Before Wednesday night’s matchup between Boston College women’s basketball and UMass Amherst, Teya Sidberry had made a total of five shots from beyond the arc in the 2023–24 season.
Sidberry looked smooth from 3-point range against the Minutewomen, though, and dropped in three 3-pointers on just five attempts for 60 percent from deep.
“It’s easy whenever my teammates run so hard, because it makes me open,” Sidberry said about her season-high shooting night. “It’s a lot because of them running and pushing.”
But it wasn’t just offense that propelled the Eagles (5–5) to their dominant 95–57 victory over UMass (1–9). The Eagles’ defense also compiled 12 steals. Dontavia Waggoner snatched four of them by sprinting into passing lanes and flying through the air, eager to get her hands on the ball.
“[Waggoner] was everywhere, playing hard and getting after it,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said.
About halfway through the first quarter, Waggoner ripped the ball out of UMass possession under the basket, which prevented the Minutewomen from scoring an easy layup. It didn’t take long for Waggoner to turn defense into offense, and eventually T’yana Todd drained a 3-pointer to establish an 11-point BC lead.
With 3:21 left in the first frame, Waggoner intercepted another pass and took it the full length of the floor, drawing contact and getting fouled. She sank both free throws to give the Eagles a 24–9 lead.
Although the Eagles led for almost the entirety of the game, their intensity reached a game high at the beginning of the third quarter, when Andrea Daley paved the way for a dominant Eagles scoring run.
On the first play of the second half, Daley caught a bounce pass on the right block, power-dribbled, and finished with a foul to give BC a 44–28 advantage.
Todd followed suit on the Eagles’ next offensive possession. She posted up on the same block and scored another and-1 basket off the glass.
Only a minute later, Daley’s display her hustle once again as she cut toward the basket in transition and picked up two more points and another foul.
After a Waggoner score, Todd fed off Daley’s offensive energy once again, connecting from beyond the arc to put the Eagles up 56–30 with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter.
“Continuing to assert dominance over the other team and staying locked in with everybody, everybody’s talking, staying engaged, that’s big,” Todd said.
Todd finished the game with 17 points.
During the first quarter, UMass looked capable of keeping up with the Eagles as Kristin Williams hit two quick shots in the early minutes of the game to give the Minutewomen a 5–4 lead over the Eagles.
The early lead ended up being UMass’ only lead of the game.
“I thought we looked focused on every possession and some possessions didn’t go our way, but it’s because UMass made a good play, or they did something well, not because we made a mistake,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “So for me, that’s a great game.”
JoJo Lacey provided BC with a first-half spark off the bench. She ended the game with 11 points, and was one of five Eagles that scored in double digits.
With just over a minute left in the first half, Lacey went to work on her defender and splashed a jumper from the right baseline to put the Eagles up 38–26.
Lacey was not the only one making shots for the Eagles, though.
As a whole, BC shot 55.9 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three. The Eagles’ 3-point shooting percentage was the highest it has been so far this season.
BC also put up a new season high in number of points, topping last Sunday’s performance, when the Eagles scored 91 points against UMass Lowell.
