Boston College Women's Basketball Falls In ACC/Big Ten Challenge

On Wednesday night, Boston College hosted Indiana University for their fourth loss in the annual ACC Big Ten Challenge. The matchup resulted in a 76-67 win for the Hoosiers.

Kelly Hughes and Karima Gabriel tied at 10 as the leading scorers for the game, while Kelly Hughes and Kat Cooper tied at 8 for rebounds. Indiana guards, Tyra Buss and Larryn Brooks scored a combination of 45 points, while forward Amanda Cahill grabbed 10 rebound.

In the first half the Eagles shot only 37.5% from the floor, and by the second half they were at 50%. Meanwhile, Indiana shot at a fair 48.4%, and dropped to 28% after halftime. Either way, both teams had fairly low shooting percentages, but Indiana's 3 point game made the difference. Indiana was 9 for 23, while Boston College was 6 for 13. This gives Indiana a lower 3 point average, but their attempt at more shots was key to them winning the game.

From the first half on, the core of this game was foul shots. Boston College made it to the line 15 times, and Indiana 29. They made 23 of those free throws, while the Eagles made 9 of theirs.

In the last 5 minutes of the game, the Eagles made a hopeful 8-point come back. A lot of BC's flaws were in their defense. The team has great shooters, but they needed their defense to be strong from the start to prevent Indiana from getting in the paint. Without that, Indiana would have been forced to shoot three points which would not have been as damaging. The Eagles really mastered their defense against the Hoosiers, forcing more turnovers and shot clock violation on the Hoosiers. The Eagles ended with a strong 10-7, but Indiana had already secured the game.

The Eagles will visit the University of Hartford Hawks on Sunday.

Fun Fact: This loss gives the Big Ten their 5th win for this years challenge (5-3), but 6 more games have to be played in order to determine the winner. In Challenge ACC/ B1G history the ACC has won 48 challenges  while the Big Ten has won 32.