Despite a disappointing regular season, Wake Forest Women’s Basketball Head Coach Megan Gebbia says her squad won’t be counted out of the postseason. 

“They never feel down and out,” Gebbia said after her fourteenth-seeded Demon Deacons (7-24, 2-16) defeated the eleventh-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (15-15, 7-11) on Wednesday, March 6, in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. Wake Forest surmounted an 11-point deficit in the final quarter to advance in the postseason bracket. 

The Demon Deacons looked far from a win through the first three quarters of the game. The team shot just 12-of-33 from the field in that time — putting them down by 11 by the end of the third period. 

“It really wasn’t our best shooting day by far,” Gebbia said. “We’ve been down a lot all year and haven’t been able to close out games.” 

But when the season ultimately came down to the final quarter, Wake Forest caught fire. Outscoring the Cavaliers 23-9, the Demon Deacons went on an 11-2 scoring run behind three consecutive triples, following it up with another 11-0 flurry to secure the win. Junior guard Elise Williams (25 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST) posted 11 of her 25 points in the final period to outscore the entire Virginia offense. 

“In that moment we absolutely needed to be resilient, we came through and it’s something that is just innate with this group,” Gebbia said after the win. 

Gebbia remarked that the comeback win was uncharacteristic of this Wake Forest team, but much about this squad has begun to turn around as of late. 

In fact, the Demon Deacons are enjoying the most successful streak of their season in months. Now 3-2 in their last five match-ups after picking up its first two conference wins on the road at the end of February, Wake Forest could be poised to continue winning in the postseason. 

Wake Forest will face No. 6 seeded Florida State (21-9, 12-6) at 7:30 p.m. on March 7 in the Greensboro Coliseum Complex for a spot in the ACC Tournament’s quarterfinals.