Wake Forest Storms Back to Defeat Virginia in First Round
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Wake Forest had Virginia’s ACC Women’s number yet again.
Facing an 11-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s first-round game, the No. 14 seeded Demon Deacons stunned the 11th-seeded Cavaliers with a late blitz that netted a 58-55 win at Greensboro Coliseum.
Wake Forest (7-24) outscored Virginia 22-3 in the first 9:51 of the final quarter as the Cavaliers dropped their tournament opener to the Demon Deacons for the third straight year. Wake Forest earned a spot opposite No. 6 seed Florida State in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. second-round game.
The Demon Deacons’ comeback was so thorough that Wednesday night’s final score proved somewhat deceptive. Virginia trailed by eight points before Camryn Taylor and Kymora Johnson each threw in 3-pointers in the final nine seconds.
Elsie Williams tallied 11 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as Wake Forest scored seven points off Virginia turnovers and had six second-chance points.Williams’ nine rebounds tied for the game high.
Alexandria Scruggs added 12 points for Wake Forest.
Taylor’s 18 points led Virginia, and Taylor scored 15.
Ironically, an explosive third quarter had appeared to turn things around for the Cavaliers (15-15). After trailing 25-23 at the half, Virginia outscored the Deacons 23-10 to take a 46-35 lead into the final period. But that proved short-lived.
Wake Forest will be seeking its first win over Florida State in three tries after dropping both regular-season meetings. The Seminoles prevailed 73-61 at home on New Year’s Eve and then claimed a 71-63 win at Winston-Salem on Feb. 22.
Facing an 11-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s first-round game, the No. 14 seeded Demon Deacons stunned the 11th-seeded Cavaliers with a late blitz that netted a 58-55 win at Greensboro Coliseum.
Wake Forest (7-24) outscored Virginia 22-3 in the first 9:51 of the final quarter as the Cavaliers dropped their tournament opener to the Demon Deacons for the third straight year. Wake Forest earned a spot opposite No. 6 seed Florida State in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. second-round game.
The Demon Deacons’ comeback was so thorough that Wednesday night’s final score proved somewhat deceptive. Virginia trailed by eight points before Camryn Taylor and Kymora Johnson each threw in 3-pointers in the final nine seconds.
Elsie Williams tallied 11 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as Wake Forest scored seven points off Virginia turnovers and had six second-chance points.Williams’ nine rebounds tied for the game high.
Alexandria Scruggs added 12 points for Wake Forest.
Taylor’s 18 points led Virginia, and Taylor scored 15.
Ironically, an explosive third quarter had appeared to turn things around for the Cavaliers (15-15). After trailing 25-23 at the half, Virginia outscored the Deacons 23-10 to take a 46-35 lead into the final period. But that proved short-lived.
Wake Forest will be seeking its first win over Florida State in three tries after dropping both regular-season meetings. The Seminoles prevailed 73-61 at home on New Year’s Eve and then claimed a 71-63 win at Winston-Salem on Feb. 22.
(Courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference)