The Boston College women’s basketball team traveled to the College of the Holy Cross Wednesday night for a classic Jesuit rivalry.
The Crusaders came into the game with a 1-7 record, seeming to guarantee a BC victory. This was not the case, however, as the Eagles struggled throughout the game against an energetic and aggressive Holy Cross team. After 16 consecutive losses against the Eagles, the Crusaders broke the losing streak with a convincing 80-64 win.
Holy Cross won the tip and scored first with a free throw shot by Raquel Scott. BC looked like it was scrambling from the start, missing several easy shots.
Sophomore Kelly Hughes, BC’s leading scorer, was face-guarded and struggled early on to get her hands on the ball. All of this, combined with Holy Cross’s high energy and ability to get inside, led BC to flounder on both sides of the court.
At the first media break, the Eagles trailed 12-4 and shot 20 percent from the field. They had no turnovers before the break, but accrued four in the next minute and a half.
Holy Cross managed to sink three 3-pointers in a row to make the score 30-8 with 10 minutes left in the half. It seemed as though every shot a Crusader put up fell in, while BC could not manage to pull it together.
Junior Nicole Boudreau tried to rally the team together when she made a 3-pointer. The Eagles cut the Holy Cross lead from 25 to 15 and went to the locker rooms at halftime losing 51-36.
The second half did not appear to be any improvement from the first. Holy Cross came out and scored right away. BC’s struggles continued but it was evident that they had more energy and aggression.
But this energy did not help them. The team went almost six minutes without scoring until Boudreau made a layup with 13:14 left. At this point, BC regrouped and made a slight comeback. The team moved the ball faster and halted the Holy Cross offense. With 3:23 left in the game, the Eagles’ play became sloppy once again.
After an aggressive steal, BC threw away the ball—another detrimental turnover. The Crusaders scored 23 points off the Eagles’ 15 turnovers. Holy Cross fought down to the last second and were relentless. The Eagles could not put up a fight.
Boudreau was BC’s leading scorer with 24 points, but Holy Cross’s Raquel Scott tallied 26 and Lisa Misfud was close behind with 23. The Eagles’ bench had 26 points, but with low shooting percentages and 15 turnovers, the team could not come close enough to threatening Holy Cross.
The Eagles looked like a completely different team Wednesday. In order to have a successful season they may have to go back to the drawing board.
Featured Image by Emily Fahey / Heights Editor
