Raca, Wake Forest women beat North Carolina in ACC tourney

Mar 4, 2020, 08:22 pm

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Ivana Raca tied her career-high with 27 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds, Alex Sharp scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half, and Wake Forest beat North Carolina 83-73 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Wednesday.

Sharp added 10 rebounds to move past Tracy Connor into third in program history with 907 career rebounds. Christina Morra had a career-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds and Gina Conti scored 10 points for Wake Forest (15-15).

The No. 13 seed Demon Deacons play fifth-seeded Virginia Tech in the second round Thursday. The Hokies won the only regular-season matchup between the teams 73-62.

Conti hit a 3-pointer and Morra sandwiched a jumper and a layup around a 3 by Sharp to give Wake Forest a 71-58 lead with 7:26 to play. Shayla Bennett hit a 3-pointer for the Tar Heels but Raca answered with a layup to spark an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 18 points midway through the fourth.

Bennett tied her career-high with 26 points and added seven assists for No. 12 seed North Carolina.

Wake Forest outrebounded the Tar Heels 47-22, including 20-5 on the offensive glass, and outscored North Carolina 32-4 in second-chance points.

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