Women's Basketball Celebrates Black History Month Sunday

BC Celebrates Black History Month Sunday vs. GT
• Boston College women's basketball celebrates Black History Month on Sunday as the Eagles host Georgia Tech in the final home game of the season.
•ACC Regional Sports Networks across the country have coverage of the game, including NESN locally, beginning at 2 p.m.
• BC will honor its trailblazers in the program as part of Sunday's Black History Game.
• Sunday's game marks the third game in six days after Thursday's 77-60 loss in Miami to the Hurricanes. BC started the week with an 83-80 loss to Pitt at Conte Forum on Tuesday evening.
• Georgia Tech enters Sunday's game third in the ACC with a record of 13-5 overall and 11-4 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets defeated Florida State 62-48 on Thursday.
• 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.

Honoring Our Past and Looking to the Future
• Sunday's Black History Game at Conte Forum will feature the team and staff wearing warm-up shirts that say "Black History is Our History" on the front and the name of an influential black person on the back that each student-athlete selected.
• The program will recognize LaVerne Mosley, BC's first black female student-athlete who played for the women's basketball program from 1973-77. BC will also recognize Rita Roach, the women's basketball team's first black scholarship athlete who played for the Eagles from 1982-86.

Last Time Out
• Miami used a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter to seize control as the Hurricanes defeated Boston College 77-60 Thursday evening.
• Boston College got off to a hot start, scoring the game's first eight points. The Eagles' hot start continued all the way to the final buzzer of the first quarter as Jaelyn Batts beat the clock to give BC a 17-13 lead after 10 minutes of play. Batts and Makayla Dickens each scored five points in the opening 10 minutes to pace the Eagles.
• The Eagles led throughout in the second quarter and headed to the locker room up 37-33 at the break. Dickens and Batts both led the way with 10 points each in the first half. Batts did not miss a shot, going 4-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the foul line while Dickens knocked down two three-point field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
• BC scored 16 points in the paint in the first half and the Eagles' bench outscored Miami 14-8.
• A 6-0 Miami run to start the third quarter gave the Hurricanes their first lead of the night at 39-37 and ultimately the Hurricanes led 50-48 after 30 minutes of play. Three Eagles were in double-figures through three quarters, led by Batts' 12 points, 11 from Taylor Soule and 10 from Dickens.
• Miami pulled away in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run as the Hurricanes controlled play in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback. The Hurricanes outscored BC 27-12 over the final 10 minutes.
• Soule led BC with 15 points and seven rebounds while Dickens scored 13 and Batts finished with 12 points. Miami was led by Destiny Harden, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Last Time vs. Georgia Tech
• The Boston College women's basketball team lost its first game of the season at Georgia Tech as the host Yellow Jackets captured an 86-68 victory on Dec. 9 at McCamish Pavilion.
• BC could not overcome a hot shooting Georgia Tech team that hit on 61 percent of its shots in the first half.
• Junior forward Taylor Soule led BC in scoring with 19 points, including her first career three-point field goal. Junior Makayla Dickens added 16 points and seven rebounds while junior Cameron Swartz had a strong showing with 14 points of her own.

Last Time at Home vs. the Yellow Jackets
• The Boston College women's basketball team fell to Georgia Tech, 81-76, the last time the Yellow Jackets played at Conte Forum on Jan. 3, 2019.
• The Eagles battled all night as Georgia Tech held a 55-49 lead going into the final stanza. BC cut the lead to five points early in the quarter off a three-pointer by Taylor Ortlepp. Georgia Tech pushed the lead to 12 points but BC would chip away.
• A long jumper from Milan Bolden-Morris with 24 seconds left made it a six-point game, 77-71. After two free throws from Georgia Tech, Sydney Lowery hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left on the clock. Georgia Tech would hit two more foul shots down the stretch to seal the win.
• Boston College was led by junior Georgia Pineau with 22 points and six rebounds. Freshman Makayla Dickens chipped in with 15 points, while Ortlepp had 13 points.
• BC finished the game with 18 assists, five from Pineau. Georgia Tech had 23 turnovers and converted 19-of-24 foul shots in the win.

Make Way For Allie
• True freshman guard Allie Palmieri was scheduled to join the Boston College program in the fall of 2021. The Trumbull, Conn. native decided to graduate from high school early and joined the BC program for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
• She is the second freshmen on the roster to join the team after graduating from high school early, joining fellow rookie Ally VanTimmeren.
• Named the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Connecticut … averaged 24.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 steals, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks as a junior … finalist for the Gatorade National Player of the Year … scored 22 points in the NEPSAC Class C quarterfinal win over Ethel Walker School, giving GFA a berth in the semifinals against Dexter Southfield … ranked 87th nationally in the class of 2021 by Dan Olson Collegiate Report … rated the No. 94 prospect nationally by Blue Star Basketball … No. 80 prospect in the nation according to All Star Girls Report … played shooting guard and small forward for GFA as a junior … first-team NEPSAC class C selection … played her freshman and sophomore season at Trumbull High School, where she averaged 18 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a sophomore en route to all-state honors.

