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The Eagles women’s basketball team remains undefeated after a 58-46 win against Providence at Conte Forum on Wednesday night. The game was in stark contrast to their offensive explosion in the previous victory against UMass.
BC’s smothering defense was the story of the game. They forced 23 turnovers, including a whopping 15 in the first half. The Eagles took advantage, scoring 20 points off of turnovers.
Makayla Dickens and Clara Ford were crucial to the Eagles’ defensive effort. Ford had several deflections to force turnovers, while Dickens led the team with three steals.
Offensively, junior Cameron Swartz was spectacular. Swartz led BC in scoring with 16 points, shooting 7-17 from the field and chipping in with five rebounds. Ford was the only other Eagle to hit double-digit scoring with ten points on 4-9 shooting, as she continued her hot start to the season.
The Eagles dominated the Friars in offensive rebounding and won the overall rebounding battle. BC out-rebounded Providence 38-29 overall and 17-7 on the offensive glass. Six Eagles had four or more rebounds, with Taylor Soule’s eight leading the way. BC scored 19 second-chance points to Providence’s seven.
BC shot inconsistently from the field on the night. As a team, they shot 36.1%/17.6%/100.0%. Second chance points and a perfect 11-11 shooting display from the line made up for the struggles from the field.
BC was hot from the start and ended the first quarter leading 20-9. Dickens and Soule combined to score 12 points in the opening ten minutes. The Eagles grew their lead to double-digits with a 10-3 run, spearheaded by a pair of Kaylah Ivey jumpers, to close the quarter.
Providence could not regain any ground in a low-scoring second quarter despite BC's sloppy offense with six turnovers, and the Eagles held a 30-19 lead at the half. Clara Ford led the Eagles with four points in the quarter.
The Friars narrowly outplayed the Eagles in the third quarter and cut the lead to single-digits. Mary Baskerville provided a seven-minute spark with six points and four rebounds for Providence as they entered the fourth quarter trailing BC 42-33.
The Eagles comfortably closed out the fourth quarter to get the victory despite Baskerville scoring 12 of the Friars’ 13 fourth quarter points. Swartz led the Eagles with five points in the quarter.
The BC team that is still finding their identity will be glad to have found a way to win beyond their offensive firepower this early in the season. Despite turnover troubles, the Eagles proved they are a multi-dimensional team that can also defend and rebound at a high level.
Postgame, head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee offered her thoughts, saying “I still think we turned the ball over way too much, but I thought we grew up a lot from last game to this game in the way we enforced our defense.”
The Eagles (3-0) look to remain perfect this Sunday as they take the court against UMass Lowell at Conte Forum at 2 pm.
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