The Boston College women’s basketball team led by as many as 19 points tonight, but ultimately blew that lead to fall to #18 Louisville by a score of 69-67.
The Eagles started out the game by playing really strong defense while limiting their fouling, which made it difficult for Louisville to score and forced the Cardinals into some sloppy plays. BC led 11-4 after 5 minutes of play, and took a 17-8 lead into the second quarter. Throughout the first period, BC made 5 steals and forced 9 turnovers.
BC went up by 10 points midway through the second quarter, taking a 26-16 lead. Unfortunately with 4:46 to go in the half the Eags hit 5 personal fouls, and the continued fouling allowed Louisville to cut that lead back down.
With 3:13 remaining in the half the Cardinals cut BC’s lead down to 2 after hitting a pair of free throws, and then tied the game up at 30 with just about a minute remaining in the half. The teams went into halftime tied up at 32.
Dontavia Waggoner scored to start off the third period by putting BC back up by 2. Teya Sidberry then hit a pair of free throws to make it 36-32 Eagles, only for Louisville to quickly tie things back up. T’Yana Todd then hit her second 3 of the game to make it 39-36 BC.
Unfortunately, BC hit 5 fouls with 6:16 still remaining in the third period. The Cardinals were able to take their first lead of the game thanks to BC’s fouling as well, taking a 45-44 lead with 2:40 remaining in the third. The Eagles struggled to recover after losing the lead and Louisville made it 51-46, but Waggoner was able to get BC back within 2 points with a basket and free throw. Then, with .4 seconds to go, Nene Ndiaye scored as the shot clock expired and was fouled. Her 3 point play put BC up 52-51 heading into the fourth.
Louisville took back the lead to start off the fourth quarter, and stayed ahead of BC by 3 to 5 points throughout the first 7 minutes. With 2:17 to go in regulation, Sidberry scored to cut the Cardinal’s lead to just 2 points at 65-63.
With just over a minute remaining, Todd tied the game at 67. The Eagles turned the ball over with under a minute to go, allowing Louisville to take a 69-67 lead with 19.1 seconds left in regulation. The Cardinals began fouling BC to keep the Eagles from gaining momentum, and BC threw the ball into a turnover while inbounding it to give Louisville the ball back with 5.7 remaining. The Eagles weren’t able to get the ball back, and fell to the Cardinals by a score of 69-67.