Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Guy's Accomplishment Capping the Perfect Basketball Fable
February 05, 2020 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
The senior reached the 1,000-point milestone through desire, will, and grit.
In the perfect basketball fable, an athlete overcomes adversity. Peaks and valleys weave varying emotions, hatching a tale fashioned through incredible highs and sunken lows. After everything, the final chapter is a crescendo, a flourish to the end, leaving the reader or viewer with the emotional payoff that all too often lacks a happy ending.
For Emma Guy, the music is starting to reach a fever pitch. The Boston College senior battled for three years through injuries and setbacks, but now, as her final collegiate chapter nears its conclusion, she is beginning to build to that final, gratifying coda. Last week, a double-double against Wake Forest included her 1,000th career point, putting her in an elite class with 26 other Eagles who donned the maroon and gold.
It came as part of BC's second consecutive win and third victory in the team's previous four games. It also preceded another 23-point performance on Thursday against Syracuse, enhancing the notion of her best basketball finally cresting on the Eagles' basketball wave.
"This has been incredible," Guy said after the game. "We just need to keep going after finally turning the page at home. It's just a great feeling right now."
Guy's 1,000th point joins an elite class etched throughout the Boston College history books. She became the 27th basketball player to achieve the mark and first since Kelly Hughes did so three years ago. Her last bucket against the Demon Deacons passed Kathleen Sweet's 1,006 points for 24th-most in program history, and she remains in striking distance of former legends like Kerri Shields '12.
It's an impressive accomplishment, one still slightly tinged by the disappointment of the adversity she faced over four years. BC felt her immediate impact as a freshman over 30 games, transforming the lineup with a gamey, intelligent skill set. She finished the year with 13 starts, and her 24 assists, 17 steals and 16 blocks in less than six minutes per game made her a candidate for a sophomore breakout.
That's when her body betrayed her, and everything went off the rails. She suffered from illness and injury, limiting her to 16 games. When she was actually on the court, she was able to remain a force, nearly doubling her scoring average while persisting on the block, but she never really consistently remained on the floor. It ruined her basketball shape and kept her out of basketball drills when new head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee arrived that offseason. The rest of the team began moving forward with the new staff, but the physical toll forced Guy to the sidelines before she could join the rest of her teammates. It became a roadblock, and she needed to overcome it personally.
She did so by committing herself to her individual game. She eventually got back on the court to maximize limited reps, then gradually rebuilt her body into game shape. Diving headfirst into her controllable aspects, she studied the game and utilized her intelligence to adapt to a new coaching staff. It forced the staff to take pause because of the surface potential in one of its three experienced athletes, and she worked her way back into centerpiece territory after handling the unknown of working with a new coaching tandem.
"When she finally got on the court, I realized she was pretty good," McNamee said. "She had good hands and instincts, and even though she didn't have the endurance built up, I immediately discovered her court awareness. She had this desire to win, and she became our glue kid."
Everyone knew BC's offense was going to change, but the instant makeover required use of a forward centerpiece. The team intended to run the floor and put the ball in a forward's hands in the high block. That forward would dictate the offense by attacking the basket or kicking out for an open shot. It's fast-paced and energetic with the capability of sprinting opponents off the floor, but it's also gritty and blue-collar. It required sweat equity unlike anything featured within the ACC, a crunching endurance matchup between one-on-one battles within the greater team game. It required players to outwork opponents with intelligence and desire.
Emma Guy always possessed those pieces, but the third - conditioning - slipped during the riddled sophomore year. But she understood how physical shape went beyond running and breathing. She developed a new interpretation centered around collaboration, and it overcame the injury factor by utilizing teammates for the fast break and in deceptive movements around the high block.
"Last year, the coaches told me that the offense was going to run through me," Guy said. "I was going to run high screens and set everything from the high post. It puts a little pressure on me, but now, as a senior, I (understand) it. My teammates want to get me the ball, and when I have the ball, if I'm doubled, they know I'm going to kick it out.
"I give everything to my teammates," she said. "My success is their success because I can't do this without them."
"She fit what she wanted to do pretty well," McNamee said. "She was smart enough to tailor our options, and she works to become an elite level kid. She's been fired up to join the next level. She's patient on the block and has great footwork."
She also works tirelessly to become a better athlete. Guy played 800 minutes last year but sustained another injury at the end of the season. It led to more offseason work, and she entered this year determined to continue evolving mentally as a cog in the team's machine. It flows directly through her work in practice with assistant coach Yolanda Griffith, and the senior is coming down the home stretch of her collegiate career with an army of forwards willing to push her to work away from the game minutes.
"She watches the film with Coach Yo," McNamee said. "She seals the paint with work on the defensive end. It takes a lot to push a defender out of the paint, but Emma can combine a strong basketball IQ with the skill and the want. Yo gives her motivational instruction, but she also reinforces it positively. They're all working, tirelessly, to just keep getting better every day."
Boston College still has a handful of games remaining, and more wins lead to increased probability for a season extension in a tournament. Emma Guy's career, which once felt snake bitten by injury, is now flourishing into the athlete everyone saw - and the ride isn't over yet.
