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Welcome to the Heights (and The Heights). The grass is always greener at Boston College—literally, because grounds crews replace it each spring, and figuratively, because for the next four years, you’ll have a whole host of opportunities to become your best self. In Jesuit lingo, this means becoming “a man or woman for others” but in everyday language, it means making the most of your time here. You have one (or two) semester(s) abroad,  four tailgate seasons, eight chances to pick classes, about 140 weekends, and over 1,000 Chocolate Bar coffees. In four years, you’ll likely live in four different places on or off-campus, and sit in 40 different classes.

At orientation you’ll make friends—some will be for the next three days, and some might be for the next four year. You’ll hear your Orientation Leaders talk about their classes and the clubs they are in and wonder what your parallel experience might be. There will be a lot of thing you don’t quite understand—is the New England Classic a sandwich or a website? Is the Rat a cafeteria or something you dissect in anatomy lab? But soon, you’ll get it. And even sooner, you’ll be wondering where the time went. Your time in Chestnut Hill will be simultaneously too long and too short. Make each day matter.

You’re going to do great things here. And you’re going to have a great time doing it. (You can see some tips below I’ve picked up over a few years here.)

Best,

Carolyn Freeman, Editor-in-Chief

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• Stay Weird
• Change Is Good
• Get Off Campus
• Wear a Long Coat
• Get Involved, and Stay Involved
• Ask for Help

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So what is The Heights? 

The Heights is the independent student newspaper of Boston College, covering all news, sports, events, and issues in our community. It is published entirely by undergraduate students, independently from the University, and provides the most comprehensive coverage of campus. You can get a copy of The Heights every Monday and Thursday in all dining halls, academic buildings, and residence halls. Daily updates can be found online at bcheights.com, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Also be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can get breaking news updates as they occur during the school year.

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How do I get involved?

Join one of the largest and most visible student groups on campus. The Heights is looking for students who want to write, take pictures, draw cartoons, design pages, manage social media accounts, create digital content, video content, and sell advertisements. No previous experience in journalism is necessary, and your time commitment entirely up to you. If you are interested, stop by McElroy 113 anytime, email outreach@bcheights.com, or attend our fall information session. Incoming students can also consider applying to our Freshman Leadership Initiative Program (FLIP).

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What’s the Freshman Leadership Initiative Program (FLIP)?

Each year, The Heights selects 30 to 40 freshmen to participate in its Freshman Leadership Initiative Program (FLIP), a semester-long mentorship opportunity that pairs young talent with current members of The Heights’ board. This immersive, project-based experience gives incoming freshmen the opportunity to explore a range of roles in the newsroom, from digital content to ad sales. There also will be opportunities to meet with professionals and hear from Heights alumni on what work is like in the news industry today.

Those chosen for the program will immediately be integrated with the current staff. FLIP is geared toward preparing freshman for leadership positions within The Heights, with many members of the FLIP class joining the editorial board at the end of the fall.

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What roles are there within the organization?

WRITING — Incoming writers for The Heights join an award-winning staff and enter a BC tradition spanning 95 years. With six areas of focus—news, sports, arts, metro, features, and opinions—more content is published through The Heights than any other publication on campus. Printed at the headquarters of The Boston Globe, 5,000 copies of The Heights make their way to campus each Monday and Thursday during the academic year.

AD SALES — As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, The Heights, Inc. offers students hands-on business experience. Those joining the ads staff will be trained in how to interact with potential advertisers and also learn what it takes to manage a small business.

PHOTO — The Heights offers the most extensive visual coverage of what’s going on at BC. Heights photographers can be found on the sideline of every football game, at Boston-area concerts, and at major campus events.

GRAPHICS AND LAYOUT — Creating digital and print products for The Heights requires extensive design work. We are actively seeking out creative people who can maintain the newspaper’s distinctive style while taking on innovative new projects that enhance the experience for readers. Incoming layout and graphic staffers will be trained in Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.

DIGITAL CONTENT / WEB DESIGN — Currently, bcheights.com is the quickest growing element of our organization. We’re looking to train the web developers, social media specialists, and tech innovators who will continue to build our audiences and help us better deliver the news to students, wherever they might be.

How do I apply?

The online application to The Heights’ Freshman Leadership Initiative Program (FLIP) will become available in the fall. The program is open to all incoming freshmen, regardless of major. Applicants will be given the opportunity to tell us about themselves and specify areas of interest through the selection process. Email any additional questions to outreach@bcheights.com.

