CHARLOTTESVILLE -- This was no Christmas-morning kitten surprise. This was more like a bony hand from the grave when you're taking the shortcut through the cemetery sort of shocker.

First, Demon Deacons guard Camille Collier suddenly was summoning otherworldly spirits to guide her shots from outer space into the nets.

"I was like 'oh my god' we did not scout this," Virginia star Monica Wright said. "They came at us. They didn't give us anything easy."

Then, Wake Forest coach Mike Petersen decided to haunt Cavaliers stars Wright and Lyndra Littles with hands in their faces.

Both strategies worked, for a while. But then Collier's spell dissipated, the Cavaliers banded together to play better team defense and to crash the boards, and the resulting fast breaks broke the Deacons' defense.

Wright scored 20 points and Littles 19 as the Cavaliers outscored Wake Forest 38-8 in the final 15 minutes to overcome a 16-point deficit and earn a 77-59 victory in their ACC opener at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday.

Wright also had nine rebounds and four assists. Littles had eight boards.

Aisha Mohammed scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots for the Cavaliers (14-2, 1-0 ACC).

Brittany Waters scored 14 points for Wake Forest (12-3, 0-2).

Collier scored 21 of her game-high 25 points in the first half, hitting 5 of 8 3-point tries.

"Coach has been telling me to shoot straight up, to hold my follow through," Collier said. "Once I got the ball and once the first couple shots fell, I felt it."

She was also charged with guarding Wright in the Wake Forest's defense, designed to mark Wright and Littles one-on-one with zone help inside.

Wright and Littles were bothered by it, getting face-guarded for the first time this season, they said.

"We knew it was coming," Wright said. "We just didn't know it would happen this soon."

Wright went 2-for-13 from the floor in the first half, and Littles went 2-for-7 as the Deacons rolled up a 16-point lead with 5 ¹₂ minutes left in the half. But the Cavaliers started getting the ball down inside to Mohammed in the final five minutes to close the gap to 39-31.

Waters proved Collier wasn't the only Deacon good for 3 at the start of the second half, and Wake Forest quickly rebuilt its lead to 12 points and were still up by 56-49 with 11 minutes to go.

Then, the Cavaliers' defense really clamped down.

"We made up in our minds that we were going to come out every possession and get a stop," Littles said.

UVa coach Debbie Ryan settled on a lineup of Wright and Littles and three freshmen: Ariana Moorer, Chelsea Shine and Whitny Edwards.

That lineup, Ryan said, "totally locked down," on defense.

With 9 ¹₂ minutes to go, that lineup took off on a seven-minute, 24-0 run that included five steals and six defensive rebounds.

Shine got the steal under Wake Forest basket to start the fast break that lead to freshman point guard Moorer's three-point play that erased the Deacons' lead with 7:13 to go.

The usually stoic Moorer even pumped her fists.

"Did you see Ari when she got her and-1?" Littles asked at the postgame news conference. "I was so proud of her."

"I showed my emotions," Moorer confessed. "I don't usually do that."

During the run, Moorer had four assists, two steals and two defensive rebounds. She had six points, six rebounds and five assists for the game.

"In the first half, I was very nervous," Moorer said of playing in her first ACC game. "In the second half, the nerves were gone."

WAKE FOREST (12-3, 0-2)

Groves 2-10 1-2 5, Thomas 1-7 0-0 3, Tchangoue 2-6 3-4 7, Collier 10-21 0-0 25, Waters 6-9 0-1 14, Morris 1-3 1-2 3, Ray 1-8 0-0 2, Riddle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-65 5-9 59.

VIRGINIA (14-2, 1-0)

Littles 6-16 7-7 19, Hartig 3-6 0-0 6, Mohammed 6-9 3-4 15, Millner 1-3 3-4 5, Wright 8-22 4-5 20, W.Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Moorer 2-8 2-6 6, Hartig 0-1 0-0 0, Shine 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 29-73 19-26 77.

Halftime--Wake Forest 39-31. 3-point goals--Wake Forest 8-24 (Collier 5-13, Waters 2-3, Thomas 1-1, Morris 0-2, Ray 0-2, Tchangoue 0-3), Virginia 0-8 (Hartig 0-1, Moorer 0-2, W.Edwards 0-2, Wright 0-3). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Wake Forest 37 (Groves 10), Virginia 53 (Wright 9). Assists--Wake Forest 13 (Thomas 6), Virginia 15 (Moorer 5). Total Fouls--Wake Forest 20, Virginia 14. A--3,737.