest | UCF |
|---|---|---|
FG | 45.8% (27-590 | 32.4% (23-71) |
3PT | 33.3% (6-18) | 21.7% (5-23) |
FT | 71.4% (5-7) | 81.8% (9-11) |
Rebounds (Off/Def) | 38 (8/30) | 44 (20/24) |
Assists | 20 | 14 |
Turnovers | 17 | 14 |
Steals | 10 | 6 |
Blocks | 3 | 5 |
Friday, November 28 - Wake Forest vs Illinois State
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.
Game Stats | Wake Forest | Illinois State |
|---|---|---|
FG | 51.1% (23-45) | 26.7% (16-60) |
3PT | 33.3% (7-21) | 13.8% (4-29) |
FT | 66.7% (4-6) | 100% (8-8) |
Rebounds (Off/Def) | 35 (5/30) | 32 (14/18) |
Assists | 13 | 9 |
Turnovers | 19 | 14 |
Steals | 11 | 8 |
Blocks | 3 | 0 |
What's Up Next
Wake Forest retuns home with hopes of continuing their winning streak. The next game is Wednesday, December 3 at 11:30 a.m. ET against William & Mary at the Joel. It can be seen on the ACC Network Extra.
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Barry is the managing editor/publisher of both the TCU Horned Frogs On SI and Wake Forest Demon Deacons On SI sites. He oversees a team of 15+ writers, photographers, and podcasters covering all sports at both schools. He writes on football, basketball (men’s and women’s), baseball, men’s tennis, and other sports as needed. His weekly articles include ACC Power Rankings and Poll Watching during the football, basketball, and baseball seasons. Barry is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He has covered the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, the 2023 College Football National Championship, the 2023 College World Series, the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tennis National Championship, Big 12 Football Media Days, and Big 12 Basketball Media Days. He is an avid sports fan and traveler, and he loves any opportunity to see a sporting event in person. He has been to 18 of the 30 MLB ballparks, experienced game day at 25 college football stadiums, seen 21 NFL stadiums, and been to 16 bowl games.