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Boston Hot Spots

Fuel America

Just minutes off campus, Fuel America (or “Fuel,” as the locals call it) enjoys a special connection with Boston College students. Its welcoming ambiance makes the coffee shop a great place to study, especially on weekends. Alongside its coffee menu, Fuel offers an array of foods that range from sandwiches and salads to pastries.

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the country, and has a collection of nearly 450,000 works. Located on Huntington Ave. near Northeastern University, the museum offers a number of exhibitions and educational programs throughout the year that make the MFA a must-see for new Bostonians. Admission also happens to be free with a BC ID.

Trident Booksellers and Cafe

Part bookstore, part cafe, and located on Boston’s famous Newbury St., Trident pretty much has it all. Trident is a popular destination for many college students in the area, and is a great place to grab brunch, study for midterms, or browse a two-floor selection of books and magazines. Food prices at Trident can be slightly higher than other area coffee shops, but every now and then, it’s worth it to treat yourself.

Fenway Park

Besides being the oldest ballpark in America, Fenway offers a special taste of Boston culture. Whether it’s grabbing a Fenway Frank on a Friday night, or belting out the words to “Sweet Caroline” with a group of Red Sox fans, Fenway is a key Boston experience. And last year, the “Holy War” took place at Fenway, as BC football battled (but lost to) Notre Dame in November. Stay clear of Fenway, however, if the Sox happen to win the World Series—unless you want to see some cars get flipped.

Faneuil Hall

If you’re looking for a fun way to get a taste of Boston’s rich history, Faneuil Hall is still as alive as it was in 1742. The cobblestone streets are often filled with live music and frequent dancers and street performers. Its marketplace also hosts a number of local food options, restaurants, and pubs near the waterfront.

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Get Involved

Mentorship

Boston College prides itself in its ability to shape and mold its students into leaders that will be able to excel after graduation. Organizations on campus target students when they first come to campus, encouraging them to develop their leadership skills and teach them about ethics, teamwork, and instill an attitude of involvement and responsibility on campus.

While there are numerous groups on campus dedicated to molding students into leaders, there are also opportunities within student organizations on campus to get a feel for actual leadership positions and roles.

Students can practice what they learn in developmental programs in their roles within organizations such as the Undergraduate Student Government of BC, the Campus Activities Board, or service programs like 4Boston.

Pre-Professional

If you show up to Orientation in a tie, maybe these organizations are for you. The Bellarmine Law Society aids students considering a career in legal services by hosting events relevant to law school applications as well as different types of legal practices. Similarly, Women in Business gives preprofessional training for female students aspiring to lead careers in business. The Entrepreneurship Society and Information Systems Academy help students keep up with Boston’s burgeoning tech community—including weekly company visits, a speaker series, and opportunities to engage with tech firms around the world in a host of field study courses offered in conjunction with CSOM.

The Boston College Venture Competition challenges groups of students to submit their best business plans for a chance to receive $20,000 in startup funding as well as world-class advice from industry experts. Other organizations such as the Investment Club and Heights Capital allow undergraduates to invest a portion of the BC endowment in financial markets to further their real-world learning experience.

Volunteering

The service culture at Boston College is extensive, with a range of offerings. Eagle Volunteers allows students to participate as little as one time or as often as they want. B.C. Bigs allows you to mentor and hang out with the same child on a weekly basis. There are also multiple opportunities to travel to perform acts of service.

Over Spring Break, the Appalachia Volunteers Program sends students down to the Appalachia region to volunteer in one of the most impoverished areas in the U.S. For more adventurous students, the Arrupe program sends students to various locations, such as Belize and Jamaica, to serve the communities
there.

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The Finer Things

A Capella

Throughout the week, the lecture hall in McGuinn is full (less and less every week) with students eager to complete their history core. But every few weeks, McGuinn is packed with lovers and vocal harmony. BC a cappella groups deck he hall with Christmas lights and desk lamps and serenade their enthusiastic audience. No arts event generates more envy than an a cappella cafe.

The groups offer a wide range of variety—from the co-ed groups like The Bostonians (usually clad in black), the Acoustics, and the Dynamics, as well as single gender groups like the Heightsmen or the all-female Sharps. Soul group B.E.A.T.S. and Christian group Against the Current also put on great shows.

