Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Syracuse (BIG EAST Championship)
No. 20 Women's Basketball Stomps Syracuse, 67-48
March 04, 2002 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2002
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Jessalyn Deveny set career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 20 Boston College to a 67-48 victory over Syracuse in the semifinal of the Big East Conference women's tournament on Monday night.
The Eagles (23-6) outscored Syracuse 34-8 and held it without a field goal for a 12:20 span bridging the halves in advancing to the championship game against No. 1 Connecticut (32-0).
The Huskies posted the most lopsided semifinal win in the history of the tournament, defeating Villanova 83-39 in the first game at Rutgers.
Connecticut will be looking for its ninth straight tournament title, while the Eagles will play in their first final since 1987, when they lost to Villanova.
Connecticut beat Boston College 79-56 on Jan. 26 in Storrs, Conn.
Clare Droesch added 12 points and Amber Jacobs had 10 for the Eagles. Jaime Jacobs had 15 points and Shannon Perry added 11 for Syracuse, which scored 12 field goals in the game.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak and left Syracuse (18-12) on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. The No. 7 seeded Orangemen helped their chances Sunday, upsetting No. 21 Notre Dame, the defending national champion.
However, they looked tired playing their third game in as many days.
Boston College, the third seed, won this game in the final 11 minutes of the first half.
After James hit a 3-pointer to give the Orangemen their final lead at 13-11, Boston College tightened up the defense and closed the half with a 19-4 spurt that was capped by four straight 3-pointers.
Droesch tied it at 13 with a jumper with 10:22 left in the half. Adriana Spears, the hero of the Eagles' win over Rutgers in the quarterfinals, hit a free throw and a layup to put Boston College ahead 16-13.
Two free throws by Rachel Byars extended the lead to five points, and then the Eagles found their range with Deveny, Droesch, Deveny and Amber Jacobs hitting 3-pointers to push the lead to 30-17 at the half.
Deveny had 10 points in the 34-8 spurt. Her previous high was 13 against St. John's earlier this year.
Boston College led by as many as 26 points in beating Syracuse for the second time this season.
