It was more of the same for Boston College women’s basketball today, as the Eagles built up a double digit lead early only to struggle as the game continued, ultimately blowing that lead. Today, it was against #19 Notre Dame, who BC fell to by a score of 79-55.
The Eagles took an early 4-0 lead with baskets from Dontavia Waggoner and Teya Sidberry before the Irish scored their first basket at 7:38. The Eagles stayed hot as the first quarter went on, including a 3 point play for Kaylah Ivey after being fouled on a shot and a 3 point basket from Jojo Lacey. At the media timeout, BC led 14-3.
Notre Dame came back from the timeout with more confidence, and quickly cut BC’s lead to 14-8. Lacey score to stop Notre Dame’s scoring run, and Ivey hit a 3 as time ran out in the period to give BC a 21-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Eags struggled in the second, making mistakes and struggling to score as Notre Dame got more aggressive on defense. Halfway through the quarter the Eagles had scored just 1 point and had already committed 5 fouls, but still led 22-16. BC picked up a second point with 4:02 to go as Sidberry went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, making it 23-19 BC.
The Irish tied the game at 24 with just under 2 minutes to go in the half, and took their first lead of the game at 25-24 with a minute remaining. Waggoner finally scored a non-free throw basket for BC with seconds remaining on the clock, and Notre Dame took a 29-25 lead into halftime. During the second quarter BC made 9 turnovers, shot 1-for-13 from the floor, 0-for-4 from behind the arc, and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Notre Dame opened up the third quarter with a 3 to take a 32-25 lead, and followed that up with another 3 to go up 35-27. Midway through the period Notre Dame led 42-30, with BC’s 3 points coming from Lili Krasovec on an and-one. The Eagles ultimately had a much more successful third quarter, scoring 15 points, but still went into the final quarter down 53-40.
The Eagles cut Notre Dame’s lead to single digits early in the fourth after a 3 from Andrea Daley and a basket from Waggoner, but the Irish quickly took back a 12 point lead. Notre Dame kept building on the lead from there, and took a 21 point lead with 2:15 to go.
The Eagles have now lost 10 games in a row, in what must be a very frustrating streak for a team that shows they can compete against top teams and then cannot maintain the leads. It’s not immediately clear if it’s a lack of confidence that leads to rushed and sloppy plays, a problem with strength/conditioning that leads to fatigue and sloppiness, or a lack of being coached pregame and in-game on how to adjust play as opponents figure out how to effectively defend against BC and how to fight through BC’s defense. Or a mix of three! Whatever the cause, it is clear that something has to change for this program to live up to its potential.