Women's Basketball Visits No. 3 NC State Sunday on ACC Network
January 02, 2021 | Women's Basketball
Two teams meet for the second time in less than a month
ACC Play Resumes at No. 3/3 NC State
• Boston College returns to the court for the first time since Dec. 20 as the Eagles head to No. 3/3 NC State on Sunday.
• ACC Network has coverage of the game beginning at 2 p.m. from Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
• BC's extended break included finding out Thursday's game at Pitt was postponed on the day of the game in Pittsburgh.
• The postponement follows a positive test, subsequent quarantining and contact tracing within the Pitt women's basketball team. The team is adhering to the outlined protocols within the ACC Medical Advisory Group report. It marked the first game to be postponed for the Eagles this season.
• Sunday's game is a rematch from BC's heartbreaking 75-69 loss to No. 4/3 NC State on Dec. 13 at Conte Forum. The Eagles led for the first three quarters before NC State used a 21-2 run in the fourth quarter to earn the comeback victory.
• BC's last victory over a ranked team was a 65-56 win at No. 14/14 Florida State last season (Jan. 30, 2020).
• The last win over a ranked foe at home for Boston College was a 60-56 win over No. 13/15 Duke on January 22, 2015.
• The 2020-21 campaign is the 49th season of Boston College women's basketball. The program made its debut during the 1972-73 season on January 9, 1973 versus Eastern Nazarene.
Last Time Out
• No. 18/16 Syracuse jumped out to a fast start and never looked back as the Orange captured an 83-70 victory over Boston College on Dec. 20 inside Conte Forum. The Orange moved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the ACC while the Eagles fell to 4-3 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
• Syracuse freshman center Kamilla Cardoso was 10-of-11 from the field to lead all scorers with 24 points.
• Junior Taylor Soule led Boston College in scoring as she tallied 20 points, seven rebounds, and three assists while junior Clara Ford added 19 points and 12 rebounds of her own. Junior Cameron Swartz was also in double figures, notching 15 points.
• The Orange led the Eagles 31-15 at the end of one quarter of play. BC shot just 6-of-20 from the field with five points coming from Ford in the first 10 minutes while Syracuse shot 60% in the opening frame.
• Ford established a new career-high with 19 points. Her previous single-game best was 15 against UMass on Nov. 29, 2020.
• Ford also set new career-highs in free throws made (9) and free throws attempted (9).
• BC continues to be one of the nation's best teams in making free throws. The Eagles were 21-of-24 from the foul line against the Orange.
• The Eagles committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
Last Time vs. NC State
• Junior guard Makayla Dickens scored 20 points and drained six three-pointers, but No. 3/4 NC State outscored Boston College 28-9 in the fourth quarter to give the third-ranked Wolfpack a 75-69 victory.
• NC State remained undefeated on the season and moved to 6-0 and 1-0 in the ACC while BC dropped to 4-2 and 0-2 in the ACC.
• BC gave the nation's third-ranked squad everything it could handle as the Eagles led for over 35 minutes. The Wolfpack used a 21-2 run in the fourth quarter to erase as 16-point deficit for the comeback victory.
• NC State was called for just 14 fouls on the day while BC had two players foul out as the Eagles were whistled for 29 fouls. NC State was 27-of-34 from the foul line while BC was 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
• Dickens was sensational all game long for the Eagles as the junior drained 6-of-10 from behind the arc.
Trending Up
• Boston College is in year three of the Joanna Bernabei-McNamee era and the Eagles are trending way up after a strong 2019-20 campaign.
• The Eagles are on the national radar after advancing to the ACC Tournament semifinals last season.
• Boston College was picked to finish 13th in the ACC prior to the start of last season. The Eagles crushed the low expectations with a 20-12 overall record and a record setting 11-7 conference mark. The 20 wins were the most for BC since the 2010-11 team went 20-13. The 11 ACC wins was a new program record since joining the ACC in 2006.
• Joanna Bernabei-McNamee was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year last season. Bernabei-McNamee earned the honor from both the ACC coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel.
• Bernabei-McNamee was the first BC women's head coach to earn conference Coach of the Year accolades since Cathy Inglese won the honor in the Big East in the 1998-99 season.
