Eagles Look To Take Out Aggression On Miami
February 17, 2021 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
Pittsburgh spoiled the team's return to play on Tuesday night
Both Taylor Soule and Joanna Bernabei-McNamee made little effort to hide their frustrations following Boston College's game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The Eagles had swarmed the Panthers early in the first quarter and built a 15-point lead in the second quarter on Tuesday night, but its evaporation led to a two-point deficit with seconds remaining. An inbound play for Soule gave BC a last second shot to tie the game, but the pass was instead tipped by the defense and stolen as time expired.
A free throw and a desperation three-point heave later, it finalized an 83-80 win for the visitors and ruined BC's second return to play following a pause for COVID-19 protocols. A triumphant night celebrating basketball, BC's Play4Kay game with special edition pink uniforms, instead ended in disappointment. It was a bitter pill and one both Soule and her head coach refused to deny in the game's immediate aftermath.
"It was a tough one," Bernabei-McNamee said. "I think we had a pretty good first half (and) a really good first quarter. Maybe fatigue kind of played a little part of what you saw in the second half, but we want to be who we are and be in a fight. I thought we lost the rebound fight, especially on the offensive boards, which is a credit to Pitt getting after it. We had some silly turnovers and didn't really win those 50-50 balls that we needed in the second half."
It was a stark contrast to the first quarter when BC rolled Pittsburgh with an 8-0 run to start the game. The Eagles showed no signs of missing seven of their last eight games due to COVID protocols, and they exploded for 26 points with a 10-0 run to close the period. Four players scored at least five points, and four grabbed at least two rebounds.
It built a 15-point lead early in the second quarter that only minimally dwindled before halftime. Pittsburgh's offense righted itself with seven baskets in the middle frame, but BC continued to respond with an inside presence. Soule drifted into foul trouble with two personals, but Jaelyn Batts grabbed her role with nine points in the quarter on 4-of-5 shooting.
It kept BC ahead by double-digits and glossed over the greater fact of the second quarter when Pitt carved the lead down in half. A 6-0 run in the middle portion of the quarter helped expose gaps in the interior defense, and the Panthers responded accordingly to BC's offensive misses. The Eagles went 2-for-10 outside of Batts' second quarter performance, and the rebounding gap, which was squarely on the home side, swung back to the visitors with eight defensive boards.
The situation created an opening for Pittsburgh, which subsequently poured in 18 points in the paint in the third. It evaporated the lead for the Eagles and turned it into a two-point deficit by the start of the fourth, at which point free throws and fouls started to creep into their backswing.
"When it comes to games like this, if your legs aren't working, you have to find it in your heart (and) brain to understand that your body is not going to put you in any situation where you won't be okay," Soule said. "It's 40 minutes of basketball. Having the time off was different, but (the coaching staff) always says to take the punches and roll with it to get your legs underneath you."
It led to the fourth quarter battle that ultimately left BC with one last shot in its arsenal. Both squads went on 5-0 runs at various points, and the Eagles matched the Panthers on the glass with 12 boards apiece. Soule in particular grabbed six rebounds while scoring 10 points, and Makayla Dickens hit two three-pointers for six points.
In total, BC finished with strong overall numbers and matched its visitors on a basket-by-basket basis. The Eagles shot better from outside but sent the Panthers to the line more often, and two offensive rebounds made up the difference on the glass. There were turnovers, but they were offset by assists and ball movement.
"I think the difference was who wanted it more," Soule said. "I know our team really wanted (to win), but I know you can't always just say that. You have to show it. I missed a rebound at the end that I should have had, and even though you want the little things that coaches tell us, everything adds up. It's not one play at the end of the game as much as it is a (number of) little things that went on in the second half. We just have to fix them before the next game. I have trust in this team. We all want to win. We just have to get the next one."
