Monday marked the dawn of a new season for Boston College women’s basketball, but a last-second shot spelled doom for its first game.

BC (0–1) led for most of the matchup, but lost a heartbreaker to Holy Cross (1–0) 72–71. 

Newcomers led the war for the Eagles—William & Mary transfer Kayla Rolph had 15 points, along with 13 apiece from Butler transfer Lily Carmody and freshman Jocelyne Grier.

BC had plenty of opportunities down the stretch to put the game away, but was unable to convert. 

“We got some looks that we wanted,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “They just didn’t fall … the ball didn’t go our way.”

Free throws were an issue for the Eagles, as they shot 11 of 20 from the charity stripe, including two misses at the end of the game. 

“That’s got to be a one-off for us, ” Bernabei-McNamee said. “We are a really good free-throw shooting team, so that was a bit shocking for me.” 

Athena Tomlinson scored BC’s first points of the year on a jumper, which began a 7–0 run for the Eagles to open up the game. BC’s defense started hot as well, forcing turnovers on Holy Cross’ first three possessions. 

The Crusaders battled back to make it a one-point game, but three straight 3-pointers from the Eagles stretched the lead to eight heading into the first timeout.

The teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the opening frame, as the Eagles maintained a 26–18 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles were red hot from three during the opening period, going 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. 

The Eagles cooled off during the second quarter, scoring just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting to go along with six turnovers. But their defense did enough to maintain the advantage as the Eagles took a 33–29 lead into halftime.

Rolph had the only two field goals for the Eagles in the second quarter, earning 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting during the first half.

Grier led BC in scoring with 11 points at the break, while Amirah Anderson made her presence felt on the glass by pulling down seven first-half rebounds. 

A quick 7–0 run from the Crusaders to start the third quarter gave the Eagles their first deficit of the game. Carmody finally broke through for BC with 7:24 left in the period, but Holy Cross responded quickly to get its lead back to four. 

BC turned it around after that, turning two turnovers into four quick points to tie things back up. 

Fouls started to pile up for the Eagles as Holy Cross reached the bonus with over four minutes remaining in the third. The Crusaders had 11 free throw attempts during the quarter, converting eight times. 

But the Eagles held a 52–50 advantage as the third quarter drew to a close.

Carmody took over to start the final period, scoring the first five points for BC while pulling down two rebounds and drawing two fouls. A driving layup by Tomlinson extended the lead to seven and forced Holy Cross to use a timeout. 

The Crusaders fought back to tie the game at 69 with less than 30 seconds left. Teionni McDaniel responded by hitting an acrobatic layup with seven seconds left to give the Eagles the lead. 

It looked like that would be enough for the Eagles, but a 1-of-2 trip to the line for Holy Cross and two missed free throws from Rolph gave the Crusaders one more chance.

Simone Foreman converted that opportunity by hitting a layup with one second left to put the Crusaders on top. 

“That was a tough game,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “Credit to Holy Cross. They played really well and executed at the end.”