Garraud Developing Into True ACC Talent

Marnelle Garraud always understood the heart of a fighter. She fought for playing time among the crowded Boston College backcourt last year as a freshman, earning it by simply hustling through a fight to produce. She was a local standout playing for her hometown Eagles, but being undersized led to the inevitable increase in difficulty when she hit ACC play.

She was good as a freshman, but good wasn't good enough. She wanted, instead, to become great, and in her sophomore campaign, she's starting to grab a trajectory leading to a tier normally reserved for other, more well-known ACC players.

"Last year, a lot of her big-number games came in games when we were the dominant team," head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. "We might've been playing lower-caliber team, and that let her shine. But this year, she's shining in big-time games."

Garraud entered this past week with four games in double figures, including consecutive performances against Rhode Island and VCU. She scored a season-high 15 points against Tulane in Puerto Rico on 6-of-8 shooting and was one of four Eagles with more than 10 points in that game. It helped pad the well-entrenched reputation earned last year when she began the season with double figures in six of BC's first eight games.

The performances masked her true development, which wasn't on display until this week when she stopped scoring with regularity against Northwestern and Duke. She shot just 3-of-9 against the Wildcats last Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge but added seven assists and five rebounds, evenly splitting her boards at both ends of the floor. Four days later, she helped her defense force 25 turnovers against Duke.

"She played against big time guards against Northwestern and Duke," McNamee said. "And she didn't so much look like she belonged as much as she (surpassed that) and looked like a difference maker."

It is part of how BC's own team development is continuing to take shape. The team ran into hard-luck losses last week against good, power conference opponents, and both games are bitter pills after the Tulane win seemingly turned the corner.

It wasn't for a lack of effort by the Eagles and especially for Garraud. Her shooting sagged to 3-of-9 against Northwestern and 5-of-15 against Duke, but she limited turnovers in both games. She only committed two giveaways in each game, a combined number less than what happened against Tulane and the lowest numbers since the Holy Cross and Providence games at the start of the year.

"She shot the ball terribly (against Duke)," McNamee said. "But when it's not falling, she finds other ways to contribute. She knows how to make good things happen. Basketball is more than just scoring, at any age level. It's a game of runs and playing hard on defense."

She also created multiple steals defensively for the fourth consecutive game while staying out of foul trouble. Garraud currently leads the ACC in steals (25) and is the only guard in the conference to have six steals in two games this season.

"She is able to make up for (a bad shooting night) in so many other ways," McNamee said. "She can do it with defense or making the right pass, and now she's limiting her turnovers. Her biggest attribute is her intensity on the defensive end. She plays hard. We don't have to ask her to (go hard against any opponent)."

Garraud and the Eagles are off until the weekend against Boston University, when they hope to take a break from final exams with a turnaround victory. It's something of an annual occurrence for BC, which dominated its crosstown rival last season with a 27-point victory at the exact same time of year.

"The frustration as coaches is that you want your team to be rewarded when they work hard," McNamee said. "Coming up close doesn't matter in basketball. We know we have to turn out some wins coming up, because two losses in a row is always tough to handle (for any team)."

BC will play at BU on Sunday at 2 p.m. and can be seen locally on television on NESN.

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