Boston College Athletics
Women's Basketball Prepares for Hartford
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 1998
BOSTON COLLEGE (3-0, 0-0 BIG EAST)
vs.
UNIV. OF HARTFORD (1-1, 0-0 America East)
DATE: Tuesday, November 24, 1998
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: West Hartford, Connecticut
ARENA: The Sports Center (4,475)
RECORDS: Boston College enters Tuesday's game with a 3-0 record after defeating the University of Massachusetts (72-66) on November 16, Holy Cross (65-59) on November 19, and Michigan State (80-74 OT) on November 22. The University of Hartford enters Tuesday night's game with a 1-1 record. The Hawks opened the 1998-99 season with a 52-49 loss to Yale on November 17, but won at Dartmouth, 65-61, on November 21.
COACHES: Cathy Inglese (Southern Connecticut '80), currently in her sixth season at Boston College, has a record of 67-73 with the Eagles. Inglese's overall coaching record is 187-147 in 13 years. She is assisted by Pam Borton, Kelly Cole, and Bill Gould. Allison Jones (St. John's '81) is currently in her seventh season as the head coach at the University of Hartford, where she has led the Hawks to a 69-96 record. She is assisted by Pamela Bass and Susan Cahill.
EAGLES vs. HAWKS: Tuesday night's game will mark the seventh meeting between Boston College and the University of Hartford. The Eagles lead the series, 6-0. A year ago, the Eagles defeated the Hawks, 73-47, on December 11, 1997, in Chestnut Hill.
Series Record: Boston College leads, 6-0
BC in Series: Home: 4-0; Away: 2-0; Neutral: 0-0
December 4,1985 HW 80-40 December 9, 1986 AW 71-48 December 8, 1987 HW 77-51 January 3, 1990 HW 99-47 January 5, 1991 AW 70-55 December 11, 1997 AW 73-47
EAGLES vs. AMERICA EAST: Boston College has a 32-24 record against teams in the America East Conference (Boston University 4-5; Drexel 1-0; Hartford 6-0; Maine 1-1; New Hampshire 8-6; Northeastern 8-12; Towson 1-0; and Vermont 3-0).
LAST MEETING: The Eagles played Hartford in the last non-conference game of the 1997-98 season at Chestnut Hill and defeated the Hawks, 73-47. Whitney Steele scored 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles. After a quick start by Hartford, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run and led the Hawks, 18-8, with 8:54 left to play in the first half. Boston College added to its lead as Paula Bacso scored seven points and Allison Booth netted six in the closing minutes to give the Eagles a 34-21 lead at halftime. Boston College went on a 19-9 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half and outscored the Hawks, 39-26, to secure the victory. Alissa Murphy finished with 13 points and five rebounds for the Eagles. Tracy Stolle led the Hawks with 13 points and six rebounds.
REEBOK CLASSIC: The Eagles captured their third consecutive victory of the season with an 80-74 overtime win over Michigan State in the second game of the 1998 Reebok Women's Basketball Classic held at the Fleet Center in Boston on November 22. Junior Alissa Murphy scored 19 points, including two key free throws with 19 seconds left in overtime to give the Eagles a four point advantage at 78-74. Freshman Brianne Stepherson scored the final two points for Boston College on free throws with six seconds left to seal the victory. Stepherson finished the game with 10 points. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the first half. The Spartans worked out to an eight point advantage, 25-18, with 7:54 left in the first half. Boston College fought its way back into the game and took the lead at the 3:36 mark on a lay-up by Murphy. The Eagles entered halftime with a 33-29 advantage.