• The 20 wins were the most victories since 2010-11 when BC finished the season at 20-13. The 11-7 conference record set a new program record for most ACC wins. It was also the most conference victories since BC went 11-5 in 2003-04 in the Big East.
• The Eagles' fourth place finish was the best in program history since BC joined the ACC in 2005-06. Bernabei-McNamee also led the team to six ACC road wins, a new program record. One of the road wins was her first victory over a ranked team, No. 14 Florida State on Jan. 30.
Inside the NC State Series
• Boston College is 8-19 all-time against NC State.
• Sunday's game marks the 28th all-time meeting between the two schools. BC is 2-8 all-time in Raleigh against the Wolfpack.
• NC State has won eight straight in the series.
• BC has not won at NC State since Jan. 29, 2009.
News and Notes (as of Dec. 29)
• Boston College leads the nation in free throw percentage (84.7 percent).
• The Eagles rank 54th nationally and fifth in the ACC with 105 free throws made this season.
• The Eagles are 39th in the country and first in the conference with 20.7 turnovers forced per game.
• BC's 66 steals rank 60th nationally and third in the ACC.
• The Eagles rank second in the ACC and 38th nationally in three-point field goal defense (24.8).
• BC is sixth in the ACC in rebounding (292).
• The Eagles are 49th nationally and second in the ACC in turnover margin (+3.86).
• Taylor Soule is first in the ACC and 20th nationally in free throws made (38). She is first in the ACC and 33rd nationally in free throws attempted (46).
• Clara Ford is third in the ACC and 23rd nationally shooting 95 percent from the free throw line.
• Soule is seventh in the ACC with 16.7 points per game.
• Marnelle Garraud is second in the ACC and 50th nationally with 2.7 steals per game.
• Makayla Dickens is sixth in the ACC with 2.57 three-point field goals per game.
• Dickens is fifth in the conference and 48th in the country shooting 47.4 percent from behind the arc.
Welcome to the Show JoJo
• True freshman JoJo Lacey missed the first five games of the season with an ankle injury before making her BC debut against No. 3 NC State on Dec. 13.
• A five-star recruit according to ESPN, Lacey was rated sixth at her position nationally coming out of high school.
• A Top-100 recruit, Lacey averaged 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game as a senior at Westtown High School in Pennsylvania.
From Way Downtown, Bang
• Junior guard Makayla Dickens has been one of the ACC's best shooters in 2020-21. She is third on the team averaging 12.1 points per game along with 5.4 rebounds per game.
• Dickens leads BC with 18 three-point field goals this season and is shooting 47.4 percent from behind the arc.
• She is 11th in Boston College history with 142 made three-point field goals. With two more three-point field goals, she will move into the top 10 in BC history.
• Against No. 3 NC State, Dickens led the Eagles with 20 points and connected on six three-pointers against the Wolfpack.
Ivey Continues to Grow
• True freshman point guard Kaylah Ivey is quickly showing everyone why she was one of the most coveted high school recruits last year.
• In the 88-38 win over UMass Lowell on Dec. 6, Ivey led the way for the Eagles as she recorded a career-high 23 points.
• Ivey was sensational in her fourth game as an Eagle, setting new career-highs in scoring (23), free throws (5-for-5), field goals (seven) and three-pointers (four).
• The Blue Star Basketball Report rated Ivey the nation's 14th best point guard prospect and the nation's 75th-best recruit overall coming out of Riverdale Baptist School last season. The Forestville, Md. native finished her prep career with 1,424 points and had over 500 assists in 122 games.
Career Day for Clara
• With the graduation of All-ACC standout Emma Guy, junior Clara Ford knew she had big shoes to help fill in 2020-21. The Virginia native wasted little time to show she is ready to help fill the void in the post for the Eagles.
• In her first career start vs. New Hampshire on Nov. 25, Ford finished with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field in the win. She added seven boards in just 14 minutes of action after getting into early foul trouble.
• Ford followed up the opener with a new career day against UMass on Nov. 29.
• She recorded her first career double-double - in the first half against the Minutewomen. The junior finished the game with 15 points and 16 rebounds. The points and rebound totals were new career-highs for Ford.
• Ford set a new career-best in scoring against No. 18 Syracuse, scoring 19 points.
