By Five Boro Sports
It’s been four years since the Boston College women’s basketball team last played a Big East game. But the Eagles looked like they would fit right back in with what Red Storm sophomore guard Sky Lindsay called “the most physical conference” in the country in a 68-64 victory in the third round of the WNIT on Thursday at Carnesecca Arena.
“We struggled to score and they were extremely physical,” Red Storm Coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “We’re used to facing that in our league, but the last couple of games we played against Harvard and Hartford, they don’t have the size of BC. … I think they took us out of our game with their physicality.”
Boston College (21-11) advanced to the quarterfinals to face another former Big East foe as Georgetown defeated Richmond 65-49 on Thursday night. The Eagles avenged a nine-point loss at Carnesecca Arena in last year’s third round of the WNIT.
The two also met on Dec. 21, with the Red Storm coming away with a 72-63 victory at home.
This time, though, St. John’s (19-15) couldn’t handle Boston College’s 6-foot-4 sophomore Stefanie Murphy, who scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double.
“On offense, we couldn’t get into the flow and then rebounding, I think they got a lot of second chances,” St. John’s sophomore forward Da’Shena Stevens said. “If we went out to the shooters, then we kind of left it open for the big girls to go in and rebound. I think that’s what hurt us the most.”
Carolyn Swords, a 6-foot-6 sophomore center, added 10 points and nine rebounds as the Eagles held a 43-32 edge on the glass.
“We’ve grown a lot as a team since the last time we played them,” Boston College Coach Sylvia Crawley said. “We walked out on the court the last time we were here, hoping and wishing we were going to win. Tonight, we walked out knowing we would win the game. I’ve seen a shift in the mentality of our players.”
St. John’s trailed by 13 points early in the second half, but its press helped cut the deficit to four six different times. But each time the Eagles found an answer.
“Every time we did start to get a little flow and our offense started working, they’d go back down and score,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay (16 points) pulled up for a three-pointer from the right wing with 25.6 seconds left and, after BC’s Brittany Johnson missed the front end of a one-and-one bonus, Britney Murphy banked in a three-pointer with 12.4 seconds left, to get St. John’s within 66-64.
The Red Storm pressed, but was unable to foul and Thomas raced ahead of the field for an uncontested layup with 6.2 seconds left to seal the Eagles’ win.
“It’s always hard, unless you win a championship, to finish your last game and end the season,” Barnes Arico said. “Overall, I told them I was proud of them. We faced a lot of adversity this year and we had to handle a lot of things and the team could have folded at times. They never did that and they battled and battled.”
Lindsay scored a team-high 16 points, Murphy added 13 off the bench and Stevens had 10 points and 11 rebounds, but was four-of-12 from the field and two-of-eight from the free throw line.
As a team, the Red Storm shot 38.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the foul line.
Despite the disappointing loss, Lindsay can see optimism with a solid recruiting class that includes Shenneika Smith from St. Michaels Academy, Nadirah McKenith from University (N.J.) and Eugeneia McPherson from North Babylon (L.I.).
“I’m excited for next year,” Lindsay said. “We have a lot of freshmen coming in and we only have two girls graduating this year. … It should be an interesting year.”
