Wake Forest Uses Turnovers, Big First Quarter To Turn Back Bears

Sunday, November 8

Winston-Salem, N.C.

12:30 p.m.

Mercer University

2-1,0-0SoCon

Wake Forest

3-0,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Mercer	9	23	12	7	51
Wake Forest	26	21	13	17	77

11/8/2026 2:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Ben Kinealy, kinealy_ben@mercer.edu

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest scored 30 points off of 24 turnovers and shot nearly 50 percent from the floor on the way to a 77-51 victory over visiting Mercer on Sunday afternoon in LJVM Coliseum.

The setback snapped a season-opening two-game winning skein for the Bears (2-1) who got 15 points from 5^th Year newcomer Ada Anamekwe in the loss. Wake Forest (2-0), who forced 10 turnovers in the game's first 10 minutes, improved to 8-1 all-time in the 48-year-old series with the Orange & Black.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Wake Forest 77, Mercer 51
RECORDS: Mercer 2-1 (0-0 SoCon); Wake Forest 2-0 (0-0 ACC)
LOCATION: Winston-Salem, N.C. (LJVM Coliseum)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The Demon Deacons scored a dozen points off of 10 turnovers and used 58.8 percent field goal shooting to build a 26-9 advantage through the first 10 minutes of play. The Bears took their last lead of the afternoon on Ada Anamekwe's driving layup at the 7:15 mark, but Mary Carter's lay-in at the other end of the floor sparked the hosts on a quarter-ending 21-3 run that gave Wake Forest control.

2ND QUARTER

The Bears shot an impressive 8-for-13 (.615) from the field in the second quarter and used the offensive surge to dig into their deficit. Wake Forest pushed its lead out to 28-9 on a Ramiyah Byrd layup 34 seconds into the stanza, but Mercer responded with an 18-4 run over the next four minutes to make it a two-possession game, 32-27. The Demon Deacons tacked up seven-straight points later in the frame to eventually lug a 47-32 advantage into intermission.

3RD QUARTER

The sides logged four made field goals apiece in a third quarter that saw very little change in the scoring margin. The Bears pulled to within a baker's dozen, 57-44, on a hookshot from Jala Wilson at the 2:05 mark, but Wake Forest got three points from Mary Carter down the stretch, including a free throw with 1:28 left in the quarter, to take a 60-44 lead into the fourth period.

4TH QUARTER

The Demon Deacons forced eight turnovers in the final stanza and used 43.8 percent field goal shooting to quell any hints of a Mercer comeback effort. The hosts pushed their lead out to 21 points, 67-46, on Aurora Srbye's layup with 4:37 left to play, and led by as many as 27 points, 73-46, following Adora Nwude's driving layup just more than two minutes later.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Brown transfer Ada Anamekwe scored nine of her team-best 15 points in the opening half and finished her afternoon with two rebounds, two assists and two steals as well.
+ Micah O'Dell added 11 points on 5-for-10 field goal shooting. She also pulled down eight rebounds and tallied a pair of assists.
+ Arizona Western transfer Kimora Jenkins came in off of the bench to match a season-best with nine points in 25 minutes of action. She also recorded three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

NOTABLES

+ Sunday's result snapped a season-opening two-game winning skein for the Bears who scored 69 points in each of their first two wins of the season (North Greenville, Georgia Southern).
+ The Bears fell to 1-8 all-time in the 48-year-old series with Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons have now captured eight-straight meetings with Mercer dating back to the 1987-88 campaign.

UP NEXT

Mercer will make a quick stop home on Wednesday to take on Charleston Southern (0-1) inside Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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