Boston College
Miami
Women's Basketball Advances To ACC Quarterfinal
March 05, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2009
Greensboro, NC -
The Boston College women's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament with a 76-59 victory over Miami on Thursday night at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Eagles are now 20-10 overall and went 7-7 in the ACC. Miami finished the season at 13-17 and 2-12 in the ACC.
"I"m just extemely proud of our team. I thought that two games before our game really helped us just because there were some upsets. It sent a very clear message to our team that we needed to come out and elevate our level of play,'' said BC Head Coach Sylvia Crawley.
Boston College was led by sophomore Carolyn Swords, who scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half, and shot 10-for-12 from the floor. She also picked up seven rebounds and two blocks. Senior Corey Rusin added 12 points, three rebounds and four assists, while junior Ayla Brown had 11 points. The Eagles bench proved to be the difference with 31 points. Rusin, Whitehurst (seven points, seven rebounds) and senior Brittanny Johnson (nine points, four assists) supplied the biggest punch.
Boston College pulled away early in the second half as it focused on getting the ball inside. The Eagles went on an 8-2 run sparked by six points from Carolyn Swords and four from Stefanie Murphy.
At 8:40 to play in the half, Miami's Shenise Johnson hit a drive on the baseline which cut the lead to eight points. Eagles' senior guard Brittanny Johnson (nine points, four assists) came back with a layup and BC was up again by 10. Swords extended the lead to 12 points on a layup by Swords off a beautiful pass from Brown at 6:11. Miami never cut the lead to single digits as a three-pointer by Brown gave BC a 14 point lead with 3:39 to play.
" Murph (Stefanie Murphy) did a great job of moving off the ball," Swords said. "She and I worked very well together, and I was very happy with that."
The first half BC struggled getting the ball inside so Rusin provided the offensive spark. Rusin shot 5-for-7 from the floor, 2-for-3 from the three-point arc for 12 first half points. The Eagles went into the locker room with a 36-29 lead.
The Eagles, who lost to Florida State in the regular season, are seeking their first appearance in the ACC semifinals. This is the second consecutive season in which Boston College has won a first round ACC Tournament game. Boston College will take on the Seminoles at 6:00 p.m EST Friday. Live video of the game will be available on ACC Select free of charge.
Eagles Notes
This was the first win in the ACC Tournament for BC first year coach Sylvia Crawley. Crawley is not stranger to the ACC as she was a member of the 1994 Championship team at North Carolina ... The Eagles won the battle of the boards (38-32) for the 24th time this season ... BC also had 20 team assists. It was the 10th time this season the Eagles had 20 or more assists ... Swords shot 10-for-12 (88 percent) from the floor vs. Miami. It was her best shooting night since Feb. 2 when she went 5-for-5 vs. Duke. She is now shooting 69.2 percent from the floor this season.
