Following blowout wins over Harvard and Holy Cross to open the season, Boston College women’s basketball had begun to prove its dominance in the Commonwealth.
But crosstown rivalries always bring fire, and taking on Boston University, the Eagles’ win streak came to an end. Despite a 25-point effort from senior Taylor Soule, the Eagles (2–1) fell to BU (2–1) by a final score of 69–65.
“I thought she played like a senior that didn’t want to lose,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said of Soule. “I do believe that nobody on our team wanted to lose, but we have to have a bigger grit level and a bigger effort level, especially on the boards.”
The Terriers outrebounded BC 26–18 in the loss, which proved to be the difference in a four-point game. The loss extends the Eagles’ losing streak away from home to eight games, dating back to last season.
BC opened the game on an 11–2 run, but the offense hit a standstill, and the Terriers put together a 22–6 run of their own. Thanks to a fadeaway 3-pointer from BC sophomore JoJo Lacey as time expired, the Eagles capped off a 6–0 run to tie the game 24–24 heading into the break.
The second half was played at a much higher pace, with each team nearly doubling their scoring totals from the first half of play. After scoring only four points through the first two quarters, Soule made it a point of getting to her spots, finishing the game with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
After a back-and-fourth third quarter, the Terriers led 43–42 with 10 minutes to play.
Just as BC put the ball in Soule’s hands to carry home a victory, BU turned to its leading scorer on the season as well. Junior Sydney Johnson scored 12 of her 26 points in the fourth and finished shooting 8-of-19 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line.
Junior guard Maggie Pina scored 13 points for the Terriers and shot 3-of-5 from 3-point range in her 22 minutes of play.
For the Eagles, senior guard Marnelle Garraud scored nine points to go along with five rebounds and six steals, her second straight game with five or more steals. She had averaged 20 points per game entering the contest against BU.
As a team, BC shot 28-of-64 from the field but only 4-of-18 from 3-point range. BU, which entered Wednesday’s matchup ranked 24th in the nation in 3-point percentage, hitting 44.1 percent, shot 6-of-13 from behind the arc.
Bernabei-McNamee and Soule both acknowledged after the game that this loss will hurt for a day or so, but they were quick to say that there is still plenty of basketball left to be played.
“This game doesn’t define us, but it’s not who we are,” Soule said. “In my three-plus years at BC, I’ve had a fair share of tough losses that taste bad. It can hurt. You can be upset about it. But the good thing about basketball—we’ve got plenty of games to still play.”
Featured Image by Nicole Wei / Heights Staff
