March 1, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Wake Forest Demon Deacons got past a determined Virginia Tech squad, 80-74, Thursday evening in opening round play of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament in the Greensboro Coliseum. The seventh-seeded Demon Deacons raced out to an early lead behind the hot shooting of junior Lakevia Boykin and held off the 10th-seeded Hokies to advance to Friday's quarterfinal game against second-seeded Miami.

Boykin, who finished with a team-high 22 points, scored 12 of her squad's first 15 points while pacing the Deacons to an early 15-8 lead. After trailing by eight on three occasions in the first period, Virginia Tech rallied to go into the locker room down just one at halftime.

Although the Hokies never again led after scoring the game's first basket, they did fight back to tie the contest at 47 with 10 and a half minutes to play. Wake Forest responded with a 14-2 run to lead 61-49 with 6:33 remaining and expanded the lead to 15 with just under three minutes to play. Virginia Tech's late rally fell short, as the Demon Deacons advanced to the tournament quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year.

"I thought Virginia Tech did an outstanding job," said Wake Forest head coach Mike Petersen. "After Sunday's game (also against the Hokies), we talked for three straight days about (how) we were going to get a much better Virginia Tech team today. And we did... They played hard, they played together, they made shots, they made big plays today - and that's a credit to their team. The coaching staff, I think it's a credit to the people on the bench that they played extremely hard. They got rolling and we couldn't get it under control for a while... The thing I was very happy about was we never really freaked out. They made some runs, made some shots. We didn't really lose our minds. We just kind of kept playing. At this time of the year, that's really important. The sense of urgency is magnified. 'If we don't win, we have to go home' and all that. People tend to lose their minds a little bit, and this crew didn't. They did a really good job of staying composed."

Sophomore Chelsea Douglas scored 18 of her career-high tying 21 points in the second half to help hold off the Hokies.

Senior Secily Ray added a season-high 17 points and team-best seven rebounds in the Wake victory.

Sophomore Monet Tellier (23 points) and junior Aerial Wilson (20 points) led the way for the Hokies, who dropped to 7-23 on the year.

"Obviously our season is over. I told the kids in the locker room that I couldn't be any more proud," said Virginia Tech coach Dennis Wolf. "Our season ended with these kids trying as hard as they could try until the last possession, so as a coach I think that's all you can ask for and it's a tribute to the character of these kids. We made a series of mistakes during that stretch in the second half when the game got away from us, but then we just kept playing right to the end. Give credit to Wake Forest, they wore down a little bit, their kids made some clutch shots at tough times and we ended up on the short end."

Wake Forest, which improved to 18-12, will face Miami (25-4) at 6:00 p.m. Friday.

Wake Forest - Virginia Tech Notes

• The Demon Deacons have won their ACC Tournament opener in four consecutive years. Duke, the only other team in the league to win its first contest in the event in 2009, 2010 and 2011, can match that in Friday's quarterfinal against NC State.

• Wake has won six straight games against the Hokies overall.

• Lakevia Boykin surpassed her pre game scoring average (11.8) in the 12th minute of Thursday's game and finished with 22. Boykin has hit double figures in eight of her past 10 contests.

• Wake Forest's point total is its second-highest in ACC Tournament play. The Demon Deacons established the school record in an 83-66 win over Maryland in the 1999 quarterfinals.

• The Deacs' total of 24 made free throws is their highest in the tournament. The Deacs' previous high was 20 in a 1997 first-round game with Florida State.

• Monet Tellier set a Virginia Tech scoring record in ACC Tournament play with 23 points, exceeding the mark of 21 by Utahya Drye, set in the first round in 2009.

• Virginia Tech established a season high in field-goal percentage (.474); the Hokies were 27-of-57 from the floor.

• Wake's Secily Ray scored a season-high 17 points.

• Sophomore guard Chelsea Douglas tied a career high with 21 points for the Deacs.

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