Eagles Stun FSU, Move On to Semifinals of ACC Tournament

For the second year in a row, the Boston College women's basketball took on second-seed Florida State in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament. Last year, the Seminoles soundly defeated the Eagles, 83-71. This year, BC limped into the tournament having lost four of the last five, while No. 8 Florida State came in winners of its last eight. This year, though, everything seems to be clicking for the Eagles at the right time, as they shocked the Seminoles, 67-60, to advance to the semifinals of the ACC tournament. It was the first time Florida State lost to BC during head coach Sue Semrau's tenure.

Needing nothing more than a 21-point loss during the regular season as motivation, the Eagles stayed up late Thursday night to watch film. "Our seniors requested this session," said head coach Sylvia Crawley after the first-round win over Virginia Tech. "They are really motivated and hungry to play another game."

That hunger was evident Friday.

Both teams struggled to find offense early, as the score sat at a mere 4-3 Florida State advantage through the first media timeout. Both teams debuted man-to-man defenses, though BC switched to a 2-3 match-up zone quickly into the game, forcing the Seminoles to take a number of outside shots.

What kept BC in the game was its solid perimeter defense, which held Florida State to two-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half. The Seminoles were held to a paltry 14 percent 3-point percentage for the game, sinking only four of their 25 attempts from deep. BC, on the other hand, made its first two 3-pointers attempted, one by Brittanny Johnson and one by Stefanie Murphy.

The Seminoles soon switched to a 2-3 zone of their own to limit Carolyn Swords' output, forcing BC to shoot outside shots. The Eagles obliged by shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Eagles shot almost 41 percent from the floor in the first half, led by seven points from Murphy, while the Seminoles shot only 28 percent. The Seminoles, though, who needed to cover for injured offensive leader Jacinta Monroe (two points in three minutes), grabbed a 28-24 lead before the buzzer sounded in the half and were helped along by 10 Eagle turnovers. Chelsea Davis contributed eight points off the bench to come to the Seminoles' aid.

Johnson, Murphy, and Swords all picked up their third fouls in the first two minutes of the second half, which forced substitutions for the Eagles. Florida State took advantage and expanded its lead to 37-29 with 15 minutes to go, pushing the tempo and making easy baskets in transition.

BC battled on defense and chipped away at the deficit with big shots from Swords and Jasmine Gill. The Eagles also forced numerous interior fouls and got into the bonus with 13 minutes left when Ayla Brown drew a shooting foul and converted an old fashioned three-point play. BC, which leads the ACC in free-throw shooting, took advantage of the bonus to mount a comeback. They shot17 of 20 from the line during the game.

With 11:28 remaining, Jaclyn Thoman put the Eagles back on top, 40-39, with her second 3-pointer of the game. Remarkably, BC never relinquished its lead, despite Murphy fouling out with 6:15 remaining in the game and Swords playing with four fouls of her own for the majority of the half.

Gill and Brown stepped up for BC, though, putting the team on their backs. Gill rattled off six points in less than two minutes to stretch out the BC lead to seven, 55-48, with 3:42 to play. Gill finished with 13 points, and Brown quietly logged 11 points and seven rebounds.

Fresh off a regular season finale in which the Eagles allowed nine points in the final minute and a half to Miami, BC buckled down and refused to let Florida State draw closer than seven. Thoman, Gill, Swords, and Mickel Picco all shot well from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal the win and send the Eagles to the semifinals.

BC will play NC State in the semifinal round today at 3 p.m. The two teams split the regular-season series, with BC taking the Jan. 10 meeting, 83-66, and NC State grabbing the Feb. 19 match-up, 73-62.