At one point tonight the Boston College women’s basketball team led Harvard by a score of 34-13, but a sloppy second half saw BC blow that lead to fall to the Crimson by a score of 66-59.
It took the Eagles a few plays to get settled tonight, but once they got into the swing of things they initially looked like a much more confident team than we saw in Sunday’s opener. The teams traded baskets to start the first half, but BC quickly built up a significant lead, helped along the way by 3 pointers from T’Yana Todd and Teya Sidberry. Todd in particular stood out tonight, seeming much more comfortable in her game than she was against Holy Cross.
From the beginning of tonight’s game BC played the fast and aggressive defense that they’re known for: blocking shots, stealing passes, and forcing Harvard out of bounds. The Eagles first half lead was also bolstered by a real improvement in rebounding – after being completely dominated on the boards by Holy Cross, BC went into intermission with 24 rebounds to Harvard’s 19.
The wheels did fall off a bit for BC as the first half wound down, as the Eags saw a 34-13 lead dwindle down to 35-26 after getting way over the foul limit to give Harvard some easy points and missing too many baskets of their own. Unfortunately, that messiness would continue as the game went on.
BC scored first in the third, but from there is was all Crimson, with Harvard outshooting and out-rebounding BC to slowly cut down the Eagles’ lead.
With just over 2 minutes to go in the third, Dontavia Waggoner scored a pair of layups to put BC back up by 9 and get the momentum going again. Harvard hit a 3 late in the quarter to give the Crimson a boost, but BC still managed to end the quarter up 48-42.
Harvard continued to catch up in the fourth, and the Eagles hit the foul limit with 5:10 still to go in regulation. With just under 2 minutes to go, Harvard managed to take the lead after a number of missed chances for both teams. The Eagles missed their next shot attempt, and Harvard followed up with a 3 to take a 61-57 lead. From there, BC couldn’t catch up as missed shots continued to haunt them, and the Eagles ended up falling to the Crimson 66-59.
BC ended this one shooting 32.9%, going just 7-for-13 from the free throw line, and being out-rebounded 46-41. BC did have an impressive 9 steals and Waggoner had a strong game with 17 points and her usual great defensive performance, but overall this was a concerning outing for the Eagles and doesn’t inspire confidence for how they’ll fare in the super competitive ACC.