In the second half, Boston College held a slim advantage until just over four minutes left in regulation, when a three pointer by Pernille Dalgaard gave Michigan State a 53-52 lead. The Eagles retook the lead on another Murphy lay-up, and led by as many as five points with 45 seconds left in the game. Whitney Winberg's two free throws cut the Eagle lead to three. Then with two seconds left in regulation, Maxann Reese nailed a three pointer to even the score at 64-64 as time expired. Boston College only trailed once in overtime at the 66-64 mark in route to its first win ever over a Big 10 team. Senior co-captain Paula Basco tied her career high by scoring 18 points while adding seven rebounds. Junior guard Cal Bouchard added 14 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
EAGLES IN THE REEBOK CLASSIC (2-2)
November 26, 1995
Ohio State 62, Boston College 40
November 24, 1996
Connecticut 76, Boston College 38
November 23, 1997
Boston College 82, Texas 68
November 22, 1998
Boston College 80, Michigan State 74 (OT)
MISC. REEBOK CLASSIC NOTES: Senior co-captain Paula Bacso tied her career-high in scoring with 18 points in the win over the Spartans...The overtime victory over Michigan State improved the Eagles' record in the Reebok Classic to 2-2 in four years participating in the event...That victory also marked the first win ever for Boston College over a team from the Big Ten Conference.
OVERTIME: The victory over Michigan State in the Reebok Classic was the first overtime game for the Eagles since losing to Alabama, 79-70, on December 28, 1997 at the Corestates Hawk Classic in Philadelphia. Boston College has an all-time record of 5-5 in overtime games.
BEST START: For the second consecutive season the Eagles have opened with a 3-0 record. A year ago, Boston College opened the season with a 5-1 record in the first six games and finished 17-11 overall.
PROBABLE BOSTON COLLEGE STARTERS
F #12 Alissa Murphy (5-10, Jr., 15.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) F #44 Paula Bacso (6-1, Sr., 9.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg) C #32 Whitney Steele (6-4, Sr., 15.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg) G #5 Cal Bouchard (5-7, Jr., 15.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) G #11 Brianne Stepherson (5-8, Fr., 11.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
OFF THE EAGLES' BENCH
G #4 Danielle O'Banion (5-7, So.,3.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg) C #20 Jamie Cournoyer (6-3, So., 4.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg) F #54 Becky Gottstein (6-1, Fr., 3.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
BOSTON COLLEGE vs. HARTFORD
Statistical Comparison
Boston College Hartford Points Per Game 72.3 57.0 Opponents Points Per Game 66.3 56.5 Field Goals 45.6 (78-171) 49.5 (46-93) Opponents Field Goals 36.9 (73-198) 39.8 (38-98) Free Throws 68.7 (46-67) 41.5 (22-53) Opponents Free Throws 76.0 (38-50) 66.0 (33-50) 3-pt. Field Goals 39.5 (15-38) 00.0 (0-10) Opp. 3-pt. Field Goals 20.8 (15-72) 11.1 (2-18) Rebounds 39.7 39.5 Opponents Rebounds 38.3 29.0 Assists 15.3 11.5 Opponents Assists 14.3 7.0 Turnovers 16.3 25.0 Opponents Turnovers 15.0 20.5
HOLY CROSS WIN: Senior Whitney Steele scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to lead Boston College to a 65-59 victory at Holy Cross on November 19. The Eagles never trailed in the game, as senior Alissa Murphy opened the scoring with a three-point field goal. Boston College had its biggest lead of the first half at 28-16 with 3:14 left. In the second half, Holy Cross scored six unanswered points, narrowing the Eagles' lead to 48-44 with 9:23 remaining in the game. Another Murphy three-point field goal increased the lead to seven points. Boston College eventually led by 11 points, 62-51, with 3:31 left in the game. Freshman Brianne Stepherson finished with 14 points and six assists, and Murphy added 12 points. Junior point guard Cal Bouchard sat out the game after hitting her head in Tuesday's practice. The win over Holy Cross snapped a two-game losing streak in the series with the Crusaders.
CAREER NIGHT: Senior Whitney Steele led the Eagles to a victory against Holy Cross on November 19, grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds and scoring 23 points. The senior center pulled down 13 defensive rebounds and also had two blocked shots in the victory.
STEPHERSON'S DEBUT: Brianne Stepherson has made an immediate impact in the first three games of her collegiate career. The freshman guard has started all three games at point guard, and is averaging 11.0 points and 3.7 assists. In her collegiate debut against Massachusetts, Stepherson scored nine points (4-7 FG, 1-4 3-pt.) and added two assists in 22 minutes. At Holy Cross, she played 40 minutes, netted 14 points (3-7 FG, 8-11 FT) and handed out six assists. Stepherson scored 10 points (3-9 FG, 4-4 FT) and added five rebounds, and three assists in 39 minutes against Michigan State.
