I watched most of the first half of the Demon Deacon's game against the Cardinal in Palo Alto last Thursday night. It was a low scoring affair with Stanford winning 55-43. Stanford jumped out in front in the opening quarter by 9 points and expanded their margin to 11 at halftime, 24-13. The second half was virtually even (31-30). Neither team registered twenty points in any quarter. The defensive effort was intense, holding both teams to shooting percentages of 29.8 to 29.1, respectively.
HC Megan Gebbia is in her second season at Wake Forest, and she has impressed me. Her team was picked last (18th) in the ACC. She only returned three players from last year, yet she plays an eight-player rotation of three freshmen, three sophs & two juniors and is 12-5. She recruited a top 25 recruit class and started three of them in Palo Alto. The other two starters were a soph and a junior. These players are scrappy and get after it. They have held their opponents to to 56.5 points per game through 17 games.
Gebbia had her team play a 1-3-1 zone against Stanford and it shut down their offense. It's designed to make it difficult to connect on three-point shots. Only one Cardinal player, Nunu Agara, was able to find a way to score. She produced 27 of the home team's 55 points by finding soft spots in the zone defense. She hit 10-12 foot base line jumpers on either side of the basket. She received passes around the free throw line and scored from there. Agara grabbed 9 rebounds, 5 of them were offensive. She was fouled often and was a perfect 8-8 from the FT line. Stanford only was successful on 5 of 24 three-point efforts (20.8%).
I am going to suggest a gameplan that might be successful against the 1-3-1. If Cal pounds the ball inside (like they did against Duke) and drives to the basket, I predict that they will prevail 67-57. The Bears basically had no three-point shooting versus the Blue Devils yet put up 74 points. Stanford also crushed WF on the boards, outrebounding them 51-32. The Cardinal grabbed 20 offensive boards! Cal out rebounded Wake Forest last season by a large margin, too, and captured that game. I don't know how the Bears will find the soft spots in the Demon Deacon's zone, but Charmin & her coaching staff need to design some plays that will attempt to do that tomorrow afternoon.
2025-26 Women's Basketball Roster - Wake Forest University Athletics
I will quickly review WF's eight player rotation since they have a lot of new personnel. Their 5-9 soph PG is Aurora Sorbye from Norway. She leads her team in assists with 3.35 per game. She scores 6.9 ppg primarily by being the #2 three-point shooter with 17 made. Freshman 5-8 shooting guard, Milan Brown, contributes 7.4 points but leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 boards per game. Brown is very athletic and stands second in steals with 21. Their top long-distance threat is 6-3 junior wing, Mary Carter, from Antelope HS in Sacramento.
The NorCal product is the #2 offensive threat on Wake Forest and averages 11.4 points plus 5.2 rebounds. On the season, Carter has hit 41 treys! Their top scorer is 6-1 soph PF, Grace Oliver, with 13.6 points per contest. She might be their best all-around player with 23 steals and 5.4 boards/g. She is tied for 3rd in three-point baskets with 15. Their starting post is 6-3 Aussie freshman, Opal Bird. Her numbers are 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds plus she is tops in blocked shots w/ 14. (see second page of stats)
WBB_Season_1.8.pdf
The first player off of the bench is typically 5-8 frosh SG Caitlyn Jones. She makes things happen with 7.2 points per game in only 17 minutes of PT. The next post is 6-2 sophomore Kennedy Moore who adds 3.7 points to the offense. Finally, Madisyn Jordan is another 6-1 junior wing player that can drill the three with 15
treys on the season.
I hope that Cal does not come out flat. This young group from Wake Forest exudes energy. It would be really big for the Bears to jump out to a solid lead in the 1st quarter like the Cardinal did. This team is not the caliber of the eight teams that Cal has lost to in their 9-8 season. Cal needs to learn how to close out the fourth quarter to preserve a victory! This would break their losing streak and make the future feel positive, again.
GO BEARS!
HC Megan Gebbia is in her second season at Wake Forest, and she has impressed me. Her team was picked last (18th) in the ACC. She only returned three players from last year, yet she plays an eight-player rotation of three freshmen, three sophs & two juniors and is 12-5. She recruited a top 25 recruit class and started three of them in Palo Alto. The other two starters were a soph and a junior. These players are scrappy and get after it. They have held their opponents to to 56.5 points per game through 17 games.
Gebbia had her team play a 1-3-1 zone against Stanford and it shut down their offense. It's designed to make it difficult to connect on three-point shots. Only one Cardinal player, Nunu Agara, was able to find a way to score. She produced 27 of the home team's 55 points by finding soft spots in the zone defense. She hit 10-12 foot base line jumpers on either side of the basket. She received passes around the free throw line and scored from there. Agara grabbed 9 rebounds, 5 of them were offensive. She was fouled often and was a perfect 8-8 from the FT line. Stanford only was successful on 5 of 24 three-point efforts (20.8%).
I am going to suggest a gameplan that might be successful against the 1-3-1. If Cal pounds the ball inside (like they did against Duke) and drives to the basket, I predict that they will prevail 67-57. The Bears basically had no three-point shooting versus the Blue Devils yet put up 74 points. Stanford also crushed WF on the boards, outrebounding them 51-32. The Cardinal grabbed 20 offensive boards! Cal out rebounded Wake Forest last season by a large margin, too, and captured that game. I don't know how the Bears will find the soft spots in the Demon Deacon's zone, but Charmin & her coaching staff need to design some plays that will attempt to do that tomorrow afternoon.
2025-26 Women's Basketball Roster - Wake Forest University Athletics
I will quickly review WF's eight player rotation since they have a lot of new personnel. Their 5-9 soph PG is Aurora Sorbye from Norway. She leads her team in assists with 3.35 per game. She scores 6.9 ppg primarily by being the #2 three-point shooter with 17 made. Freshman 5-8 shooting guard, Milan Brown, contributes 7.4 points but leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 boards per game. Brown is very athletic and stands second in steals with 21. Their top long-distance threat is 6-3 junior wing, Mary Carter, from Antelope HS in Sacramento.
The NorCal product is the #2 offensive threat on Wake Forest and averages 11.4 points plus 5.2 rebounds. On the season, Carter has hit 41 treys! Their top scorer is 6-1 soph PF, Grace Oliver, with 13.6 points per contest. She might be their best all-around player with 23 steals and 5.4 boards/g. She is tied for 3rd in three-point baskets with 15. Their starting post is 6-3 Aussie freshman, Opal Bird. Her numbers are 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds plus she is tops in blocked shots w/ 14. (see second page of stats)
WBB_Season_1.8.pdf
The first player off of the bench is typically 5-8 frosh SG Caitlyn Jones. She makes things happen with 7.2 points per game in only 17 minutes of PT. The next post is 6-2 sophomore Kennedy Moore who adds 3.7 points to the offense. Finally, Madisyn Jordan is another 6-1 junior wing player that can drill the three with 15
treys on the season.
I hope that Cal does not come out flat. This young group from Wake Forest exudes energy. It would be really big for the Bears to jump out to a solid lead in the 1st quarter like the Cardinal did. This team is not the caliber of the eight teams that Cal has lost to in their 9-8 season. Cal needs to learn how to close out the fourth quarter to preserve a victory! This would break their losing streak and make the future feel positive, again.
GO BEARS!
