Down 37 points halfway through the fourth quarter, Andrea Daley and her teammates were in a situation they simply could not come back from without an outright miracle. When Daley, who scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, received the ball in the low post, she backed down her opponent looking to edge the Eagles closer to contention.
Instead, Ohio State’s Taiyier Parks stripped Daley and stole the ball. Daley laid on her back as she watched the Buckeyes race down the court, with no miracle in sight. Boston College women’s basketball would be on the tail end of this one.
“Ohio State plays a lot the way we want to play, with that relentlessness,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “We really didn’t show the team that I believe we can be in that first half.”
The Eagles (2–2), facing an overwhelming full-court press all game, turned the ball over a season-high 20 times en route to a 88–66 loss to No. 13 (2–1) Ohio State on Thursday. Fifteen of BC’s turnovers occurred in the first half alone.
“For us, I always think we have to push in transition and work the ball to build our assist to turnover ratio, which in this game was not good,” Bernabei-McNamee said of her squad, which finished the game with just five total assists.
“For us, I always think we have to push in transition and work the ball to build our assist to turnover ratio, which in this game was not good,” Bernabei-McNamee of her squad, which finished the game with five total assists.
The Eagles faced a tall task in their matchup against Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead from the very beginning of the game, with the only tie occurring at the 9:09 mark in the first quarter when it was 2–2. After that, Ohio State never relinquished its lead, and it took a 32–11 lead when the first quarter concluded.
“They’ve just got to learn that we got to come out with a faster start and then we got to make sure we stay relentlessly together,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “I thought, first half, our intensity wasn’t very good, on either end of the floor.”
Nine different Buckeyes scored in the game.
BC was dominated in the paint and from behind the arc, scoring 32 points in the paint to Ohio State’s 58. BC also shot 42.1 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from three while the Buckeyes shot 61.4 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
“I don’t think we rotated in help very well,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “A lot of those paint points were necessarily them passing into the post, it was them driving and finishing and we just needed to be there.”
Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon certainly exploited BC’s lack of size, using her strength to back down defenders with ease and create layup opportunities. McMahon scored 24 points, recorded two assists, four rebounds, one block, and two steals in the dominant performance. Forward Taylor Thierry added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Buckeyes as well.
BC’s Teya Sidberry stood out as a bright spot, as she created ample opportunities in the paint. She scored 14 points and recorded a season-high eight rebounds. T’yana Todd also created shots for herself and scored 16 points while shooting 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Todd’s 3-pointers were BC’s lone 3-pointers of the game.
Ohio State hit nine of its last 11 shots to put BC Down 55–26 going into halftime. The Eagles, however, put together a more composed second half, only recording five turnovers and outscoring Ohio State by seven points. They opened up the floor with ball movement and showed how smooth their offense could be when things are clicking, Bernabei-McNamee said.
“I thought in the fourth quarter [we] stuck together and they did some good things,” Bernabei McNamee said. “I think that’s a testament to character, right? It’s easy when you’re down by that much just to say ‘forget it,’ but they didn’t. They kept working and I think that’s gonna really bode well for us as this year goes on.”
