Boston College Athletics
Eagles Pull off Upset against No. 7 Notre Dame
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
December 30, 1998
BOSTON - Senior Whitney Steele led the Eagles with 17 points, while freshman forward Becky Gottstein scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, 12 of those coming in the first half. Steele and Gottstein were joined in the double-figure column by Cal Bouchard (16 points, 4 rebounds), Alissa Murphy (14 points, 4 rebounds) and Paula Bacso (10 points, 1 rebound). BC outrebounded the Irish 34-28 and forced 24 Notre Dame turnovers.
"Our players really played together tonight," said BC coach Cathy Inglese. "They communicated well, and thats something we have been stressing. We played well defensively and hit the boards, which allowed us to control the tempo."
BC took an early 3-0 lead on a Cal Bouchard jumper and never trailed in the game. BC led by five, 25-20, with 6:30 remaining in the first half before going on a 13-4 run to take a 38-24 lead at the 2:10 mark. A last-second heave from near midcourt by Notre Dames Sherisha Hills cut the gap to 10 at halftime.
The Eagles came out strong in the second half, pouring on the defensive pressure to force 11 Notre Dame turnovers in the first 13 minutes to take a commanding 67-50 lead with 7:15 remaining. But Notre Dame mounted a comeback. In less than two minutes, the Irish went on a 7-0 run to cut the BC lead to 10 with 5:31 remaining. After a timeout, BC connected on seven of 10 trips to the free throw line to preserve the victory.
Notre Dame was led by center Ruth Rileys 22-point, 11-rebound performance. With 14 points, guard Danielle Green was the only other Notre Dame player in double figures.
With the win, the Eagles improve to 10-1 (2-1 in the BIG EAST Conference). Notre Dame, which was ranked seventh in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls this past week, drops to 9-2, 1-2 in the BIG EAST.
The Eagles play host to Syracuse on Tuesday, Jan. 5 in Conte Forum.