Theater

In terms of production value, you won’t find much better value than a Robsham show. The Theater department puts on three main stage productions a year—like last spring’s Cabaret and the fall’s Big Love. Both were grand productions in scale and dramatic weight. But the theater crew also hosts more intimate shows in the Bonn Studio—a smaller, more flexible space where student actors and directions can cut their teeth.

Theater productions at BC are an immensely collaborative process—between BC professionals and outside professionals, theater majors and regular students. Hell week is still that (hell), but it pays off in the end.

Dance Groups

If you can move your body in a relatively rhythmic fashion, you’ll find a nice place in one of the many dance groups at Boston College.

BC boasts some big ensemble groups like the Dance Organization of Boston College and the rightly named Dance Ensemble, which both host large-scale productions in Robsham.

But for those with more specific interests and skills, there are plenty of additional groups like Irish Dance, Masti—a South Asian dance group, Fuego Del Corazon, Synergy, UPrising, and step team Sexual Chocolate. If you like to move and groove, you won’t find much trouble fitting in.

And if you enjoy the visceral pleasure of watching humans move their bodies in ways you can’t, mark your calendar for this year’s Showdown—a collective competition between all the groups. Basically, it’s the Super Bowl of Boston dance, and you best be there.

Independent Music

The independent music scene has grown significantly over the past few years thanks to the efforts of the Music Guild. The Guild is a group of musicians and volunteers with a mind to grow the campus music scene. The group hosts regular open mics on Thursdays and has equipment available for prospective musicians. Every fall, new bands sprout up along Upper and Newton. Two-time Battle of the Bands champion Juice—a nine-piece pop group—formed as a group of mutual roommates who started competing in BC music competitions. The group Lucid Soul hosted concerts in its Mod (you’ll learn about those a little bit later). There’s a lot of action to be found here.

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Things I Wish …

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The best bathroom on campus is fifth floor of Maloney.

—Bennet Johnson, Business Manager

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Take advantage of all the cheesy on-campus events the school hosts, like Pops on the Heights and the Tree Lighting.

—Leigh Channell, Editorial Assistant

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If you’re a guy, make friends with girls who will buy you food after your meal plan runs out.

—Gus Merrell, Collections Manager

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Figure out what you’re going to do about your language requirement or be cursed by the SAT II until senior year.

—Shannon Kelly, Associate Copy Editor

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Cranberry juice is expensive.

—Sarah Moore, Outreach Coordinator

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Listen to “The Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe every day as you watch your youth slowly die.

—Archer Parquette, Opinions Editor

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Get enough sleep, and take Professor Pope.

—Hannah McLaughlin, Assistant Arts Editor

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Pick the class for the professor.

—Kayla Fernando, Assistant Features Editor

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If a friend asks you to go to a BC sporting event, go.*

*Only if it’s hockey.

—Michael Sullivan, Sports Editor

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Stories of the Past Year

Construction Nearly Done in New Dorm

Workers are quickly pacing toward a summer 2016 deadline for opening the 490-bed dorm at 2150 Commonwealth Avenue. The exterior of the building is complete, but inside the six-story frame, there’s some work remaining for the construction team to finish before the fall.

The building will serve primarily as a dorm, holding 60 six- person and 16 four-person apartments with full kitchens, it will also house an upgraded University Health Services clinic. The wing will have 12 exam rooms, five patient rooms, one isolation room for infectious diseases, and one treatment room, among other specialty rooms. There will also be space for nine offices and a larger reception and waiting area. BC is taking a more renewable stance with the construction of this dorm. Independent inspectors have been meticulous with checking the insulation of pipes and quality of seals in the building to make sure the high-efficiency furnaces can function to their full potential. 2150 will be the first BC dorm that will have a water filtration and recycling system.

House Hunters: Off-Campus Students Suffer From a String of Break-ins

Boston College’s off campus area has experienced a string of break-ins since December 2015. Between December 15 and March 17 there had been 27 reported break-ins, and this number has since continued to rise.

Several of these robberies have occurred on streets that contain off campus housing, including Kirkwood, Foster, and Radnor. Often, either students leave their doors and windows unlocked, allowing for easy entry by a robber. In other cases, the robber is able to open a window with an air conditioning unit, as the window does not fully lock. Some students have returned home with glass windows shattered.

