Wake Forest women’s basketball continued their road series on Sunday, heading down to Coral Gables to take on the University of Miami. The Demon Deacons looked to bounce back following their blowout loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday night. Despite their efforts, Wake Forest came up short 55-43, dropping their second game in a row.

“Our bye is coming at the right time,” Head Coach Megan Gebbia said. “We have some things that we need to figure out before closing the year strong starting next Sunday.”

Sloppy play on both sides of the ball allowed the Hurricanes to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Yet after three minutes, senior Kaia Harrison got Wake Forest on the board with a corner triple. Sophomore Elise Williams followed suit with a three of her own to bring the Demon Deacons to within one. Miami infiltrated the paint easily and got quick buckets on the other end. Junior Jewel Spear answered back though, crossing over her defender and nailing the triple. Spear’s 3-pointer moved her up to 24th on the all-time scoring list for the Demon Deacons. The Hurricanes drove easily to the basket in the final minutes of the first quarter to lead 16-13 after one.

The second quarter featured little-to-no offensive action, as both teams were scoreless in the first six minutes. Williams broke the deadlock with a nice drive to the basket, and laid it in to make it a one-possession game. From then on, it was all Miami, as the Hurricanes went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 25-15 going into the locker room. Wake Forest’s lackadaisical perimeter defense and inability to rebound allowed the Hurricanes to get second-chance points and extend their lead.

Similar to the Notre Dame contest, once a team went on a run the Demon Deacons had a hard time responding. Miami went on a 12-4 run in the third quarter and continued to attack the paint, draw fouls and get the and-one. With two seconds left on the shot clock, Williams hit a fade away floater from the inbound pass to keep Wake Forest in it. However, the Hurricanes continued to attack on the break and thread the needle with their passes inside to lead by 16 going into the final quarter of play.

The Demon Deacons were able to flip the switch in the fourth quarter, as they came alive offensively and went on a 9-0 run. Miami did not go away easy though, with the Hurricanes responding with five unanswered points to quickly erase their opposition’s efforts. Williams hit a deep 3-pointer to stop the Hurricanes run, but as the time went down, a comeback was looking less likely. The two sides traded baskets in the final two minutes, and Miami was able to hold on for the 55-43 victory.

“We have some work to do in the week ahead, but if we have the same effort we did late in the game I am encouraged that we will learn and turn a corner from this,” Gebbia said.

Wake Forest will have a week off before they face Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Demon Deacons will be looking to bounce back against the Virginia Tech Hokies and regain their momentum as they finish out the season.