With just a few seconds left on the clock and the game all tied up at 68, Destiny Thomas sent Makayla Dickens to the freethrow line. The crowd stood with bated breath as Dickens stepped up and promptly sank two free throws, clinching the game for the Eagles at a final score of 70-68.
It was a much-needed win for Boston College women’s basketball (13-10, 6-6 Atlantic Coast) after falling to Syracuse by double digits last Thursday 89-79.
The game played out to be a tougher matchup than the teams’ records predicted. Before the contest on Sunday, Clemson (7-17, 3-10) was on a five-game losing streak, making the prospects for a conference win on the road even more probable for the Eagles. Even so, the Eagles didn’t seem to have much of an advantage in the conference battle in South Carolina.
The Eagles dominated possession and scoring in the first half, but Clemson snuck up on them in the second, making the final seconds of the game the deciding factor.
Despite the game’s final tally, it wasn’t always so close for the Tigers. The first period started off well for the Eagles, as Emma Guy scored an early 10 points and Dickens had a nice 3-pointer to get the Eagles off to a good start with a 21-14 lead. Defensively, Taylor Soule aided the Eagles with three rebounds inside the paint as well as three assists.
In the second period, Marnelle Garraud and Dickens both made great shots behind the arc, and Guy gave the Eagles another 10 points to comfortably go into halftime with a 15-point lead.
The second half featured some key plays by Dickens again, including more 3-pointers, giving her a total of 11 points in the third period alone.
Guy and Dickens continued to make key contributions not only on offense, but also on defense, grabbing four rebounds each in the second half.
Clemson’s Kendall Spray and Kobi Thornton gave the Eagles the most trouble, scoring a total of 17 and 15 points, respectively.
The Tigers really got the best of the Eagles in the third quarter, and their lead started to slip away as Clemson began to outscore them. Spray scored 12 points alone in that quarter to add to a team total of 28 points in the period. With that, the Tigers outscored the Eagles in a period for the first time all game, cutting BC’s lead down to 59-54.
In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Tigers proved to be especially tough and tested BC’s fortitude. The Eagles just barely pulled out a win in the final seconds, but regardless of the close game, any win on the road is a good win, especially against a conference opponent.
With just a little over 30 seconds left to play, BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee called back-to-back timeouts, as the two teams sat tied at 68. In the final seconds, Clemson fouled Dickens and gave the Eagles two foul shot opportunities to secure the game.
Once again, the Tigers outscored BC in the fourth period, 14-11, but luckily because of the Eagles’ domination in the first half, Clemson couldn’t come out on top.
Overall as a team, the Eagles shot a staggering 47 percent on offense, including 32 percent from behind the arc, compared to Clemson with 42 percent and 33 percent in those same categories respectively.
From the free throw line, BC made just 58 percent of its shots compared to Clemson’s 75 percent. Dickens went 4-of-6 from the line, while Soule was close behind at 3-for-5, adding to a team total of 7-of-12 from the free throw line for the Eagles.
Guy led BC in scoring and rebounds, with a total of 24 points and eight rebounds. This season, she has scored an average of 13.2 points per game and remains a key contributor for the Eagles. Trailing Guy, Dickens had a total of 21 points in the game, 15 of which were made from behind the arc. She also ended the game with seven rebounds and three assists.
The game marked the 17th meeting between the Eagles and the Tigers. The last time the two teams faced off was last year in Conte Forum, where the Tigers defeated BC in a devastating blowout, 91-58, but a much different story played out on Sunday afternoon.
Featured Image by Aneesa Wermers / Heights Staff
