Photo by: John Quackenbos
Pointing Upward as ACC Storm Looms
December 26, 2019 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
The holiday break provided a breather before Sunday's game against No. 9 NC State.
In college basketball, the second half looms like dark clouds on the horizon of a sunny beach. The first half is littered with non-conference games, so there's a more easygoing atmosphere for teams to formulate identities. Teams can tinker with lineups and formations, and games offer proving grounds for successful practice sessions.
The second half is altogether different because there's an exclusivity to conference play. It introduces a seriousness, and game dates provide an unmatched drama. It starts the march to March, and it only ends when postseason aspirations are validated or dashed.
"For us, last week's games against Boston University and Delaware State allow us to focus on ourselves," Boston College head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. "We get to look at the things that we want to be really good at, so we get back to the basics of Boston College basketball.
The second half provides an elaboration of the small taste December provided. BC played Northwestern in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge before launching conference play with its game against Duke. Both of those games provided a sample of the upcoming conference slate and identified areas of both need and reinforcement.Â
That critical film digestion yielded two very different results. The Eagles failed to shoot over 40 percent in both games against Northwestern and Duke, but they shot lights out against BU and Delaware State. They hit over 60 percent of their shots in the second half against the Terriers, going 28-for-45, 7-for-14 from beyond the arc, and missed only 10 shots in the third and fourth quarter combined against the Hornets. In both games, the team shot significantly better at the free throw line down the stretch.
It was a direct byproduct of team-based play. Six players scored double figure in points against BU, and five went over 10 points against Delaware State. Against the Terriers, a nearly-symmetrical day saw Marnelle Garraud and Taylor Soule score 15 points, while Makayla Dickens and Milan Bolden-Morris scored 12 and Georgia Pineau and Cameron Swartz scored 11 and 10, respectively. Dickens and Pineau registered six and five assists, respectively, as part of a larger, 19-helper day.
The performance was repeated less than a week later when Soule scored 23 points, and Swartz and Emma Guy both scored 19. Garraud contributed another 14, while Clara Ford scored 10 points in 10 minutes, six of which came at the free throw stripe. Once again, the assist number skyrocketed, this time to 28, as BC hit the century mark for the second time this season in a 109-69 victory
"Those games, in particular, allowed us to place an emphasis on our primary break, on crashing boards and blocking out," Bernabei-McNamee added. "Those are the little things that are our signature because we want to be known for pushing tempo and outrebounding teams while playing unselfish basketball."
The wins pushed the Eagles back over .500 to 7-5 in a year stamped by swings. The opening game wins led to a consecutive defeats, but the split of two games in Puerto Rico provided a crossroads for BC's schedule. It created an overlap; the win over Tulane on the back end of the trip gave the Eagles three wins in four games, but the loss to Charlotte the day before gave them three losses in four games after Northwestern and Duke. Those last two mid-major games gave the team an upswing for its semester break, and it got BC back on the winning path when it broke for a short holiday sabbatical.
"Consistency is a big word that we use," Bernabei-McNamee said. "We're looking constantly at how we can become more consistent with the things that we're good at, but we also look at how to become better in other areas. Our shooting accuracy has been up and down, and we have to knock down open shots. Having this holiday break, where we don't have classes or any extra work, allows our players to get into the gym to work on their specialties."
Every basketball team needs that kind of break, especially with the oncoming ACC storm. The relative peace and tranquility ends abruptly this weekend with the arrival of undefeated, No. 9-ranked NC State at Conte Forum. It's the first ACC game for the 11-0 Wolfpack, who began December by handing Maryland one of its two losses this season.Â
"They're just a good overall team," Bernabei-McNamee said. "When you watch a team on film, you always try to find that one weakness to exploit or find that one thing that you can do to make an opponent uncomfortable. It's been really challenging to find anything like that on NC State. They run the same defensive system (as last year), but their offense has evolved a little bit. They do a really good job of taking things away from whoever they're playing."
That poses a unique challenge for BC, which understands a matchup issue against top ten-ranked teams. There is a physical disadvantage in a game against a team like NC State, but the game creates an opportunity for the Eagles' basketball IQ. The intelligence factor doesn't show up on any stat sheet of paper, but it refers back to how the team attacked its last two non-conference games and created positive trajectory after losing to Northwestern and Duke.
"Defensively, the BU game allowed us to play both zone and man-to-man," Bernabei-McNamee said. "That was nice to do that in a game against other competition. We can switch our defenses pretty easy because of how we go over scouting reports. Everyone knows who they should be matched up against. I can easily switch from zone to man when the ball's coming out; I try not to do it in transition, but if there's a lull or dead ball situation, we can switch up and be pretty sharp about it.
"We are a little outmatched (physically) in some of these games against ACC teams," she said. "So we know we can switch up defenses to them off their mark offensively. That's always our goal with multiple defenses. We try to stick with what we're really good at as much as possible, but we have some things that we can do against teams that might be a little bit bigger or more athletic, that we can go to when we need it."
