BC Upsets Pitt in Round One of the ACC Tournament

March 5, 2021

Boston College defeated Pittsburgh in the first round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday afternoon to get their third conference win of the season. The 67-56 victory in Greensboro, N.C. was led by Cameron Swartz, who scored a school-record of 33 points in an ACC Tournament game.

Not only did Swartz carry BC offensively by scoring three times as many points as any of her teammates, but she did so with efficiency. She only missed one of her 16 free throw attempts and knocked down over half of her 3-point shots. Additionally, she grabbed a game-high of six boards.

For Pittsburgh, Jayla Everett led the way with 22 points. Despite teammate Amber Brown also putting 15 on the board, the Panthers were never really in the game. Everett scored the first points of the game, but a 3-point shot from Swartz a minute later gave the Eagles a lead that they would not relinquish. That bucket was also the start of a 12-0 run for the Eagles, their biggest scoring run of the game.

First-Team All-ACC Taylor Soule had a rare off-game. She scored four points and made only one of her five shots from the field. Yet, she still managed to help the Eagles to a win, leading the team with a +23 +/- rating.

In their next game, Boston College will need to value their possessions more than they did against Pittsburgh. They turned the ball over 23 times, giving Pitt an abundance of easy scoring opportunities.

Additionally, they will need to beef up their shooting as a team. While Swartz dominated on offense, the rest of the team shot 28% from the field. This number is worse than their percentage from behind the arc, where they shot 42% as a team. It’s going to be up to Soule and Clara Ford to be more assertive in the paint if they want to continue to advance in the ACC Tournament.

Following their defeat of 12-seed Pitt, the 13-seed Eagles will now face 5th-seeded Syracuse Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

This will be BC’s third matchup against the Orange this season, losing each of their previous two by double-digits. After a rough start to the season, they will likely need to win this game and then some if they want their season to continue to the NCAA Tournament.

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