At around 12 a.m. on Monday, May 9th, a group of students witnessed a man rummaging through a backyard of 45 Radnor Rd., and one student took it upon himself to tackle the man to the suspicious man to the ground. This man, the student claimed, was a man he saw attempting to break into his house earlier that morning. The man was detained by the BCPD but was released due to lack of probable cause.

On Friday, May 13th, BCPD responded to a call about a man who had entered a modular apartment through an unsecured door. The police engaged in an on-foot pursuit, chasing the man into the Evergreen Cemetery, where the suspect managed to escape.

BCPD has been making several efforts to keep students aware of their surroundings, including sending out community awareness notices via email.

Eradicate BC Racism Protests Hypocrisy

A member of Eradicate Racism at Boston College interrupted a talk in September by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner and prominent journalist, to speak about the lack of diversity and racial hypocrisy at BC. The student, sociology Ph.D. candidate Cedrick-Michael Simmons, was part of a planned protest by activist group Eradicate Boston College Racism. This protest was one of several that marked the school year.

Members of Eradicate BC Racism and others protested the lack of diversity at BC several times throughout the school year, including a black-out in solidarity with the University of Missouri. The student government also became involved, by presenting a strategic plan for diversity to the Board of Trustees in the fall.

In response, Vice President for Student Affairs Barb Jones released a letter to UGBC acknowledging the dialogue surrounding the issue of inclusion. Later, the Office of Student Affairs more specifically addressed UGBC’s proposal with a specific action plan that included hiring more AHANA faculty and staff, creating a diversity committee within the Division of Student Affairs, creating a new platform for students to report harassment, and expanding diversity and cultural competency training for students.

Going Viral: Over 100 Students Infected With Norovirus

It started innocently enough—with a weekend trip to Chipotle Mexican Grill, a popular stop in Cleveland Circle for hungry college students. In the days following, though, BC students and Chipotle aficionados alike were left feeling the burn. These students were diagnosed with norovirus in mid-December.

Initially, it was suspected that the outbreak was E. coli, similar to the illnesses that had been linked to 52 other Chipotle establishments in New York, Maryland, and California, among others.

After testing, however, Boston Public Health authorities confirmed on Tuesday that the students’ symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea were caused by norovirus.

“My illness started with diarrhea then vomiting, and it has lasted all last night and through today,” Alex Dupee, CSOM ’18, said. “I have no idea how I got it either, as I didn’t even go to Chipotle in Cleveland Circle.”

No one was immune from the virus—not even the BC men’s basketball team, who played shorthanded against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell due to nearly team-wide Norovirus contagion. The Eagles lost that game, and a bit of their dignity went along with it.

In response to the outbreak, facilities staff doubled its efforts to clean restrooms, dining halls, administrative offices, residence halls, and athletic facilities. BC Dining Services also stopped offering self-service stations, like the salad and fruit bars in dining halls, to prevent the spread of norovirus. Instead, salad and fruit were boxed into individual containers, and baked goods individually wrapped.

BC Announces New Practice Facility

The desires of many frustrated alumni may finally be realized.

Boston College will pursue the creation of three new facilities to help varsity, club, and intramural sports, Director of Athletics Brad Bates announced in February. This will include a new recreation center, athletics playing fields, and an indoor practice facility. In total, the project will cost approximately $200 million.

The new recreation center will replace the Plex and be placed over Edmond’s Hall, which will be torn down at the conclusion of the 2015-16 academic year. This was included in the University’s Institutional Master Plan (IMP) from 2009. The project will begin this summer, following the clearance of several permits, and construction will take approximately two years. The 2009 IMP also approved permits for new intramural, baseball, and softball fields to be built on the Brighton Campus.

“We have a lot of assets that are inherent to Boston College,” Bates said. “When you combine the facilities part of it, with the assets of Boston College, it just adds to the lucrativeness of Boston College to a prospective student-athlete.”

Simons, McCaffrey to Lead Student Body

Russell Simons, MCAS ’17, and Meredith McCaffrey, MCAS ’17, will be the 2016-17 Undergraduate Government of Boston College president and executive vice president (EVP).

McCaffrey originally planned to run as the EVP to the current EVP, Olivia Hussey, MCAS ’17. When Hussey dropped out of the race for personal reasons, McCaffrey recruited Simons to be her running partner. The team joined the ballot when the Elections Committee decided to extend the nomination deadline to create more competition.

