Sports > March 6, 2008

By Matt Six | Staff writer

The Wake Forest women’s basketball team headed to Blacksburg, Va., March 2 to round up their ACC regular season at Virgina Tech. They lost to the Hokies 61-56, splitting the season series.

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Juniors Alex Tchangoue and Corinne Groves defend against the Virginia Tech offense. The Deacons are seeded No. 11 in the ACC Tournament and will face No. 6 Florida State. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

Freshman Brittany Waters led the Deacs with 15 points and five rebounds.

Junior Corinne Groves added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Mekia Valentine had eight points and 11 rebounds.

“It is a fun environment to play in,” Waters said in reference to playing on the team. “Being 11 hours away from home, my team is like my family so it helps me gel with my team.”

Waters has been at the top of her game against the Hokies.

During the last match-up, Waters earned her first collegiate start and posted a career-high 15 points in a Deacon victory.

She matched that total in this most recent match up.

The first half seesawed back-and-forth with five ties and five lead changes within the first nine minutes.

Unfortunately the Deacons could not extend the lead once they obtained it. The Hokies were able to lengthen their lead to 11 points at the half, 42-31.

Virginia Tech’s run started with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Wake’s scoring was evenly spread out with Waters and Groves leading the team with eight points at the half. The Lady Deacs started the second half with a 6-0 run.

This cut the Tech lead to five at 42-37 at the first media timeout.

The run was dampened by foul trouble as Wake picked up six team fouls for the second half with more than 15 minutes remaining.

Head Coach Mike Petersen called a timeout at this time to tell his team to step up the defensive pressure and to avoid committing unnecessary fouls.

Junior Alex Tchangoue and sophomore Courteney Morris accumulated four fouls with 12 and a half minutes remaining. Groves had three fouls at this time as well.

The Deacons typically only play seven player rotation, so having three starters in foul trouble – and ultimately having two of them foul out – proved detrimental to their chance at a victory.

Tech went on an 8-0 run starting at the 14:38 mark, after a Groves jumper had cut the lead to four.

Tchangoue fouled out with four minutes remaining in the game. At this time the Deacs were down 10.

They refused to give up, as they cut the lead to six with a quick 4-0 run immediately after Tchangoue fouled out.

Ultimately, Wake’s foul troubles and turnover woes led to their downfall.

The Deacons committed 22 turnovers, most coming in the second half. The Hokies only committed 12.

Wake lost despite outscoring Tech 25-19 in the second half. The Deacons also had the rebound margin over the Hokies (44-31), and they shot better from behind the arc at 38.9 percent (7-18).

The loss turns the bottom of the ACC into a logjam with Wake, Virginia Tech and Miami — all having two conference wins.

Wake Forest holds the tie-breaker over Miami because of its win over the Hurricanes 50-45 at LJMC Feb. 24.

There was a coin toss to settle the 10th place tie with Virginia Tech.

The Wake Forest women’s basketball team drew the 11th seed in the upcoming ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

“Going into the tournament, I feel as though we have grown as a team and that our

chemistry is a lot stronger,” Waters said. “Everyone on the team has something to bring to the team, which will help us accomplish what we are trying to do.”

The Demon Deacons will face the sixth-seeded Florida State Seminoles on March 6 in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Wake lost their only game this year against Florida State, falling 80-54 in Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 17.