BC Closes Out the Regular Season Thursday at Syracuse

Game Notes in PDF Format

Old Rivals Meet in the Carrier Dome Thursday
• Boston College closes out the ACC regular season Thursday night at 8 p.m. at Syracuse inside the Carrier Dome.
• ACC Network will broadcast the game to a national audience with Pam Ward and LaChina Robinson on the call.
• BC bounced back into the win column with a 49-43 victory over Georgia Tech Sunday as the Eagles hosted their first annual Black History Month game at Conte Forum.
• Sunday's Black History Game at Conte Forum featured the team and staff wearing warm-up shirts that say "Black History is Our History".
• The program recognized LaVerne Mosley, BC's first black female student-athlete who played for the women's basketball program from 1973-77. BC also recognized Rita Roach, the women's basketball team's first black scholarship athlete who played for the Eagles from 1982-86.
• Syracuse comes into Thursday's game after dropping a 76-68 game at Virginia Tech last Sunday in Blacksburg.
• 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
• Junior Cameron Swartz led all scorers with 23 points to lead Boston College to a 49-43 victory over Georgia Tech (13-6, 11-5 ACC) Sunday in the team's first annual Black History Month celebration game.
• Swartz was sensational as she went 8-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line to lead BC (6-10, 2-10 ACC) to the win
• Junior Taylor Soule also finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the victors.
• The Eagles outscored Georgia Tech 12-2 in the fourth quarter and held the Yellow Jackets without a field goal to secure the win. The fourth quarter was highlighted once again by Swartz as she made a layup and then forced a turnover on consecutive possessions halfway through the frame. The victors ended the game on an 8-0 run, including a driving layup from Makayla Dickens and a turnaround jumper from Ally VanTimmeren with less than a minute to play.
• BC was strong in the paint all day, outscoring Georgia Tech 32-20 in the paint. The Eagles held a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored Tech 10-2 on the fast break.

Last Time vs. Syracuse
• 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.
• 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.

Last Time at the Carrier Dome
• Boston College secured sixth place in the ACC with an 88-81 road win at Syracuse on March 1, 2020 in the final game of the regular season at the Carrier Dome. It was BC's highest finish in the conference since the 2008-09 team placed fifth with a 7-7 conference record.
• Sophomore Taylor Soule 26 points and eight rebounds while senior Taylor Ortlepp tallied her season-high 18 points as she hit four three-pointers. Sophomore Makayla Dickens pitched in with 12 points, a team-high nine assists and six rebounds. Sophomore Marnelle Garraud contributed 11 points, while redshirt sophomore Cameron Swartz added 10 points in the win.
• The Eagles pulled away in the fourth quarter as the combination of Soule and senior Emma Guy scored the first 11 points to give BC a 75-68. A steal by Ortlepp led to her fourth three of the game with 2:28 to play and BC's lead was 83-75. The Eagles defense held Syracuse to just six points in the final two minutes of the game to seal the win.
• Syracuse was led by Gabrielle Cooper with 18 points and five rebounds and Kiara Lewis with 18 points and eight assists.
• The win was the first time BC defeated Syracuse in 12 games. The last victory over Syracuse was on the road on Feb. 12, 2005.
• The 11 victories were a new program record for most wins in the ACC. The last time BC won 11 conference games was in the 2003-04 season when the team played in the Big East.

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 Syracuse Series
• BC and Syracuse meet for the 58th time in series history on Thursday. The Orange lead the all-time series 33-24.
• The Eagles have not played any other ACC opponent more often than Syracuse in school history. The two Eastern rivals first met in 1983 and were members of the Big East prior to joining the ACC.
• Last year's win for the Eagles snapped a 12-game losing streak in the series against the Orange. Prior to last season, the last victory for BC was a 75-50 win in 2005.

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 17th in the nation and second in the ACC in free throw percentage (77.5 percent).
• The Eagles rank first in the ACC and 64th nationally with 9.2 steals per game.
• BC's 147 steals on the season rank third in the ACC.
• Boston College leads the ACC in turnovers forced per game (18.5) and rank 54th nationally.
• The Eagles rank second in the ACC in turnover margin (+2.56).
• BC is third in the ACC in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to shooting 28.8 percent.
• Taylor Soule is fifth in the ACC in free throws made (64). She is fourth in the ACC in free throws attempted (85).
• Soule is fifth in the conference averaging 16.2 points per game.
• Marnelle Garraud is second in the ACC with 35 steals this season.
• Garraud leads the ACC with 2.19 steals per game.
• Makayla Dickens is second in the conference shooting 43.2 percent from behind the arc. Her 2.56 made three-point field goals per game are good for sixth-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 12.1 points per game along with 3.9 rebounds per game.
• Dickens leads BC with 41 three-point field goals this season and is shooting 43.2 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 35 steals this season.
• Her 146 career steals rank 12th in BC history and she is just three steals shy of joining the top 10 in school history.
• Her 239 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).
• Soule is seventh in the ACC in scoring averaging 15.8 points per conference game.
• She is ninth in ACC games only shooting 44.7 percent from the field.
• She is the third-best offensive rebounder in ACC games only averaging 3.2 per game.
• Soule is also among the league leaders in rebounding and free throw percentage.
• The New Hampshire native leads BC in scoring and rebounding.

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.

Numero Uno
• Cameron Swartz has been a mainstay in the lineup for BC in 2020-21. She has started all 16 games for Boston College this season.
• She had a season-high 23 points in the win over Georgia Tech.
• Earlier in the season, she hit the game-winning layup in the victory over Notre Dame.
• The Georgia native is tied for second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game.
• She is eighth in ACC games only with 1.50 steals per game.

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

BC Closes Out the Regular Season Thursday at Syracuse

Players Mentioned

Makayla Dickens

Clara Ford

Marnelle Garraud

Emma Guy

JoJo Lacey

Taylor Ortlepp

Allie Palmieri

Taylor Soule

Cameron Swartz

Ally VanTimmeren

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