Chalk it up to the annual lull that accompanies Winter Break at Boston College, but BC teams have had an extremely difficult time finishing off inferior opponents in “gimme” games this week. The complacency bug bit BC men’s hockey against Ohio State University and men’s basketball against the University of New Hampshire earlier on—and it seemed to infect BC women’s basketball on Wednesday evening as well.
The Eagles (11-1) came out with a 74-59 victory over Bryant University (3-8), but the difference between the two teams on the scoreboard was not nearly as large as it should have been. The Bulldogs held a lead for much of the first half, and remained within a converted basket of a share of the lead for much of the second.
BC shot well throughout the first stanza, but Bryant kept up a torrential pace. The Bulldogs converted more than 60 percent of their shots in the first two quarters, but their remarkably efficient shooting proved to be unsustainable as it fell over 10 percent during the second half.
BC started to pull away from Bryant halfway through the third quarter on the back of Emilee Daley, who finished with 17 points in the game, despite only playing 23 minutes. Freshman Mariella Fasoula also had an impressive game, tallying 20 points on eight-of-12 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and four blocks.
Though the lead did not expand into double-digits until there were five minutes left in the game, the contest never really fell out of BC’s control.
The Eagles were not helped by a rare poor shooting night from leading scorer Kelly Hughes, who only converted two of her first nine attempts. She ended up finishing with eight points, shooting 27.3 percent from the field.
The win marks the sixth straight for the Eagles, who remain undefeated at home in nonconference play. Interestingly, the Eagles are also undefeated on the road—their one loss came against the University of Oklahoma in a neutral site game in the Bahamas. BC plays one more nonconference game against Yale University, but that match comes after the Eagles begin ACC play against Virginia Tech on Sunday.
The victory over Bryant was the Eagles’ second win this week—on Monday afternoon, Hughes stole the show in a dominant performance against Northeastern University. The junior guard from Point Pleasant, N.J. put up 26 points and didn’t miss a shot from 3-point range to pace the Eagles to a 71-45 rout over its local rival.
Hughes also recorded her first double-double of the season, grabbing 11 rebounds in the winning effort. While Hughes was BC’s most prolific scorer, the entire team shot efficiently against the Huskies, connecting on 54 percent of its attempts compared to Northeastern’s 25 percent.
The Eagles led the Huskies from beginning to end, taking a commanding 27-point lead into the half. BC shot an astounding 52 percent from 3-point range, nearly 15 percentage points better than its season average of 38.7 percent.
Northeastern is not a great basketball team by any means, but when the Eagles are shooting that well, it would be difficult for even some powerhouses of women’s college basketball to keep up with their pace.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Editor
