Wake Forest Women’s Basketball Head Coach Megan Gebbia and her team made one thing clear on opening night: this is not the Wake Forest team of last year.
In a resounding 102-40 opening day onslaught, Wake Forest women’s basketball overwhelmed Queens University of Charlotte at home. The dominant performance set a significantly different tone from last year’s disappointing season — one that Gebbia said her team couldn’t wait to distance themselves from.
“I think they were just anxious to get out there and show everybody that we’re a different team than last year,” Gebbia said.
From the moment Wake Forest went on back-to-back, double-digit scoring runs to open up the first quarter, the game appeared to be over well before it began. Seven Demon Deacons eventually entered double-digit scoring as Wake Forest unloaded for an insurmountable triple-digit score.
Notable among the leading scorers was veteran senior forward Demeara Hinds. After missing the entire 2023-24 season with an injury, Hinds (12 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST) stepped right back into her critical role as a presence in the paint that Wake Forest greatly missed last season.
“I was obviously nervous, had a lot of jitters getting out there,” Hinds said. “But once we got up and down a couple of times, it kinda just felt like home to me again.”
But Wake Forest’s offensive inundation wasn’t the only key to making it a whopping 62-point game. With 18 steals and a pair of blocks, the Demon Deacons’ defense played just as big a role in making it a blowout victory.
“The defensive side of the ball was a real struggle for us last year,” Gebbia said. “So, we worked a lot on our defense.”
Gebbia also cited the importance of leadership and experience for the improvements she witnessed across her team’s play. With experienced starters like transfer guard Tamia Jones (15 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST), Wake Forest appeared to enjoy more confidence and better communication.
“I’m coming in new, just trying to add a new level,” Jones said, “make sure everybody — defensively, especially. Just raise it.”
When asked to describe her new team in one word, Jones noted Wake Forest’s “resilience.” She said that, along with experience, part of her job as a leader and newcomer is to push this team forward and continue making sure Wake Forest plays their best basketball possible.
Jones explains that an important part of her role as a newcomer is “being able to bounce back, … not feel sorry for yourself, and come in and punch people in the mouth like we did tonight.”
Wake Forest will look to carry their momentum into a two-game road trip to Charlotte on Thursday and Villanova on Sunday.