Soule put together one of her finest performances of the season with 27 points, her second consecutive game with 20 points after hitting the number against Louisville. Makayla Dickens added 13 and Cameron Swartz went for 10 on 4-of-6 shooting, with Batts and Palmieri scoring nine off the bench. For Palmieri, a near flawless slate without fouls contrasted with her three fouls drawn, and she went a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
"She's got a lot of heart and a high IQ," Bernabei-McNamee said of her newest player, who would have been playing her senior year of high school at this time under normal conditions. "As she continues to develop, that's a player that I probably should have gone back to play a little bit more in the second half. But her being a freshman, sometimes I get a little bit like the game is tight and you want to go to your veterans. She had a really good first half, and she probably didn't get the opportunity she needed to continue to show what she's made of."
It was a bitter ending and a sour taste on a night BC wanted to celebrate a return to the court after missing three consecutive games. Seven of the Eagles' last eight games in total all wound up postponed due to COVID-19 protocols with the lone exception being a loss to Louisville 12 days prior to Tuesday night. It temporarily stunted the team's growth after it beat Wake Forest and nearly knocked off Notre Dame on the road, both which sandwiched a second loss to Louisville in an upwards trajectory.
It nevertheless is a cornerstone and a way for the team to springboard forward as latter games crest on the horizon. Three games remain before the conference tournament, starting with a road trip to Miami on Thursday night.
"We can go into the next few games with the positives from this game," Soule said. "Personally, I thought there was a lot of growth defensively with our communication, and we definitely need to pick it up on the boards. It's trying to find the little things that we did well as a team, that we're better at, and take that into the next game. You take your hats off to Pitt because they played a really great game. They played really tough, and we're going to get some of that in the next game against Miami."
"We don't have time to dwell on this," Bernabei-McNamee said. "We have to learn from it, and that's one of the things we constantly say. We're not losers, we're learners. We're going to take what we did wrong in this game and adjust it and get better at it. We're going to get tougher on the rebounding front and on the defensive end, and hopefully we can take that aggression out on Miami."
BC and Miami will tip off on Thursday night at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on the ACC Network Extra for cable subscribers who have access to the ACC Network.
A free throw and a desperation three-point heave later, it finalized an 83-80 win for the visitors and ruined BC's second return to play following a pause for COVID-19 protocols. A triumphant night celebrating basketball, BC's Play4Kay game with special edition pink uniforms, instead ended in disappointment. It was a bitter pill and one both Soule and her head coach refused to deny in the game's immediate aftermath.
"It was a tough one," Bernabei-McNamee said. "I think we had a pretty good first half (and) a really good first quarter. Maybe fatigue kind of played a little part of what you saw in the second half, but we want to be who we are and be in a fight. I thought we lost the rebound fight, especially on the offensive boards, which is a credit to Pitt getting after it. We had some silly turnovers and didn't really win those 50-50 balls that we needed in the second half."
It was a stark contrast to the first quarter when BC rolled Pittsburgh with an 8-0 run to start the game. The Eagles showed no signs of missing seven of their last eight games due to COVID protocols, and they exploded for 26 points with a 10-0 run to close the period. Four players scored at least five points, and four grabbed at least two rebounds.
It built a 15-point lead early in the second quarter that only minimally dwindled before halftime. Pittsburgh's offense righted itself with seven baskets in the middle frame, but BC continued to respond with an inside presence. Soule drifted into foul trouble with two personals, but Jaelyn Batts grabbed her role with nine points in the quarter on 4-of-5 shooting.
It kept BC ahead by double-digits and glossed over the greater fact of the second quarter when Pitt carved the lead down in half. A 6-0 run in the middle portion of the quarter helped expose gaps in the interior defense, and the Panthers responded accordingly to BC's offensive misses. The Eagles went 2-for-10 outside of Batts' second quarter performance, and the rebounding gap, which was squarely on the home side, swung back to the visitors with eight defensive boards.
The situation created an opening for Pittsburgh, which subsequently poured in 18 points in the paint in the third. It evaporated the lead for the Eagles and turned it into a two-point deficit by the start of the fourth, at which point free throws and fouls started to creep into their backswing.
