Sports > February 28, 2008

By Greg Mantell | Staff writer

Despite their struggles, the Wake Forest women’s basketball team triumphed in their final home game of the season Feb. 24, beating the Miami Hurricanes 50-45. The win elevated the Deacons out of last place in the ACC standings, which is now occupied by Virginia Tech.

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Freshman forward Brittany Waters passes the ball during the Feb. 17 game against N.C. State at home. The team’s last game is on March 2 at Virginia Tech. (Andrew Imboden/Old Gold & Black)

The Lady Deacs now have a conference record of 2-11 and a record of 15-13 overall.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, sit just ahead of Wake in the ACC 2-10 record in conference play and a 9-18 record overall.

Juniors Alex Tchangoue and Corrine Groves once again led the way by securing team highs in both points and rebounds, respectively.

Tchangoue, the team’s leading scorer with an average of 11.5 points per game, scored a game-high 18 points.

And Groves, who isn’t far behind her teammate with an average of 11.4 points per game, netted 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

Wake opened the game with a 6-0 run, thanks to a layup from Tchangoue and two consecutive jumpers from Groves.

But Miami’s senior guard Maurita Reid, who led her team in scoring with 15 points, netted a shot off the glass at the 14:34 mark to give the Hurricanes’ first basket of the game.

The drive would be a sign of trouble for Wake, as they struggled to defend in the lane all game long.

Tchangoue scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the first half, as Wake carried a nine point lead into halftime, 27-18. Wake led by as much as 11 at the six-minute mark, their largest lead of the game.

However, Miami had outscored the Deacons 14-2 in the paint. The Deacons, on the other hand, netted eight points off of the Canes’ turnovers. Both teams combined for 35 turnovers in the game.

In the second half, however, the Hurricanes’ points on the perimeter helped the U chip away at the Deacons’ lead.

Both Reid and freshman Briyana Blair hit three-pointers, and when Wake’s freshman Brittany Waters fouled Miami’s LaToya Drake, the lead had dwindled to three, 38-35. After a Hurricanes timeout, sophomore Diane Barnes hit yet another layup, cutting the Deacons’ lead to one, 38-37.

With the score knotted at 40-38, Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen called a 20-second timeout with 6:33 on the clock. On the very next play, Waters atoned for her foul with a drive to the hoop, laying the ball in off the glass to give the Deacs a two-possession lead, 42-38. Despite a season high 13 steals, Miami failed to capitalize on the Deacons’ miscues. Clutch free-throws made by both Tchangoe and Groves in the game’s waning minutes secured the team’s second conference win of the season. Wake never trailed in the game.

Christen Brown, the team’s lone senior, nabbed five rebounds her final game at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Dalton, Ga. native started in 19 of the 102 games that she played in over the course of her career.

For their final game of the regular season, the women’s basketball team will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face the Virginia Tech Hokies, the only other ACC opponent to fall to the Demon Deacons, on March 2. The team will then compete in the women’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro from March 6-9.