Prior to the original Jan. 29 deadline, Simons thought about running for UGBC president. He ultimately decided against it due to his busy schedule, he said. When presented with the opportunity to run with McCaffrey, however, he changed his mind.

Simons believes the extended elections period this year negatively affected the teams because it was difficult for the entire student body to stay attentive for so long. A lot of the campaign’s messages were lost, Simons said.

Simons and McCaffrey received 1137 votes, 442 votes above Matthew Ulrich, MCAS ’17, and John Miotti’s, MCAS ’17, team. Nikita Patel, CSOM ’17, and Joseph Arquillo’s, LSOE ’17, team came in third place with 668 total votes. Patel and Arquillo’s team was docked 70 votes because of unsolicited Facebook messages concerning the election.

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… I’d Been Told

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You don’t need to wear a monogram necklace to make friends.

—Carolyn Freeman, Editor-In-Chief

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Have a place to keep your ID card so you don’t lose or forget it, it’s a pain to have it replaced (3 times for me).

—Meagan Loyst, On-Campus Ads Manager

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The cool kids use trays.

—Julia Hopkins, Photo Editor

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Even the best fall down sometimes.

—James Lucey, Features Editor

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Go on 48 Hours and do Pulse.

—Sophie Reardon, News Editor

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The dining hall staff know when the snow days are coming.

—Jack Donahue, Account Manager

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The bus tracking app is probably lying to you.

—Madeleine D’Angelo, Assistant Metro Editor

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The grass is always greener at BC … especially when the new sod comes in.

—Zach Wilner, General Manager

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No one is above running to catch the Newton bus.

—Magdalen Sullivan, Managing Editor

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The Basics of BC Athletics

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MEN’S HOCKEY

For some programs, the season that BC had in 2015-16 would be an all-time great in team history. Yet for the Eagles, it was just another year.

Legendary head coach Jerry York won his 1,000th career game, an 8-0 victory over the University of Massachusetts, helping him become the only coach in college hockey history to reach that milestone. BC took home its 20th Beanpot title in thrilling fashion, with Alex Tuch scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against archrival Boston University, as well as the Hockey East regular-season title. The Eagles made the Frozen Four for the 25th time in program history, most of any team in college hockey. Unlike its previous trip to Tampa, Fla.—one which ended in the 2012 National Championship—BC’s ending wasn’t quite as good, falling 3-2 to Quinnipiac in the National Semifinal to finish 28-8-5.

BC was powered by an electric offense that finished fourth in the nation in scoring with 3.8 goals per game and featured future NHL stars such as Colin White, Ryan Fitzgerald, and Miles Wood. On the other end of the ice, the Eagles had the best goaltender in the nation, Thatcher Demko, whose 1.88 goals against average and .935 save percentage helped him earn the Mike Richter Award and made him a Hobey Hat Trick finalist.

The offseason hasn’t been easy on the Eagles, who are quickly becoming the Kentucky of college hockey. Many key contributors, such as Demko, Wood, Tuch, and defenseman Steve Santini, have departed early. Yet many top scorers are also poised to return, like White, Fitzgerald, and breakout center Austin Cangelosi. In addition, BC has strong new talent coming in in goaltender Joseph Woll, forwards Graham McPhee and David Cotton, and defensemen Connor Moore and Luke McInnis. And when you have a team coached by Jerry York, you’re never out of it.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Once again, Katie Crowley’s crew was the best team Boston College had to offer. In 2015-16, the Eagles reached whole new Heights.

After coming away without any trophies in 2014-15 other than Alex Carpenter’s Patty Kazmaier Award, in 2014-15, BC rolled through Hockey East. The Eagles dominated their chief rival, Northeastern, winning all six games, including a 7-0 humiliation in the Beanpot final anda victory in the NCAA quarterfinals. They also fought past previous demons to control the conference, taking home the Hockey East regular-season and tournament championships. Spearheaded by the nation’s best offense at 5.2 goals per game, BC reached its first National Championship Game with an unblemished 40-0 record, capped off by Haley Skarupa’s dramatic overtime goal against Clarkson in the semifinals. Yet the glass slippers would fall off at the hands of Minnesota in a 3-1 defeat.

