ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2026

Megan Gebbia

Mary Carter

Emily Johns

Gas South Arena

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Postgame Press Conference

California 75, Wake Forest 52

MEGAN GEBBIA: Not our best performance. I think we were disappointed in how we played, especially on the offensive end early in the game. I thought we did a fairly good job getting some stops in that first quarter. I think we finished the quarter 11-10, 10-11, whatever.

Then second quarter we gave up some things that we shouldn't have given up in our defense, and then we really kind of stalled offensively.

Then I thought Mary came in playing, I thought, fairly well. We got her some shots. She made some shots, the ones she got. But I thought overall it was a really good experience for a young team that's never been here before.

I felt like Cal leveled up. We did not level up in the second half. You need to do that in situations like this.

But I do think experience is -- you can't replace that. I think having the experience of being here, knowing what it takes to win games at this level just in general but also in the tournament, takes a lot of effort and energy and cohesion.

At times I felt like we were cohesive and at other times I didn't feel that.

We know we have things to work on and we'll take the experience from this game and work on it as we head into maybe postseason tournament or something like that.

Q. Coach, you just mentioned this is a young team, this is our first time here. What are some of the lessons you hope they take away?

MEGAN GEBBIA: Well, the leveling up piece, obviously you have to play to the level and you've got to rise to the level and play higher than that. I think that's a good lesson.

I think it's just -- I felt like we were a little nervous early on. I had to go in at halftime and say, shoot when you're open. As a coach, you don't want to have to say that at halftime to some of the players that I felt were playing a little tentative. You have to come out with a lot of energy and a lot of effort and just confidence in yourself.

I thought Mary did that today. I thought she was very confident in what she brought to the table, and it showed. I thought she was a really good bright spot. I thought Grace Galbavy was a bright spot, as well.

It's unfortunate that it had to be this type of loss. I would have liked for it to be a little bit closer, but the lesson is it's a 40 minute game. It doesn't matter what you're down, you still have to fight back. I felt like at times we did, and at times it felt like we didn't.

Q. Mary, you guys made a pretty good sized jump from last year to this year. What are some things that contributed to that? You were close in a lot of games. What are some things to work on to maybe get a game like that double overtime loss to Virginia back?

MARY CARTER: Yeah, like she said, we are really young and we also have a lot of new people. This is my first year playing in the ACC and playing for Wake Forest.

Getting that experience is really helpful, so this year we learned a ton of lessons. Like those games where they're super close we learned little things like how we need to be super -- like, almost perfect towards the end to make sure that we can pull out the win.

I think all those little lessons in all those games where we were super close are great lessons for next year since we have so much youth.

Q. Coach, how do you feel about the foundation going into next year right now?

MEGAN GEBBIA: I feel great about that. It's a great question. Thank you for asking.

It's a great group of young women that really put everything on the line for -- like their development and their growth, and they want to get better. As a coach, you can't ask for more than that.

Yeah, I think it's exciting. This group could really go a long way as we go through the next year. It's just a matter of winning those close games because that gives you the momentum that you need.

I think we lost three overtime games in our conference, which hurts. You win the first one, maybe you win the second one, and then maybe the third one seems a little bit easier.

But I just love the group. I'm excited to coach them. I look forward to what postseason looks like and how we develop in the postseason and in the summertime and adding a few more pieces to the puzzle.

Q. Ladies, talk a little bit about what it meant to get to this tournament because you haven't been here in a couple years, and Coach mentioned from her perspective how you can grow from this experience.

EMILY JOHNS: Yeah, like you said, we're a very young group, so just going from last year to this year with a young group, getting into the tournament, it's a pretty cool experience.

Coach was saying this in the locker room; there was only one teammate that actually has participated and been here. So just getting the opportunity was great.

Then in terms of the youth and taking this opportunity and lessons and putting it into next year, we've just got to keep building, and like with the overtime losses, just take those lessons into next year as we continue to grow.