Andrea Daley got started early during Boston College women’s basketball’s matchup with Virginia, picking up an and-1 layup and sinking her free throw to put BC up 7–6 with 6:13 left in the first quarter.
Daley ended up with 18 points and eight rebounds, but was unable to lead her team to a win. The Eagles (11–14, 3–9 Atlantic Coast) fell 73–66 to Virginia (11–12, 3–9) in Conte Forum on Thursday night.
Thursday night’s game marked the Black History Month game, giving players and staff the chance to wear special shirts honoring influential Black figures.
“They had someone that they look up to or idolize, a black figure, on the back of their … shooting shirts,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “They all put a little bit of time into picking that, that didn’t go lightly for them.”
BC and the Cavaliers were well-matched in height and both teams were willing to get physical, which set up several competitive offensive and defensive matchups and a tight game. The contest featured 11 lead changes.
With 3:15 remaining in the first quarter, BC had secured a 10-point lead, capped off by a fast break layup from Daley.
But the Cavaliers came back with authority.
Virginia’s defensive intensity boomed in the final minutes of the first quarter, and they were able to force BC into a shot clock violation and turnovers from JoJo Lacey and Dontavia Waggoner. The Cavaliers went on an 8–0 run, cutting BC’s lead to two and going into the second quarter down 18–16.
A made jumper from the Cavaliers’ Yonta Vaughn to start the second quarter tied the game at 18 points apiece.
For the remainder of the first half, no team was able to pull ahead, and the point differential never exceeded four points. The Eagles shot just 28.57 percent from the floor, but made up for it from the free throw line, where they made 9 of their 11 attempts.
Two free throws from Daley sent the Eagles into the locker room up three at the half.
Waggoner started the second half hot, picking up two layups to start the third quarter and securing a 43–37 lead for the Eagles with 7:49 remaining in the quarter.
An offensive rebound and score by Edessa Noyan with 5:52 remaining in the third brought Virginia within two points, 45–43. BC held onto its slim lead until the end of the third quarter, when two free throws from Kymora Johnson tied the game 54–54.
“I think it’s fairly inexcusable to lose your intensity level when the quarter is a tie game. Every possession matters at that point and I don’t know if we played like every possession mattered,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “It’s not something I’m used to seeing from our team.”
Virginia’s ability to defend drained the Eagles’ shot clock throughout the game, resulting in multiple missed baskets that kept the Cavaliers in the game.
With 7:20 left to play, the game was tied at 58. But the Eagles were unable to match the Cavaliers’ intensity, and Virginia went on a quick 7–0 run.
“I think rebounding was a big factor. We didn’t do a good job on the boards in that fourth quarter at all,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “I thought our intensity level dropped, and I find it hard to believe how that can happen, but it did.”
A layup from Lacey at 4:49 stopped the bleeding, but it was too late for the Eagles. BC never regained the lead, and the Eagles were handed their ninth ACC loss, and their sixth in a row.
“Credit to Virginia, they didn’t go through the motions in that fourth quarter– they took it to us,” Bernabei-McNamee said.
