It was nothing but pure dominance for the Wake Forest Women’s Basketball team in their trip to Puerto Rico last weekend. The Demon Deacons took home all three of their contests in the Puerto Rico Shootout, beating Morgan State, UFC and Illinois State.

The first victory of the slate was far and away the most impressive. The matchup against Morgan State came at a 58-point margin, the largest since the season opener last year, and gave head coach Megan Gebbia her 200th career win. 

Freshman Milan Brown had arguably the best game of her collegiate career, as the guard notched 19 points without missing a field goal attempt. Brown also played her role inside the paint beautifully, collecting nine rebounds and going seven for eight on free throws. 

Freshman Caitlyn Jones also shone against the Bears last Wednesday, collecting 15 points and five assists while stealing two in the process. Both Jones and Brown saw extended minutes in this particular contest, giving them more experience as the season progresses.

“There is so much to be proud of in this one,” Gebbia said. “Our freshmen had some great individual performances, and I was happy for Milan and Caitlyn to both get career highs tonight.”

The following game came against UCF, in which the Demon Deacons yet again pulled out a victory, this one in overtime. In a matchup that remained tight throughout the 40 minutes of play, Wake Forest was able to remain resilient and move to 8-0 on the season.

After her solid performance the day prior, Jones went to work again and scored a brand new career high 17 points, thanks to an eight-for-12 performance from the field. Among other solid efforts, Grace Oliver and Raven Preston played their parts in getting the Demon Deacons past the Knights. 

Sophomore Oliver shot 60% from the field en route to collecting 13 points, in addition to her two steals. Preston, while only scoring six, made her mark with eight assists and nine rebounds, seven of which were from the defensive end. 

The third and final game of the Puerto Rico Shootout came against Illinois State, and, yet again, the Demon Deacons came out victorious. Despite playing in three consecutive games, Wake Forest stuck to their game plan and won convincingly against the Redbirds.

Thanks to a strong run in the first that gave the Deacons a 21-8 lead by the end of the quarter, they were able to cruise through the rest of the competition and take home their ninth win of the young season. While there was not one singular outstanding performance, the entire team contributed to the win in one way or another. 

“It’s hard to play three games in three days. This is an experience that this team needed to have.” Gebbia said. “We need to bring this same energy back home to finish non-conference strong. I am extremely proud of this group.”