Well Worth the Wait
• Redshirt freshman center Akunna Konkwo missed all of last season due to injury, but the Virginia product showed everyone she is back and ready to be a key contributor to the Eagles.
• She finished with 10 points and seven rebounds to help give BC a dynamic 1-2 punch in the post in the win over UNH with Clara Ford.
• Konkwo totaled seven rebounds and one block in 20 minutes of action versus the Wildcats.
Preseason All-ACC
• Taylor Soule was named Preseason All-ACC according to separate polls of the league's 15 head coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel.
• Soule is coming off a breakout sophomore season and was named the 2019-20 ACC's Most Improved Player.
• She was instrumental in Boston College's turnaround last season, as she averaged 7.9 points per game as a freshman and has taken her game to the next level in her sophomore year, nearly doubling that total with 14.5 points a game.
• Soule scored a career-high 29 points in the Eagles' win against North Carolina, which ranked among the ACC's top individual scoring performances in a game last season.
• An All-ACC Tournament second-team honoree, Soule was named to the All-ACC Blue Ribbon second-team and All-ACC Honorable Mention following the 2019-20 campaign.
• The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Nov. 30 that Soule was named the conference's women's basketball player of the week. Soule was sensational in BC's two victories, averaging 25.5 points per game in wins over New Hampshire and UMass.
• It marked the third time in Soule's career she has been named the ACC Player of the Week. The last time a BC player was named ACC Player of the Week was Soule on Feb. 24, 2020.
Watch List SZN ...
• Taylor Soule was named to the 2021 Women's Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced.
• Overall, the list of 50 women's players represents 11 national conferences.
• The midseason 30 team will be announced in early February; players who do not make the watch list are still eligible to be selected for the midseason 30 team. Then, the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists on March 2, 2021, and four finalists will be named on March 19, 2021. The winner of the 2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Women's Player of the Year will be announced on April 3, 2021.
Watch List SZN Continues ...
• Taylor Soule was one of 20 players to be named to the watch list for the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award. Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year and Class of 1995 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its fourth year recognizes the top small forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
• A Preseason All-ACC selection, Soule is coming off a breakout sophomore season and was named the 2019-20 ACC's Most Improved Player.
• College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In early February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2021 Cheryl Miller Award will be narrowed to just 10. In early March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame's selection committee.
Offensive Explosion
• Boston College led the ACC last season in scoring with 73.7 points per game. The Eagles ranked 30th out of 349 teams nationally as well in scoring.
• BC returns four of its leading five scorers from last season's squad. Juniors Taylor Soule (14.5 ppg), Makayla Dickens (10.4 ppg), Marnelle Garraud (9.8 ppg) and Cameron Swartz (9.0 ppg) return to the hardwood for the Eagles this season.
• The Eagles scored 90 or more points in three games last season, including an ACC single-game best of 109 versus Delaware State.
2019-20 ACC Scoring Leaders
Team Points Per Game
1. Boston College 73.7
2. North Carolina 73.1
3. Louisville 72.8
2019-20 ACC Most Points Scored in a Game
Team Points
1. Boston College vs. Delaware St. (12.20.19) 109
2. Boston College vs. St. Fran. Brooklyn (11.10.19) 106
Wake Forest vs. Col. of Charleston (11.8.19) 106
Double-Double
• Taylor Soule leads BC with 12 career double-doubles. She has two to start the season.
• Her 10 double-doubles ranked tied for fifth in the ACC a season ago.
29 points, 13 rebounds vs. UMass (11/29/20)
22 points, 12 rebounds vs. New Hampshire (11/25/20)
11 points, 11 rebounds at Louisville (2/27/20)
22 points, 12 rebounds vs Pittsburgh (2/20/20)
29 points, 12 rebounds vs North Carolina (2/16/20)
20 points, 10 rebounds vs Notre Dame (2/13/20)
15 points, 11 rebounds vs Wake Forest (2/02/20)
11 points, 10 rebounds at Florida St. (1/30/20)
13 points, 11 rebounds at Georgia Tech (1/19/20)
14 points, 10 rebounds vs Virginia (1/12/20)
19 points, 12 rebounds at Notre Dame (1/9/20)
23 points, 16 rebounds vs Delaware St. (12/20/19)