"When it comes to games like this, if your legs aren't working, you have to find it in your heart (and) brain to understand that your body is not going to put you in any situation where you won't be okay," Soule said. "It's 40 minutes of basketball. Having the time off was different, but (the coaching staff) always says to take the punches and roll with it to get your legs underneath you."
It led to the fourth quarter battle that ultimately left BC with one last shot in its arsenal. Both squads went on 5-0 runs at various points, and the Eagles matched the Panthers on the glass with 12 boards apiece. Soule in particular grabbed six rebounds while scoring 10 points, and Makayla Dickens hit two three-pointers for six points.
In total, BC finished with strong overall numbers and matched its visitors on a basket-by-basket basis. The Eagles shot better from outside but sent the Panthers to the line more often, and two offensive rebounds made up the difference on the glass. There were turnovers, but they were offset by assists and ball movement.
"I think the difference was who wanted it more," Soule said. "I know our team really wanted (to win), but I know you can't always just say that. You have to show it. I missed a rebound at the end that I should have had, and even though you want the little things that coaches tell us, everything adds up. It's not one play at the end of the game as much as it is a (number of) little things that went on in the second half. We just have to fix them before the next game. I have trust in this team. We all want to win. We just have to get the next one."
Soule put together one of her finest performances of the season with 27 points, her second consecutive game with 20 points after hitting the number against Louisville. Makayla Dickens added 13 and Cameron Swartz went for 10 on 4-of-6 shooting, with Batts and Palmieri scoring nine off the bench. For Palmieri, a near flawless slate without fouls contrasted with her three fouls drawn, and she went a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
"She's got a lot of heart and a high IQ," Bernabei-McNamee said of her newest player, who would have been playing her senior year of high school at this time under normal conditions. "As she continues to develop, that's a player that I probably should have gone back to play a little bit more in the second half. But her being a freshman, sometimes I get a little bit like the game is tight and you want to go to your veterans. She had a really good first half, and she probably didn't get the opportunity she needed to continue to show what she's made of."
It was a bitter ending and a sour taste on a night BC wanted to celebrate a return to the court after missing three consecutive games. Seven of the Eagles' last eight games in total all wound up postponed due to COVID-19 protocols with the lone exception being a loss to Louisville 12 days prior to Tuesday night. It temporarily stunted the team's growth after it beat Wake Forest and nearly knocked off Notre Dame on the road, both which sandwiched a second loss to Louisville in an upwards trajectory.
It nevertheless is a cornerstone and a way for the team to springboard forward as latter games crest on the horizon. Three games remain before the conference tournament, starting with a road trip to Miami on Thursday night.
"We can go into the next few games with the positives from this game," Soule said. "Personally, I thought there was a lot of growth defensively with our communication, and we definitely need to pick it up on the boards. It's trying to find the little things that we did well as a team, that we're better at, and take that into the next game. You take your hats off to Pitt because they played a really great game. They played really tough, and we're going to get some of that in the next game against Miami."
"We don't have time to dwell on this," Bernabei-McNamee said. "We have to learn from it, and that's one of the things we constantly say. We're not losers, we're learners. We're going to take what we did wrong in this game and adjust it and get better at it. We're going to get tougher on the rebounding front and on the defensive end, and hopefully we can take that aggression out on Miami."
BC and Miami will tip off on Thursday night at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on the ACC Network Extra for cable subscribers who have access to the ACC Network.
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballFootball: Head Coach Bill O'Brien Postgame Press Conference (November 29, 2025)
Sunday, November 30
Football: Grayson James Postgame Press Conference (November 29, 2025)
Sunday, November 30
Football: KP Price Postgame Press Conference (November 29, 2025)
Saturday, November 29
Men’s Hockey: Notre Dame Press Conference (James Hagens, Head Coach Greg Brown - Nov. 28, 2025)
Friday, November 28