"She really accomplished (1,000 points) in three years (worth of basketball)," McNamee said. "We're still only partly through this year."
The Eagles return to the hardwood on Sunday, when they travel to Clemson. The game tips off at noon from Littlejohn Coliseum and can be seen via the ACC Network Extra.
For Emma Guy, the music is starting to reach a fever pitch. The Boston College senior battled for three years through injuries and setbacks, but now, as her final collegiate chapter nears its conclusion, she is beginning to build to that final, gratifying coda. Last week, a double-double against Wake Forest included her 1,000th career point, putting her in an elite class with 26 other Eagles who donned the maroon and gold.
It came as part of BC's second consecutive win and third victory in the team's previous four games. It also preceded another 23-point performance on Thursday against Syracuse, enhancing the notion of her best basketball finally cresting on the Eagles' basketball wave.
"This has been incredible," Guy said after the game. "We just need to keep going after finally turning the page at home. It's just a great feeling right now."
Guy's 1,000th point joins an elite class etched throughout the Boston College history books. She became the 27th basketball player to achieve the mark and first since Kelly Hughes did so three years ago. Her last bucket against the Demon Deacons passed Kathleen Sweet's 1,006 points for 24th-most in program history, and she remains in striking distance of former legends like Kerri Shields '12.
It's an impressive accomplishment, one still slightly tinged by the disappointment of the adversity she faced over four years. BC felt her immediate impact as a freshman over 30 games, transforming the lineup with a gamey, intelligent skill set. She finished the year with 13 starts, and her 24 assists, 17 steals and 16 blocks in less than six minutes per game made her a candidate for a sophomore breakout.
That's when her body betrayed her, and everything went off the rails. She suffered from illness and injury, limiting her to 16 games. When she was actually on the court, she was able to remain a force, nearly doubling her scoring average while persisting on the block, but she never really consistently remained on the floor. It ruined her basketball shape and kept her out of basketball drills when new head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee arrived that offseason. The rest of the team began moving forward with the new staff, but the physical toll forced Guy to the sidelines before she could join the rest of her teammates. It became a roadblock, and she needed to overcome it personally.
She did so by committing herself to her individual game. She eventually got back on the court to maximize limited reps, then gradually rebuilt her body into game shape. Diving headfirst into her controllable aspects, she studied the game and utilized her intelligence to adapt to a new coaching staff. It forced the staff to take pause because of the surface potential in one of its three experienced athletes, and she worked her way back into centerpiece territory after handling the unknown of working with a new coaching tandem.
"When she finally got on the court, I realized she was pretty good," McNamee said. "She had good hands and instincts, and even though she didn't have the endurance built up, I immediately discovered her court awareness. She had this desire to win, and she became our glue kid."
Everyone knew BC's offense was going to change, but the instant makeover required use of a forward centerpiece. The team intended to run the floor and put the ball in a forward's hands in the high block. That forward would dictate the offense by attacking the basket or kicking out for an open shot. It's fast-paced and energetic with the capability of sprinting opponents off the floor, but it's also gritty and blue-collar. It required sweat equity unlike anything featured within the ACC, a crunching endurance matchup between one-on-one battles within the greater team game. It required players to outwork opponents with intelligence and desire.
Emma Guy always possessed those pieces, but the third - conditioning - slipped during the riddled sophomore year. But she understood how physical shape went beyond running and breathing. She developed a new interpretation centered around collaboration, and it overcame the injury factor by utilizing teammates for the fast break and in deceptive movements around the high block.
"Last year, the coaches told me that the offense was going to run through me," Guy said. "I was going to run high screens and set everything from the high post. It puts a little pressure on me, but now, as a senior, I (understand) it. My teammates want to get me the ball, and when I have the ball, if I'm doubled, they know I'm going to kick it out.
"I give everything to my teammates," she said. "My success is their success because I can't do this without them."
"She fit what she wanted to do pretty well," McNamee said. "She was smart enough to tailor our options, and she works to become an elite level kid. She's been fired up to join the next level. She's patient on the block and has great footwork."
She also works tirelessly to become a better athlete. Guy played 800 minutes last year but sustained another injury at the end of the season. It led to more offseason work, and she entered this year determined to continue evolving mentally as a cog in the team's machine. It flows directly through her work in practice with assistant coach Yolanda Griffith, and the senior is coming down the home stretch of her collegiate career with an army of forwards willing to push her to work away from the game minutes.
"She watches the film with Coach Yo," McNamee said. "She seals the paint with work on the defensive end. It takes a lot to push a defender out of the paint, but Emma can combine a strong basketball IQ with the skill and the want. Yo gives her motivational instruction, but she also reinforces it positively. They're all working, tirelessly, to just keep getting better every day."
Boston College still has a handful of games remaining, and more wins lead to increased probability for a season extension in a tournament. Emma Guy's career, which once felt snake bitten by injury, is now flourishing into the athlete everyone saw - and the ride isn't over yet.
"She really accomplished (1,000 points) in three years (worth of basketball)," McNamee said. "We're still only partly through this year."
The Eagles return to the hardwood on Sunday, when they travel to Clemson. The game tips off at noon from Littlejohn Coliseum and can be seen via the ACC Network Extra.
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