INJURY UPDATE: Senior forward Shawna Rainer missed all of preseason due to ankle surgery, and is not expected to play until December. Allison Booth played in the first exhibition game on November 4, but the senior center has been sidelined for the first three contests with an injury to her right knee.
EAGLES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION: The Eagles have started the 1998-99 season with a 3-0 mark against non-league opponents. Last season, Boston College finished with a 5-3 record against non-conference opponents.
EAGLE CAPTAINS: Senior Paula Bacso and junior Cal Bouchard will serve as the captains for the Boston College women's basketball team during the 1998-99 campaign.
EAGLES IN THE NATIONAL POLLS: Boston College received four votes in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll.
SEASON OPENER: Boston College opened the 1998-99 season with a 72-66 victory over the University of Massachusetts on November 16, at Conte Forum. Four players scored in double figures to lead the Eagles to victory. Cal Bouchard was the team's leading scorer with 17 points, including four three-point field goals, and seven rebounds. Senior center Whitney Steele and Alissa Murphy each netted 15 points for the Eagles, and sophomore guard Danielle O'Banion provided a spark off the bench scoring 10 points. Freshman Brianne Stepherson started at point guard for Boston College and finished with nine points and two assists. The Minutewomen were led by Tez Kraft and Kelly Van Huisen's 18 point-efforts.
The Eagles had a six-point lead in the final minute of the first half, but Van Huisen's three-point field goal in the closing seconds narrowed the score to 33-30 at halftime. Massachusetts opened the second half with a 9-2 run, and the Minutewomen extended their lead to seven points with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Boston College rallied and Murphy's three-point field goal gave the Eagles a 51-49 lead with 8:56 left. Massachusetts narrowed the Eagles' five point lead to 69-66, but Boston College connected on three-of-four free throws in the final 12 seconds to secure the Boston College win. Boston College is 17-10 in season openers (home openers: 12-5 ; away openers: 5-3; neutral openers: 0-2). The Eagle's last season-opening defeat was at the Reebok Classic on November 24, 1996, when the Eagles lost to Connecticut, 76-38, at the FleetCenter.
HEAD COACH CATHY INGLESE: Head coach Cathy Inglese is currently in her sixth season at the helm of the Boston College women's basketball program. Inglese arrived at Boston College in 1993 after serving as the head coach at the University of Vermont for seven seasons. In six seasons she has registered a record of 67-73, and has a career record of 187-147. During her stint at Vermont, she became the winningest college basketball coach in the nation over the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. Inglese's teams were undefeated in regular-season play in both 1991-92 (29-0) and 1992-93 (28-0), and became the only Division I men's or women's team to have back-to-back perfect records. She earned District I Coach of the Year and North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, and was a National Coach of the Year finalist all three years. A 1980 magna cum laude graduate of Southern Connecticut State College, Inglese was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Inglese's Record
Boston College Record (6 Years) 67-73 Career Record (13 Years) 187-147 BIG EAST Regular Season Record (5 Years) 43-47 BIG EAST Tournament Record (5 Years) 2-5 BIG EAST Overall Record (5 Years) 45-52 NCAA Record (2 appearances) 0-2
EXHIBITION ACTION: Despite a 31-point effort by junior guard Cal Bouchard, Boston College lost to the Russian Select team, 93-84, on November 4 at Conte Forum, in the opening exhibition game of the 1998-99 season. The Russian Select team jumped out to a 25-17 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half, but the Eagles rallied and led 42-40 at halftime. Boston College held a slim lead until the 7:48 mark when Maria Stepanova's free throw gave the Russian Select team a 67-66 lead. The visitors increased their lead to 13 points late in the game. Senior center Whitney Steele added 18 points for the Eagles, connecting on nine-for-14 attempts.
