Lady Jackets pick up ACC win

As the final buzzer sounded on Sunday afternoon, the Lady Jackets celebrated their first ACC win against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and improved to 12-6 on the season. The battle was hard fought as the Deacons threatened to retake the lead at the end with a fast barrage of baskets. Key three-pointers in the final two minutes of the game kept the win out of reach for Wake Forest.

Junior Stephanie Higgs nailed one from behind the arc with 1:42 left in the game, and Chioma Nnamaka’s three-pointer fell through the net with 55 seconds remaining.

Senior guards Liz Strunk and Cotelia Bond-Young scored 17 points for the Deacons; freshman guard Dierdre Naughton scored 16 while playing the entire 40 minutes of the game.

The 19 points for Higgs was the game high, and freshman April Phillips finished with 11 points.

The Jackets got out to an early lead, scoring the first six points in the game off quick jumpers. After the Deacons scored a basket, the Jackets then scored six points in a row to give them the 12-2 lead. Wake also missed 10 of their first 11 baskets of the game, but Tech was slow to get the rebounds. In the end, however, Tech had the edge in rebounds and it showed in the score.

Coach MaChelle Joseph talked about the Jackets’ game-plan and how they were “trying to work on the fundamentals: rebounding and defense.”

Earlier this month, the Jackets held the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils to their lowest total this season, 67 points. That’s something even No. 1 Tennessee could not do. The Volunteers fell to the Blue Devils 75-53 on Monday.

By breaking down each game and playing a defensive battle, the Jackets have been able to keep themselves in contention of winning of every game. By winning the rebound battle, the Jackets help themselves stay in the game by giving them the opportunity to take more shots and score more points. They had 18 second-chance points to Wake’s six.

Tech stretched the lead to a maximum of 14 points after a lay-up by Kentrina Wilson with 7:14 left in the first half.

Wake Forest cut the lead down to three when Bond-Young nailed a 3-pointer and Liz Strunk scored on a lay-up about a minute left in the first half.

Tech started the second half much the same way as the first with quick scores. This half, though, Wake Forest was able to answer as they kept up score for score with Tech and did not let the lead get away from them. With about seven and a half minutes left in the second half, the Deacons tied the game and took the lead with free throws. Phillips tied the game with a free throw, but Bond-Young put Wake over the top, again with points scored from behind the charity stripe. Tech took the lead for good when Janie Mitchell hit a lay-up with five minutes left, this happened after three missed shots and three rebounds by the Jackets. The lead grew to nine points for Tech after Wake started fouling, but the Deacons were unable to hit enough three point baskets as the Jackets started matching their shots and kept the lead down to the buzzer.

With 18 seconds left and a seven-point lead, Joseph called a 30-second timeout to organize her team to make sure they would secure the win. The Jackets won 66-61.

ACC Standings

Team Conf. Record

Duke 6-0

North Carolina 5-0

Maryland 4-1

Miami 3-2

N.C. State 2-3

Florida State 2-3

Virginia 2-3

Clemson 2-3

Wake Forest 1-4

Virginia Tech 1-4

Georgia Tech 1-4

Boston College 0-4

Updated through Wednesday’s games