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The Eagles and Fighting Irish were pretty evenly matched across the board tonight, but BC’s resiliency led them to a massive 73-71 comeback win against the #17/19 Fighting Irish.
The Eagles got off to a hot start, with Cameron Swartz hitting a trio of free throws, then hitting a 3 to put BC up 6-0. Taylor Soule followed that up with a steal and layup, causing Notre Dame to use an early time out.
The Irish came back from the time out with all the momentum, quickly scoring 11 unanswered points of their own to take a 11-8 lead. The teams traded points for the rest of the period, but Notre Dame managed to take a 22-17 lead into the second quarter. The Eagles did spend about half of the first period without Taylor Soule, who had 2 fouls by the middle of the quarter.
The teams continued to trade points back and forth throughout the second quarter, and the Eagles were never able to cut the Irish’s lead below 4, and the Irish ultimately took an point lead into halftime, leading 35-27.
BC started the third quarter off strong, with Makayla Dickens hitting a 3, but Notre Dame continued to keep the Eagles from building any real comeback attempt. Late in the quarter, the Fighting Irish became really building momentum and took their largest lead of the game at 14. Luckily, the Eagles built up some movement of their own, starting with a Swartz 3, to get back into the game. The Eagles continued to push on defense and make smart choices on offense, and ended the third down just 55-54.
Maria Gakdeng hit 2 to open the final quarter, giving the Eagles their first lead since the first period, but Notre Dame took the lead right back. The teams traded leads through the period, with some big 3s keeping BC in the game. The Eagles ended the game with solid defense, keeping Notre Dame from overcoming BC’s 1 point lead. The Eagles increased the lead to 2 off a Marnelle Garraud free throw with seconds to go, and stopped Notre Dame’s final shot attempt to earn the 2 point comeback victory. Cameron Swartz (28 points) and Makayla Dickens (20 points) spearheaded the victory with their 3 point shooting.