Tenth Straight Loss For BC

The Boston College women's basketball team fell to 0-10 in conference play yesterday afternoon against Wake Forest, but there were plenty of positives for this young Eagles' squad even in the loss. BC lost 73-60 to the Demon Deacons, but the game was a lot closer in the final minutes than the score suggests.

After opening the game strong, turnovers and offensive struggles allowed Wake Forest to fight back into the game. The Deacons switched to a full-court press while trailing 10-7 with 13 minutes left in the first half, and it sparked a 12-2 run that the Eagles couldn't fight back against in the first half. BC went into the half trailing 44-26 mainly due to its eight turnovers and shooting 0-for-7 from behind the arc. None of the Eagles had more than six points in the first half, and things were starting to look bleak.

Rebounding also hurt BC in the first half. Although the battle of the boards finished about even at the end of the game, Wake tallied 10 offensive rebounds while BC only had one leading to a margin that was too great to come back from in the second half. Sophomore forward Katie Zenevitch and freshman Joy Caracciolo boxed out much better and even snagged a combined seven offensive rebounds in the second half, but it wasn't enough.

Refusing to give up, BC found a spark from its young forwards and sophomore point guard Tessah Holt. With Holt running the show, the Eagle offense finally found a smooth rhythm and flow. After being limited to just four points in the first half, Zenevitch erupted for 16 in the second. She forced her way inside, and the Deacons had a tough time defending her close to the basket. Zenevitch also proved her range, knocking down a few elbow jumpers while making her even more difficult to defend. Her offense opened the game up for the rest of the Eagles, and almost every player fared better offensively in the second half. She also notched 10 rebounds on her way to a double-double, with five offensive rebounds during BC's second half run.

 Caracciolo had a solid game throughout, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Her size was consistently too much for Wake to handle. She thrived off of pushing her way through the Deacon defense, and finished at the rim with ease.

Everything started to click for BC in the second half, but the 18-point deficit was too much for the young team to overcome. With nine minutes left, the line-up of Holt, Zenevitch, Caracciolo, Tiffany Ruffin, and Kristen Doherty cut the Wake lead to eight, but that was the closest the Eagles would get. Ruffin did a great job attacking the rim and drawing fouls, while Doherty complimented Caracciolo and Zenevitch with solid inside scoring.

Conte began to erupt as the Eagles drew closer, but Wake finally found its groove offensively again while BC's offense stalled, unable to answer. For a team stacked with freshmen and sophomores, it's difficult to come back from that type of halftime deficit.

Almost every Eagle player showed flashes of great play, but the team had trouble getting everyone to play well at the same time. The chances of this squad getting a conference win this season are fairly slim, but the future of the program doesn't seem to be in jeopardy. BC's best players are young forwards who will learn to better use their size as their careers progress. The fact that the team fought hard the entire game and refused to give up is a good sign that it is at least headed in the right direction, even if the wins aren't coming with that progress.