Eagles Earn Comeback Victory Over Virginia

It might have been BC’s messiest game of the year, but the Eagles completed a comeback and defeated Virginia by a score of 65-57.

Neither team got off to a strong start, both missing most of their attempted shots and neither getting many offensive rebounds. With 4:30 to go in the period, the game was tied at just 4-4.

The Eagles couldn’t manage to grab rebounds for much of the first quarter, and those extra chances allowed Virginia to build up a 13-9 lead as the teams entered the final minute of the period. After the first 10 minutes, Virginia led 15-10. The Cavaliers had 19 rebounds to BC’s 6, and neither team was shooting over 26%.

The second quarter started out similarly messy for BC, as Virginia scored first and also earned a free throw on the play. Luckily for the Eagles, Virginia then fouled Makayla Dickens while she was attempting a 3, and she made all 3 free throws. Unfortunately, the Eagles continued to struggle to find any rhythm on offense as the quarter went on. With 3 minutes remaining in the half, the Eagles were shooting just 16% and Cavaliers had increased their lead to double digits.

At halftime, Virginia led 34-25. The Cavaliers were out-rebounding BC 29-16, and were shooting at 40% compared to BC’s 21%.

BC started the second half with a 3 second violation, but successfully defended on the other end and got possession back, setting Taylor Soule up for a long 2. The Eagles forced travels on both of Virginia’s next possessions, and by the media timeout at 7:16 in the third were down just 34-30. A layup from Maria Gakdeng and a 3 from Makayla Dickens then put BC up by 1. From there the teams traded leads back and forth before BC got onto a hot streak and ultimately took a 49-41 lead into the 4th quarter.

The Cavaliers scored first in the 4th, but Marnelle Garraud quickly scored a 3 to help the Eagles keep their lead, followed right up by a Cam Swartz 3. The Eagles kept the lead from there, coming back from a really rough first half. Rebounding played a huge role in BC’s comeback, as did the 10 steals the Eagles had by the final minute of play.

Cam Swartz led all players with 18 points in the game after a slow start, and Maria Gakdeng led the game with 16 rebounds.