Wake Forest Women's Basketball Completes Perfect Season-Opening Homestand
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For the Wake Forest women's basketball team, you could not have scripted the beginning of the season any better. On Sunday, the Lady Deacs (6-0) took down the Western Carolina Catamounts (2-4) 60-49.
The win was the sixth-straight win at the Joel to open the 2025-26 campaign. It's the best start for the Deacs since the 2021-22 season when they started 7-0.
A perfect 6-0 homestand 🏠 pic.twitter.com/JvMojAlKX5
— Wake Forest Women's Basketball (@WakeWBB) November 23, 2025
Sunday's win concludes the six-game homestand to open the season. Other wins included Radford (71-64, Nov. 3), Presbyterian (78-41, Nov. 6), Hampton (77-48, Nov. 9), Mercer (66-61, Nov. 13), and NC Central (68-65, Nov. 20).
Coach Megan Gebbia and the team head to the Caribbean for the Thanksgiving holiday, as they will play in the Puerto Rico Shootout. They will take on Morgan State on Wednesday afternoon, then UCF on Thursday afternoon.
Carter and Oliver Lead the Way in Win over Catamounts
The Demon Deacons were led by dual double-digit scoring performances from sophomore forward Grace Oliver and junior guard/forward Mary Carter, knocking back 13 points apiece. Additionally, Carter recorded seven total rebounds, just one shy of tying her season high.
Wake Forest forced the Catamounts into 14 turnovers during Sunday’s contest, forcing 10 or more takeaways in 73 of the last 77 games.
Five separate Deacs recorded four or more rebounds against the Catamounts, with sophomore forward Kennedy Moore and freshman guard Caitlyn Jones each grabbing a career-high. Jones also earned a season-high with four assists, which led the Deacs.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons held Western Carolina without a free throw and also to zero points off turnovers and zero fast break points.
Wake led 19-15 after the 1st quarter. They would then go an 6-0 run to start the 2nd quarter. They would take a 35-21 lead into halftime. Carter reached her double-double with a three-pointer to begin the third quarter offense.
Sharpshooter 🎯 pic.twitter.com/vDzV4RHtJi
— Wake Forest Women's Basketball (@WakeWBB) November 23, 2025
Wake was up 48-31 after three quarters. In the 4th quarter, the Demon Deacon defense stood strong in the closing minutes of the game, holding the Cats to over a three-minute scoring drought in the last five minutes of the game. With a minute remaining, Carter drained three to make it 60-49.
“The things that I really liked to see is our point guards played well and they had a 7-to-1 assist-turnover-ratio. We had 16 assists and just five turnovers and we limited them in so many categories including zero free throws, zero fast break points and zero points off turnovers. Madi and Caitlyn were great off the bench and provided good energy and great minutes for us. It was great to play against a zone defense to keep working against it and being in the right spot to exploit it. We need to shoot free throws better and finish in the fourth quarter especially on the defensive end of the floor. 6-0 feels great but we need to take care of ourselves the next couple of days to play three games in three days. We are going to need everyone this trip to play well down there. I am excited to continue to build on this stretch as we play away from home for the first time.”Wake Forest Head Coach Megan Gebbia
Game Stats - Wake Forest vs. Western Carolina
Game Stats | Wake Forest | Western Carolina |
|---|---|---|
FG | 24-59 (40.7%) | 20-62 (32.3%) |
3PT | 7-24 (29.2%) | 9-23 (39.1%) |
FT | 5-12 (41.7%) | 0-0 (0%) |
Rebounds (Off/Def) | 36 (9/27) | 39 (13/26) |
Assists | 16 | 18 |
Turnovers | 5 | 14 |
Steals | 6 | 2 |
Blocks | 2 | 3 |
What's Next
Wake Forest women's basketball travels to San Juan for the Puerto Rico Shootout. They will play Morgan State on Wednesday, November 26, at 3 p.m. ET. Then, they will play UCF on Thursday, November 27, at 12:30 p.m. ET. Both games can be seen on FloSports (subscription required).
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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.