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 Georgia Tech Series
• Boston College is 6-14 all-time against Georgia Tech, including a 6-12 mark in ACC play. Georgia Tech won earlier this season in Atlanta against the Eagles, 86-68.
• Last season, BC defeated Georgia Tech 55-48 in Atlanta on Jan. 19 to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets.
• Taylor Soule recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Emma Guy chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds in last year's win. Georgia Pineau came off the bench and pitched in with eight points and four rebounds.
• Makayla Dickens had nine points, six rebounds and three steals, while Cameron Swartz returned to action after missing two games and contributed nine points, six rebounds and two steals.

From High School to the Heights (Part II)
• Freshman forward Ally VanTimmeren was set to play her senior year of high school in 2020-21 before COVID-19 cancelled her high school season.
• VanTimmeren made the decision to graduate early from Jenison High School in Michigan and enroll early at Boston College for the second semester. With just two practices under her belt after arriving at BC on Dec. 26, VanTimmeren had an impressive debut in her collegiate debut Jan. 3 at No. 3 NC State.
• VanTimmeren is the second youngest player in the ACC this season after she just turned 18 in November.
• She finished with 10 points, six rebounds and connected on two three-point field goals against the third-ranked Wolfpack.
• Against No. 2 Louisville, VanTimmeren finished with a career-high 17 points.
• VanTimmeren was rated a four-star prospect according to ESPN. She ranked 17th nationally at her position in the ESPN rankings.
• A 1,000-point scorer, she was a three-year varsity starter for the Wildcats. She averaged 20.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and four blocked shots per game as a junior.

News and Notes
• Boston College is 22nd in the nation and second in the ACC in free throw percentage (77.1 percent).
• BC is fourth in the ACC and 28th nationally with 15.0 offensive rebounds per game.
• The Eagles rank first in the ACC and 54th nationally with 9.4 steals per game.
• BC's 141 steals on the season rank third in the ACC.
• Boston College leads the ACC in turnovers forced per game (18.7) and rank 55th nationally.
• The Eagles rank second in the ACC in turnover margin (+2.47).
• BC is sixth in the ACC with 6.8 made three-point field goals per game.
• BC is fourth in the ACC in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to shooting 29.6 percent.
• Taylor Soule is fifth in the ACC in free throws made (63). She is fourth in the ACC in free throws attempted (84).
• Soule is fifth in the conference averaging 16.4 points per game.
• Marnelle Garraud is third in the ACC with 34 steals this season.
• Garraud leads the ACC with 2.27 steals per game.
• Makayla Dickens is second in the conference shooting 43.6 percent from behind the arc. Her 2.73 made three-point field goals per game are good for fifth-best in the ACC.

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 second on the team averaging 12.8 points per game along with 4.1 rebounds per game.
• Dickens leads BC with 41 three-point field goals this season and is shooting 43.6 percent from behind the arc.
• She is eighth in Boston College history with 165 made three-point field goals.
• Against No. 3 NC State on Dec. 13, Dickens led the Eagles with 20 points and connected on six three-pointers against the Wolfpack.
• In the 64-61 win versus Notre Dame on Jan. 7, she caught fire in the second half, leading BC with 15 points in the comeback victory.

Doing it All
• Junior point guard Marnelle Garraud has become one of the elite defenders in the country. The Lynn native leads the ACC with 34 steals this season.
• Her 145 career steals rank 12th in BC history and she is just four steals shy of joining the top 10 in school history.
• Her 237 career assists rank 25th in BC history.

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.

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.
• Soule finished with the best performance of the season vs. Pitt on Feb. 16 with game-highs in points (27) and rebounds (12).

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.

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.

From Long Distance
• Boston College drained 13 three-point field goals at Notre Dame on Jan. 17, the most this season for the Eagles and tied for the fifth-best single-game performance in school history.

Three-point field goals made in a game
Rk. Total     Opponent                                            Date
1.   15          at North Carolina                                2/9/17
2.    14          Rider                                               12/25/18
       14          New Hampshire                               12/15/13
       14          North Carolina                                     1/9/11
5.    13          at Notre Dame                                 1/17/21
       13          VCU                                                  11/23/19
       13          at Rhode Island                                 11/8/18
       13          Holy Cross                                        11/15/18
       13          Duke                                                  1/31/19
       13          Virginia Tech                                      2/3/19
       13          at Notre Dame                                   1/14/18
       13          NC State                                            1/23/14

Women's Basketball Celebrates Black History Month Sunday

Players Mentioned

Jaelyn Batts

Milan Bolden-Morris

Makayla Dickens

Clara Ford

Marnelle Garraud

Emma Guy

JoJo Lacey

Sydney Lowery

Taylor Ortlepp

Allie Palmieri

Georgia Pineau

Taylor Soule

Cameron Swartz

Ally VanTimmeren

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