BC will host No. 9 NC State on Sunday at 12 p.m. from Conte Forum. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra with Sam Ravech on play-by-play and Chelsea Shine-Wilson as the color analyst.
Tickets for the game are available online or at the gate.
The second half is altogether different because there's an exclusivity to conference play. It introduces a seriousness, and game dates provide an unmatched drama. It starts the march to March, and it only ends when postseason aspirations are validated or dashed.
"For us, last week's games against Boston University and Delaware State allow us to focus on ourselves," Boston College head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. "We get to look at the things that we want to be really good at, so we get back to the basics of Boston College basketball.
The second half provides an elaboration of the small taste December provided. BC played Northwestern in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge before launching conference play with its game against Duke. Both of those games provided a sample of the upcoming conference slate and identified areas of both need and reinforcement.Â
That critical film digestion yielded two very different results. The Eagles failed to shoot over 40 percent in both games against Northwestern and Duke, but they shot lights out against BU and Delaware State. They hit over 60 percent of their shots in the second half against the Terriers, going 28-for-45, 7-for-14 from beyond the arc, and missed only 10 shots in the third and fourth quarter combined against the Hornets. In both games, the team shot significantly better at the free throw line down the stretch.
It was a direct byproduct of team-based play. Six players scored double figure in points against BU, and five went over 10 points against Delaware State. Against the Terriers, a nearly-symmetrical day saw Marnelle Garraud and Taylor Soule score 15 points, while Makayla Dickens and Milan Bolden-Morris scored 12 and Georgia Pineau and Cameron Swartz scored 11 and 10, respectively. Dickens and Pineau registered six and five assists, respectively, as part of a larger, 19-helper day.
The performance was repeated less than a week later when Soule scored 23 points, and Swartz and Emma Guy both scored 19. Garraud contributed another 14, while Clara Ford scored 10 points in 10 minutes, six of which came at the free throw stripe. Once again, the assist number skyrocketed, this time to 28, as BC hit the century mark for the second time this season in a 109-69 victory
"Those games, in particular, allowed us to place an emphasis on our primary break, on crashing boards and blocking out," Bernabei-McNamee added. "Those are the little things that are our signature because we want to be known for pushing tempo and outrebounding teams while playing unselfish basketball."
The wins pushed the Eagles back over .500 to 7-5 in a year stamped by swings. The opening game wins led to a consecutive defeats, but the split of two games in Puerto Rico provided a crossroads for BC's schedule. It created an overlap; the win over Tulane on the back end of the trip gave the Eagles three wins in four games, but the loss to Charlotte the day before gave them three losses in four games after Northwestern and Duke. Those last two mid-major games gave the team an upswing for its semester break, and it got BC back on the winning path when it broke for a short holiday sabbatical.
"Consistency is a big word that we use," Bernabei-McNamee said. "We're looking constantly at how we can become more consistent with the things that we're good at, but we also look at how to become better in other areas. Our shooting accuracy has been up and down, and we have to knock down open shots. Having this holiday break, where we don't have classes or any extra work, allows our players to get into the gym to work on their specialties."
Every basketball team needs that kind of break, especially with the oncoming ACC storm. The relative peace and tranquility ends abruptly this weekend with the arrival of undefeated, No. 9-ranked NC State at Conte Forum. It's the first ACC game for the 11-0 Wolfpack, who began December by handing Maryland one of its two losses this season.Â
"They're just a good overall team," Bernabei-McNamee said. "When you watch a team on film, you always try to find that one weakness to exploit or find that one thing that you can do to make an opponent uncomfortable. It's been really challenging to find anything like that on NC State. They run the same defensive system (as last year), but their offense has evolved a little bit. They do a really good job of taking things away from whoever they're playing."
That poses a unique challenge for BC, which understands a matchup issue against top ten-ranked teams. There is a physical disadvantage in a game against a team like NC State, but the game creates an opportunity for the Eagles' basketball IQ. The intelligence factor doesn't show up on any stat sheet of paper, but it refers back to how the team attacked its last two non-conference games and created positive trajectory after losing to Northwestern and Duke.
"Defensively, the BU game allowed us to play both zone and man-to-man," Bernabei-McNamee said. "That was nice to do that in a game against other competition. We can switch our defenses pretty easy because of how we go over scouting reports. Everyone knows who they should be matched up against. I can easily switch from zone to man when the ball's coming out; I try not to do it in transition, but if there's a lull or dead ball situation, we can switch up and be pretty sharp about it.
"We are a little outmatched (physically) in some of these games against ACC teams," she said. "So we know we can switch up defenses to them off their mark offensively. That's always our goal with multiple defenses. We try to stick with what we're really good at as much as possible, but we have some things that we can do against teams that might be a little bit bigger or more athletic, that we can go to when we need it."
BC will host No. 9 NC State on Sunday at 12 p.m. from Conte Forum. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra with Sam Ravech on play-by-play and Chelsea Shine-Wilson as the color analyst.
Tickets for the game are available online or at the gate.
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