# 2020–21 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball team represented Wake Forest University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Demon Deacons, were led by ninth year head coach Jen Hoover, are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and played their home games at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons finished the season 12–13 and 8–10 in ACC play to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the ninth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated North Carolina in the Second Round before losing to Louisville in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the nine seed in the Alamo Region. In the tournament, they lost in the First Round to eight seed Oklahoma State.

## Previous season

They finished the season 16–16 and 7–11 in ACC play to finish in a tie for eleventh place. As the thirteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated North Carolina in the First Round and Virginia Tech in the Second Round before losing to Florida State in the Quarterfinals. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Ellen Hahne | 10 | G | 5'11" | Sophomore | Stockholm, Sweden | Transferred to Albany |
| Alex Sharp | 14 | G | 6'1" | Senior | Melbourne, Australia | Graduated |
| Raegyn Branch | 21 | F | 6'2" | Senior | Arlington, TN | Graduated |
| Ona Udoh | 44 | F | 6'1" | Senior | Fayetteville, NC | Graduated |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Jewel Spear PG | The Colony, TX | The Colony | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Nevaeh Brown G | Charlotte, NC | Mallard Creek | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Aliah McWhorter G | Cincinnati, OH | Sycamore | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Demeara Hinds F | Douglasville, GA | Lithia Springs | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 27, 2020* 11:30 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 14 Arkansas Gulf Coast Showcase | L 82–98 | 0–1 | Alico Arena Fort Myers, FL |
| November 28, 2020* 11:30 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. Davison Gulf Coast Showcase | W 85–77 | 1–1 | Alico Arena Fort Myers, FL |
| November 29, 2020* 2:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 24 Missouri State Gulf Coast Showcase | W 68–59 | 2–1 | Alico Arena Fort Myers, FL |
| December 3, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | W 78–75 | 3–1 | Dale F. Halton Arena (52) Charlotte, NC |
| December 10, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | North Carolina | W 57–54 | 4–1 (1–0) | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| December 13, 2020* Noon, ACCNX | | Norfolk State | Canceled due to COVID-19 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| December 17, 2020 7:00 p.m., RSN | | at No. 4 NC State | L 65–79 | 4–2 (1–1) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| December 20, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at North Carolina | L 74–77 $^{OT}$ | 4–3 (1–2) | Carmichael Arena (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| December 22, 2020* 11:00 a.m. | | Coastal Carolina | Canceled due to COVID-19 | Canceled due to COVID-19 | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 3, 2021 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Florida State | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 7, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Miami (FL) | W 63–60 | 5–3 (2–2) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 10, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | No. 3 NC State | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 10, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | Boston College | W 68–48 | 6–3 (3–2) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 12, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Virginia | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| January 14, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Notre Dame | L 72–79 | 6–4 (3–3) | Purcell Pavilion (50) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 17, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Virginia Tech | W 67–64 | 7–4 (4–3) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 21, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Georgia Tech | L 44–73 | 7–5 (4–4) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 24, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | No. 1 Louisville | L 63–65 | 7–6 (4–5) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 28, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Florida State | W 73–59 | 8–6 (5–5) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| January 31, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | Clemson | L 66–69 | 8–7 (5–6) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| February 4, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Syracuse | L 78–85 | 8–8 (5–7) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| February 7, 2021 Noon, RSN | | at Georgia Tech | W 61–52 | 9–8 (6–7) | McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA |
| February 11, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Pittsburgh | W 64–61 $^{OT}$ | 10–8 (7–7) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| February 14, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Clemson | W 72–65 | 11–8 (8–7) | Littlejohn Coliseum (512) Clemson, SC |
| February 18, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN | | No. 4 NC State | L 47–66 | 11–9 (8–8) | LJVM Coliseum (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| February 21, 2021 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Duke | Canceled due to Duke ending season | Canceled due to Duke ending season | LJVM Coliseum Winston–Salem, NC |
| February 25, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Miami (FL) | L 67–69 | 11–10 (8–9) | Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL |
| February 28, 2021 Noon, RSN | | at Florida State | L 51–59 | 11–11 (8–10) | Donald L. Tucker Center (1,163) Tallahassee, FL |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 Noon, RSN | (9) | vs. (8) North Carolina Second Round | W 82–71 | 12–11 | Greensboro Coliseum (609) Greensboro, NC |
| March 5, 2021 Noon, RSN | (9) | vs. (1) No. 5 Louisville Quarterfinals | L 53–65 | 12–12 | Greensboro Coliseum (592) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (9 A) | vs. (8 A) Oklahoma State First Round | L 61–84 | 12–13 | Bill Greehey Arena San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A=Alamo. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll and AP does not release a final poll.