The Boston College women’s basketball team headed to Hartford on Sunday to play the Hawks. Looking to redeem themselves after Wednesday’s loss to Indiana University, the Eagles successfully brought home a 73-61 win, bringing their record to 5-5.
The Hawks won the tip and tried to come out strong at the start of the first half. After a foul call, Cherelle Moore went to the line and made both of her foul shots, giving Hartford the first lead of the game. Hartford’s defense was solid, making it hard for BC to get a shot off. The team used a 1-2-2 zone press that caught BC off guard. The press caused the Eagles to call an early timeout.
The Eagles came out of the timeout with determination. Junior Nicole Boudreau made a 3-pointer and BC gained its first lead of the game, 8-7. The Eagles were aggressive in the way they attacked the basket and their quick ball movement helped to break down the Hawks’ defense. Hartford struggled against BC’s 2-3 defensive zone, allowing the Eagles to go on a 19-3 run with the help of eight straight points from Kat Cooper, making the score 23-13.
This lead caused the Hawks to change to a 2-1-2 zone, which still proved to be little challenge for the Eagles. BC took advantage of every opportunity and managed to increase its lead to 14 points. The team’s 2-3 zone still proved to be strong and the Hawks struggled to score.
With less than three minutes left, Hartford and BC went through a 3-point war, each answering the other. BC was able to fight, however, and increase its lead to 18. Hawks’ Amber Bepko scored a buzzer beater 3-pointer, making the score 45-30 BC going into halftime.
After the break, Hartford’s defense still proved to be weak, allowing BC to easily make layup after layup. The Eagles decided to slow down the pace to maintain their control of the game, but the Hawks took advantage of this and decreased its deficit to 10 points.
BC easily bounced back though, scoring five points in 20 seconds to bump its lead up to 15 points. Much of the rest of the half was dictated by foul shots, since both sides racked up team fouls early on.
Late in the game, the Hawks intercepted a poor BC pass and Deanna Mayza hit a 3-pointer, decreasing BC’s lead to only nine points with 2:30 left. Cooper yet again answered back and the Eagles closed the game with a score of 73-61.
Sophomore guard Kelly Hughes continued to be BC’s biggest threat. She had a double-double, scoring 22 points, making six out of 12 3-pointers, and snagging 11 rebounds.
Earlier in the week, Hughes led BC with ten points and eight rebounds in a loss to the Indiana Hoosiers 76-67 on Dec. 3. The Eagles struggled from the start, allowed the Hoosiers to gain an early lead, and were unable to ever claw their way back.
With a 37.5 percent shooting accuracy, BC was unable to get a lot of offense going in the first half. However, the team came out stronger after halftime and improved overall, bumping its field goal accuracy to 50 percent.
With 1:10 left in the game, the Eagles cut the Hoosier lead to only eight points, but Indiana’s Tyra Buss sank two free throws to secure the victory.
With a .500 record a month into the season, the Eagles have showed the resolve to finish off teams like Hartford, but have been lacking offensive consistency in losses to the likes of Indiana.
Featured Image by Arthur Bailin/Heights Editor
