T’yana Todd scored 18 points in the second half of Boston College women’s basketball’s game against California. The Eagles’ bench outscored Cal’s 21–6. Cal committed 26 turnovers.
None of that was enough, though.
Despite all of that, the Eagles (13–14, 4–10 Atlantic Coast) dipped below .500 with a 72–63 loss to their cross-country ACC opponent. The Golden Bears (20–6, 8–5) resisted a surge from BC and rode their 17-point third-quarter lead to a win on Thursday night.
Todd led the Eagles with 24 points, with 12 coming off her 4-of-6 performance from the three-point line. But the rest of BC’s team made just four 3-pointers, as it shot 8 of 25 from beyond the arc.
Point guard Kaylah Ivey took five shots, all from behind the arc, and made none of them. She posted no points and three turnovers in 23 minutes.
The Eagles stuck around in the first quarter despite surges from Cal. Nene Ndiaye made a 3-pointer with 1:32 left in the quarter, then another with 11 seconds remaining, and BC headed into the second frame trailing 17–15.
It was during the second quarter that things started to go south for BC, though.
Three-pointers from Todd and rookie Savannah Samuel, who ended the game with 10 points, gave BC a 23–22 lead halfway through the period.
But the Eagles ended the quarter on a 3:48 scoring drought and headed into the half in an 11-point hole.
Cal came out fast in the third frame, too, scoring a quick six-unanswered points to go up 42–25. The Eagles didn’t score a field goal until 4:29 into the second half.
BC executed a bit of a run after that. A three from Todd with about four minutes left in the quarter cut the lead to 10, but that was the smallest deficit the Eagles could muster as they headed into the final frame down 51–41.
A layup from Dontavia Waggoner and a well-timed three from Todd kicked off the final quarter with a bang, cutting the Eagles’ deficit to five—the smallest lead for the Golden Bears since the first half.
But Ioanna Krimili answered with a 3-pointer that stretched the lead back to eight and killed BC’s momentum.
The Eagles went two-and-a-half minutes without scoring a field goal, and the game quickly became a free-throw battle. The teams shot a combined 23 free throws in the quarter.
Going point for point was not an effective strategy for the Eagles. Without adequate scoring, BC couldn’t close the gap, and the Eagles fell on the road for their third straight loss and sixth in seven games.
