On Thursday at 3:00 PM PT on ACCNX, Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the road. Stanford comes in at 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC while Wake Forest comes in at 7-9 overall and 0-5 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford fell to No. 21 NC State on Sunday at home by a final score of 81-67. Stanford guard Chloe Clardy had 17 points.
RECAP: Stanford WBB falls to No. 21 NC State at Maples
On Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons have had a tough season so far as their winless league record indicates. They even lost at home to Fairfield. Suffice to say, they’re not a good team. That said, they do seem to be improving as they lost in overtime to Louisville at home and lost by single digits on the road at Virginia Tech.
The Deacons are led by senior guard Elise Williams (10.9 points & 3.9 rebounds) and redshirt junior forward Malaya Cowles (10.3 points & 6.3 rebounds). They’re the only players scoring in double figures on average, which speaks to the lack of firepower that they have.
As a team, the Deacons average 61.5 points per game on 42.9% shooting from the field, 30.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 66.5% shooting from the foul line. They average 32.3 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 9.5 steals, 2.8 blocks, and 16.5 turnovers per game. They also average a -0.9 rebound margin and a +0.4 turnover margin. Their opponents average 59.9 points per game on 39.0% shooting from the field, 28.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.4% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is win the turnover battle. If they are the team that is taking better care of the ball, they should be in a good spot to win this game. Wake Forest struggles in this area and Stanford needs to take advantage.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is shoot well from the perimeter. Wake Forest is not used to seeing good 3-point shooting. If players like Elena Bosgana and Brooke Demetre knock down their threes, Stanford will be in a good spot.
Finally, Nunu Agara needs to get rolling. She’ll be the best player on the floor and she’ll need to play like it. If she has a good performance scoring around her average with like 17 points and 10 rebounds, I like Stanford’s chances.
Prediction: Even though it’s on the road, I got Stanford winning this one. Wake Forest is winless in the ACC and I expect them to remain winless after this one. Stanford has been knocking on the door on the road and I think they’ll breakthrough today. As for a final score, I think Stanford will win rather comfortably by a final score of 72-63.
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