Boston College Women’s Basketball Blows Early First Period Lead, Falls to Pitt

As they have been doing again and again in recent ACC games, the Boston College women’s basketball teams lost tonight after losing first period momentum and allowing their opponents to get on too many hot streaks. The Eagles, who were leading Pittsburgh by 13 points after the first period of play, ended up losing tonight’s game by a score of 83-80.

BC’s 18 turnovers were a big factor in this loss, with Pitt scoring 20 points off turnovers. Fouls also got the Eagles in trouble yet again, as Pitt was about to attempt 21 free throws and made 17 of them. Meanwhile, BC continues to be on a downslide in terms of free throw shooting. The Eagles began the year nearly perfect from behind the line, but their average has slowly been slipping and they shot at 68.8% from the line today.

It is easy to look at BC’s record and be discouraged, but it is important to recognize that they have had limited practice and game time for much of 2021 due to COVID protocols within the team, so I’m not as worried as I otherwise would be.

There definitely were some bright spots in today’s game as well, despite the loss. The Eagles continue to improve from behind the arc, and they went 7-for-14 on 3-pointers today. Marnelle Garraud went 2-for-3 on 3s, and Makayla Dickens made a trio of baskets from behind the arc.

Taylor Soule also seems to have found her confidence after struggling a bit to adjust to her new role as opponents’ #1 target on defense. Soule recorded a double-double today, with an impressive 27 points and 12 rebounds. She also was only assessed 3 personal fouls, which is an improvement over her tendency to get into foul trouble early when the ACC stretch began.