Grit, Garraud Pace Eagles Into ACC Quarterfinals

It's incredibly difficult to end another team's season in basketball. The postseason is a series of one-game elimination scenarios, so teams play every game with a critical air of finality. Every day is a fight to earn the next day, but the knowledge of a year ending in bitter disappointment is only a hair breath away. It's why March Madness retains its intensity, translating the drama into popularity.

The desire to continue a season can drive a team to the edge of a mountainous apex, and on Thursday, Clemson refused to let its year die. The last game of the ACC Tournament's second round provided another near-upset scenario for the Tigers, and the grueling, back-and-forth matchup with Boston College went long into the night. The Eagles ultimately prevailed, 85-73, but not before the Tigers forced them to continuously answer a bell for postseason maturation.

"I thought that was pretty intense going back and forth," BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. "I thought we took better control of the boards as the game went on. It was even at halftime but we ended up plus-6. I loved our composure as the game went on, both knocking down our free throws and handling the press and traps."

That press defense wasn't a well-guarded secret; Clemson applied it against Miami in the first game of the tournament and used it against BC in the tight game in South Carolina earlier this year. It forces quick, difficult decisions by ball-moving point guards, and the traps create turnovers. When effective, it unravels discipline because it speeds games up.

That whole style of play, though, forced Clemson into the teeth of BC's offense. The Eagles always play fast and possess a developing backcourt presence in Marnelle Garraud. The sophomore faced down the pace by instead putting the Tigers in a disadvantageous position, drawing seven fouls en route to a 21-point, five-assist performance with six defensive rebounds.

"Marnelle was a big reason we were able to handle (the press)," McNamee said. "She had one turnover with all that heat, and I loved the way we shared the ball on offense. I'm really proud of our team, and I hope that we continue with confidence going into tomorrow."

Her true weapon, though, came between the foul lines. Garraud distributed the basketball in a speedy game to enable Taylor Soule to get behind defenders, and the ACC's Most Improved Player drew 10 fouls en route to a 12-for-14 day from the free throw line. Their collective play along with Georgia Pineau, who added 7-of-13 shooting, and whose mid-range, face-up play opened up the outside shot for Cameron Swartz.

"Our coaches told us to stay calm," Garraud said. "They go on their runs, and we have our runs. So we stayed poised and calm while (the Tigers) went on their runs. We kept doing our offense. I think that's why we got good shots. We know what we can get on a normal basis."

It kept BC on the attack even after Clemson found ways to slice into the Eagles' lead. A three-point lead after the first quarter increased to 10 in the second after the team went on a 9-0 run late in the frame, a mirror echo of the first game against the Tigers. Clemson negated it by going on an 8-0 run in the third quarter, pulling even and ahead of the Eagles with a six-point advantage in the third.

It featured a breakout performance from a Clemson frontcourt one day removed from tying Miami's centerpieces in knots. Kobi Thornton didn't score in the period but went plus-14 with two assists, opening up opportunities, including on three-pointers, for center Hannah Hank. Hank scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, and the Tigers limited turnovers to maximize opportunities.

It was a little bit of a different look because Thornton, who had a career-high 27 points against the Hurricanes, only attempted seven shots against BC. She fouled out, forcing the ball into the hands of other players like Shania Meertens, who scored 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. With Hank in the middle, the Tigers papered over their issues from limited minutes out of Destiny Thomas, easily feeding Kendall Spray for the outside shot.

It was not, however, enough to overcome the BC onslaught in the fourth period.

"We just got beat by a really good team," Clemson head coach Amanda Butler said. "They're having an outstanding season. We knew this was going to be a battle of not just skill but will, and that is a credit to the way I regard both teams. They definitely earned the right to advance."

The Eagles avoided a Cinderella-type upset on their first day, eliminating Clemson to end the Tigers' season. They now head into the quarterfinals to face third-seeded Duke, an enigmatic team substantially different from what BC saw earlier this season. The teams played in early December before the semester exam break, at a time when BC was .500 and still finding its identity.

In that game, Haley Gorecki dominated, an almost certainty given her status as an elite tier WNBA prospect. Gorecki shot 10-of-17 en route to 27 points against the Eagles, overcompensating for her team, which went 24-for-51 outside of her performance. BC countered with Taylor Soule's 22 points and nine rebounds, one of three players in double figures in a back-and-forth game.

"Haley Gorecki is an unbelievable scorer, so we're going to have to be on lockdown mode with her," McNamee said. "But I think it will be a really nice battle with her (on Friday)."

The win over BC improved Duke to 7-3 on the season, a clear rebound start after going 15-15 in 2018-2019, but it lost five in a row immediately after defeating the Eagles. Two of those games came on the road at both South Carolina and Louisville, both of which are vying for No. 1 overall seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and it preceded an 11-3 stretch to close the season.

It closed the regular season for Duke at 18-11 with a 12-6 conference play, and the third place finish within the ACC moved the Blue Devils from a bubble team to a lock for the NCAA Tournament. The double bye also means the team is automatically one of the final eight teams in the ACC Tournament, making it almost impossible for the NCAA to drop it lower than a No. 8 or No. 9 seed.

It gives Friday's game an even more critical feel than Thursday because of other, more successful upset bids. Wake Forest upset Virginia Tech to move from the first round into Friday, and the Demon Deacons now play fourth-seeded Florida State for an opportunity to advance to the semifinals. Georgia Tech, the other ACC team on the national bubble with BC, dealt with a pesky Pitt team for three quarters before pulling away in the fourth.

The Yellow Jackets now are forced to play NC State, the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, while trying to hold off a group of roughly 12 teams trying to unseat it from the last four teams in the tournament. Almost all of those teams won yesterday, though Georgia defeated Alabama in a huge SEC Tournament game. Other teams, including Central Florida, continue to lurk, with the Golden Knights awaiting an opponent as the No. 2 seed in the American Athletic Conference's tournament.

"It's been a really long time since we've seen (Duke)," McNamee said. "I think both teams have greatly improved since our first interaction with each other. I think we have to handle their zone, so there's probably not a better game for us to prepare for Duke's zone than by (playing) Clemson's zone. We will see their matchup zone quite a bit, but defensively we have to be on point, playing together, and 'five-as-one'. We're going to need the backside help; they outsize us in some positions, and we're going to need that help."

The Eagles and Blue Devils will play at approximately 8 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. The game can be seen as part of the ACC's Regional Sports Network package, which is local in Boston on NESN Plus.

Grit, Garraud Pace Eagles Into ACC Quarterfinals

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Swartz