BC opens its season on Nov. 3 versus Holy Cross. (Sarah Fleming / Heights Editor)
Boston College women’s basketball could not stop the reigning NCAA–champion UConn’s starting forwards Sarah Strong and Serah Williams.
In 33 minutes of playing time, the forward pair—6-foot-2 and 6-foot-4, respectively—combined for 13-of-18 shooting and 32 points.
Strong, in 22 minutes, made 8-of-11 shots.
“We were pretty outsized today,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “But I liked the way we battled on the boards. I think we had 80 percent defensive-rebounding percentage today. That’s our victory when it comes to being a little outsized.”
UConn shot 2-for-17 from beyond the arc in the first half. Azzi Fudd flipped the script completely coming out of halftime.
In the third quarter, Fudd made all five of her three-point attempts.
“We talked a little bit about their zone and what we wanted to run against that because we didn’t think we got great looks in the first half,” Fudd said. “I didn’t do anything. It was really all my teammates. Sarah and other people found me, gave me great passes.”
Screens got Fudd open looks, too.
“Those hammer screens were killing us on that backside,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “We were in the zone and they kind of got in behind us a little bit on it. I know [Fudd]’s capable of that. She’s a great shooter.”
Fudd and Strong rested in the fourth quarter and Williams played two minutes.
“I mean, [Fudd and Strong are] definitely two of the best players in the world,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “And the way Sarah uses her body, credit to her, she’s even in that much better shape this year.”
Teionni McDaniel scored 23 points off the bench and made 3-of-4 three-pointers.
“I’ve been feeling a lot better [shooting threes],” McDaniel said. “Been working with our coaches a little bit, just trying to figure it out, make it more fluent, get a little bit more comfortable.”
McDaniel and Jocelyne Grier both played a team-high 25 minutes off the bench.
BC committed 13 first-half turnovers and added eight in the final half.
“First-half turnovers, probably a little bit of the bright lights, first game,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “UConn does a really good job picking up full court. I think we went from 14 first-half turnovers to seven in the second half, so that was a pretty good adjustment by the players.”