Boston College won its second exhibition game of the season, defeating the Lithuanian Select team, 99-68, on November 12, at Conte Forum. Junior Alissa Murphy scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Eagles. Boston College jumped out front early and led the visitors, 33-8, with 10 minutes left in the first half. The Eagles led 52-29 at halftime, and the Lithuanian team shot only 24 percent from the field. Sophomore Jamie Cournoyer led the Eagles in scoring in the first half with 13 points. Boston College opened the second half with a 14-5 run and increased its lead to 68-34. The Eagles' lead never fell below 30 points for the remainder of the game, and the Eagles shot over 60 percent from the field. Freshman Brianne Stepherson netted 15 points and handed out eight assists in her second start of the season, and freshman Becky Gottstein added 12 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Danielle O'Banion scored 10 points for BC.
UP NEXT: Following the game at Hartford, Boston College will host Toledo on Friday, November 27 at 7:00 p.m. and St. Joseph's on Sunday, November 29 at 2:00 p.m.
FOURTH IN BIG EAST POLL: The Boston College women's basketball team was selected to finish fourth in the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches. The University of Connecticut was selected to finish first in the league, followed by Rutgers University, Notre Dame, and the Eagles.
1998-99 BIG EAST Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. Connecticut (9) 141
2. Rutgers (4) 136
3. Notre Dame 120
4. Boston College 108
5. Villanova 95
6. Miami 83
7. Georgetown 68
8. Syracuse 63
West Virginia 63
10. Providence 48
11. St. John's 32
12. Seton Hall 30
13. Pittsburgh 26
( ) First Place votes
PRE-SEASON HONORS: Cal Bouchard was named to the preseason All-BIG EAST First Team and Whitney Steele earned preseason All-BIG EAST second team honors in a vote of the league's head coaches. An All-BIG EAST First Team selection a year ago, Bouchard led the team in scoring with an average of 16.0 points per game. The junior guard earned BIG EAST Player of the Week honors twice last season. Bouchard led the BIG EAST in three-point field goal percentage and finished 11th in the nation (45.1), connecting on 55-of-122 attempts. Steele earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors a year ago. The senior center led the Eagles in rebounding with an average of 6.0, and was second on the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game. Steele scored in double figures in 23 games and was sixth in the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, connecting on 48.1 percent (164-341) from the field.
1998-99 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Name Cl. Pos. Team Svetlana Abrosimova So. F Connecticut Cal Bouchard Jr. G Boston College Kym Hope Sr. F/C Miami Tasha Pointer So. G Rutgers Tomora Young Sr. G Rutgers1998-99 Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team
Name Cl. Pos. Team Sheila McMillen Sr. G Notre Dame Ruth Riley So. C Notre Dame Paige Sauer Jr. C Connecticut Whitney Steele Sr. C Boston College Sylita Thomas Sr. F Georgetown
EAGLE EXPERIENCE: The Eagles return three starters (Cal Bouchard, Paula Bacso, and Whitney Steele), including two All-BIG EAST Conference selections, from last year's team that finished with a 17-11 overall record and an 11-7 league mark. The Eagles lost only two players from a team that led the nation in three-point field goal percentage (41 percent, 119-290) and finished sixth in free throw percentage (75.2 percent, 466-620) a year ago. Bouchard was named to the All-BIG EAST First-Team and Steele earned All-BIG EAST Third-Team honors.
EAGLES ON THE NET
Media members and fans of the Boston College women's basketball team and all Eagle athletic teams may now access information on the Internet by typing: www.bceagles.com
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTSLed Team In Scoring Cal Bouchard (1 game) Alissa Murphy (1 game) Whitney Steele (1 game)
Led Team In Rebounding Cal Bouchard (1 tie for the lead) Becky Gottstein (2 games, 1 tie for the lead) Whitney Steele (2 games, 1 tie for the lead)
Led Team In Assists Paula Bacso (1 tie for the lead) Cal Bouchard (1 tie for the lead) Alissa Murphy (1 game) Brianne Stepherson (1 game)
Led Team In Steals Paula Bacso (1 tie for the lead) Cal Bouchard (2 ties for the lead) Alissa Murphy (2 ties for the lead) Whitney Steele (1 tie for the lead) Brianne Stepherson (1 tie for the lead)
20+ Games Whitney Steele (1 game)
