The Boston College Women’s Basketball team advanced to the regional semifinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Monday 3/21, defeating Quinnipiac 94-68.
Led offensively and defensively by Taylor Soule, the Eagles put on a basketball clinic to advance to the third round of the tournament. The Eagles averaged a fifteen-point lead throughout the game.
Soule had recorded a double-double by the end of the first half, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She finished the game with 33 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs for the senior. Defensively, Soule kept opponents outside the paint, fearlessly leaping after rebound opportunities and frustrating the Bobcats.
Fellow senior Cameron Swartz also recorded 20 points and 8 rebounds. The senior went 3-4 from the 3-point arc and picked up 5 defensive rebounds, limiting the Bobcats chances for second opportunities. Swartz added 1 steal and 2 assists to her stat line, bouncing back from a tough outing against Maine last week.
The one player the Eagles had difficulty shutting down was Bobcat guard Rose Caverly, who scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers. Each time the game seemed to slip away from the Bobcats, Caverly would hit a 3-pointer to give the team some life and force the Eagles to keep pushing the tempo. Overall, Quinnipiac went 10-19 outside the arc on the night, averaging 52%.
But the story of the game came down to rebounds. The Eagles recorded 40 on the night, while the Bobcats finished the game with 27. Of those Eagles’ rebounds, 17 were offensive rebounds that reset the shot clock, giving the Eagles’ second and third chances, from which they scored 15 points, compared to Quinnipiac’s 7. Another 23 rebounds were defensive, returning possession to the Eagles and preventing the Bobcats from securing second chance opportunities.
Playing at a high tempo, the Eagles flustered Quinnipiac, forcing unnecessary traveling, three second, and five second violations that returned possession to BC. Additionally, for the most part, BC managed to avoid foul trouble, keeping the Bobcats away from the free-throw line. The ten steals the Eagles defense put up helped seal the deal, preventing the Bobcats from finding their game or making a run of points to chip into BC’s lead.
Ten Eagles players recorded points on the night, with Marnelle Garraud ending the game in double-digits. Clara Ford came off the bench to record 5 points and a block. All told, BC scored 22 points from the bench, showcasing a depth that the Bobcats could not replicate. When Caverly or MacKenzie DeWees weren’t on the floor, Quinnipiac tended not to find the basket.
The Eagles played Columbia in the third round of the WNIT tournament at Columbia’s Levien Stadium on Thursday 3/28 at 7pm, losing 51-54.
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