But there’s little doubt that the Eagles will be right back in the same spot next season. Although they lose the top two scorers in program history in Carpenter and Skarupa, as well as Dana Trivigno and defenders Lexi Bender and Kaliya Johnson, Crowley—The Heights’ 2015-16 Person of the Year—has her team prepared for the future. Makenna Newkirk was the nation’s leading goalscorer among freshmen. Megan Keller was the nation’s best defensemen with 52 points and bruising skills on the ice. Several other underclassmen, such as Andie Anastos, Kenzie Kent, and Kristyn Capizzano, are ready to take leading roles. And Crowley has more talent rolling in with Caitrin Lonergan and Delaney Belinskas, two of the country’s most highly coveted prospects.

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FOOTBALL

Year Three was slowly approaching on head coach Steve Addazio’s calendar. He had had plenty of success in his first two seasons, taking advantage of the leftovers from the Frank Spaziani regime coupled with graduate transfers looking for starting spots and getting the Eagles to bowl games with back-to-back 7-6 campaigns. Yet this season was shaping up to be the first with his own guys, and he expected plenty of growing pains.

Well, the Eagles got plenty of that. Starting quarterback Darius Wade went down with a broken ankle in Week Three against Florida State, running back Jonathan Hilliman followed the next week with a broken foot, and the offensive line fell apart in an amalgamation of youth and lack of preparedness. BC lost every one of its ACC games in a last-place, 3-9 season, as the offense failed to put up points in most games (126th of 128 in yards per game with 276, 121st with 17.2 points per game) and culminated with a 3-0 loss at home to lowly Wake Forest. This all came despite having the No. 1 defense in the country—one that allowed only 254 yards per game—led by safety Justin Simmons and linebacker Steven Daniels.

Nevertheless, the Eagles are poised for a modest comeback in 2016. Seven of BC’s 11 starters on defense return, and the offensive line should rebound with a year of experience. Addazio will also welcome graduate transfer Patrick Towles from the University of Kentucky behind center. Oh, and it helps that BC has one of the easiest schedules in the country, highlighted by the season-opener against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. Just be prepared for the premier game of the season: Friday, Oct. 7 in primetime against defending ACC champion Clemson.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

Featuring a roster that was purely his own, Jim Christian’s Eagles fell flat in a horrific 7-25 campaign, the program’s worst season ever based on winning percentage. Like its companions over in football, men’s basketball also went winless in a 18-game ACC season. As a result, BC became the first school in more than 40 years not to have a conference win in the two sports in the same season.

It wasn’t just because of luck, either. BC finished a distant last in the ACC in scoring with only 61.2 points per game, a full eight points behind 14th-place Clemson. The Eagles’ worst loss came in Raleigh, N.C. against North Carolina State after they allowed an unguarded, buzzer-beating layup on an inbound underneath the basket to help them lose 73-72. To make matters worse, BC loses its most effective player, starting center Dennis Clifford, and leading scorer, Eli Carter (though he also shot a horrific .371 from the field and ate up many of BC’s possessions, Kobe Bryant-style).

Yet Christian hopes his youth movement will have success going forward. Despite all of the awful losses and poor play, BC had two bright spots in young players A.J. Turner and Jerome Robinson. He is also bringing in a couple of guys with high upsides, such as incoming freshmen Kyran Bowman and Ty Graves and graduate transfer big man Connar Tava. The future may look bleak now, but until then, you’ll just have to trust the process.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After years of relying on the perimeter, Erik Johnson entered the 2015-16 season with a new strategy: move to the inside. With a new focus on balance, Johnson believed that his team could make a run in the always-difficult gauntlet of the ACC.

At the beginning of the season, it appeared as if that new focus would work. The Eagles dominated the paint during a 13-2 run through their nonconference slate that included an 11-1 start, their best in a decade. Much of that work was due to freshman Mariella Fasoula, whose ability to score and rebound under the basket with force opened up the lanes for 3-point specialists Kelly Hughes and Nicole Boudreau. That offense didn’t translate to ACC play. The Eagles finished only 2-14 against the conference while scoring a meager 59.5 points per game. In a similar theme to BC teams, this came while having a spectacular, lockdown defense that allowed 58.6 points per game.

Next year, the Eagles appear poised to take what they learned from their season into the first winning record in Johnson’s career. BC only loses Boudreau and the inconsistent and erratic Alexa Coulombe. Hughes comes back for her senior campaign, as does Emilee Daley. BC’s guards Marti Mosetti and Rachel Gartner are back to run the point, while Fasoula only continues to get stronger.

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