CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The UMass women’s basketball team had its fewest turnovers since 2007, but Boston College’s control of the glass carried the Eagles past the Minutewomen, 80-64 on Wednesday evening at Conte Forum. Following the setback, UMass is now 1-7 on the year, while BC moves to 3-4.
Junior Jasmine Watson scored in double figures for a seventh straight game, pacing UMass with 15 points, while also grabbing five rebounds. Shakia Robinson followed with 14 points and dished four assists, senior Emilie Teuscher chipped in 12 points and seven boards and Megan Zullo had 11 points and three assists. Redshirt-sophomore Carolann Cloutier handed out a game-high five assists.
In a tightly-contested first half that featured five ties and six lead changes, the Minutewomen held the advantage for the majority of the period and never trailed the Eagles by more than two. Holding a 9-8 advantage at the 12:55 mark, UMass went on a 7-2 run to build its largest lead of the game, six, at 16-10 with 11:10 remaining in the first. However, BC countered with its own 7-2 spurt to pull back within a point of the Minutewomen.
The Eagles went on top by one, briefly, on two occasions, before being answered by UMass, first with a three by Teuscher at 4:42 and then with a jumper from freshman Kim Pierre-Louis at the 1:15 mark. Boston College closed the half with a half court buzzer beater by Tiffany Ruffin, though, to lead 32-30 at the break.
After a layup by Kristen Doherty gave the Eagles a four-point advantage to open the second, Zullo hit a three to bring the Minutewomen within one. The squads remained within two points of each other until a 15-2 run took BC from down 46-44 to a 59-48 advantage with 8:36 to play. UMass could draw no closer than nine the rest of the way.
The Minutewomen shot 41.8% (23-for-55) from the field compared to the Eagles’ 38.7% (24-for-62), however the Eagles out-rebounded UMass, 48-23, including 22 offensive boards that resulted in 24 second chance points. Both squads shot well at the free throw line with UMass making 91.7% (11-for-12) and the BC converting 96.6% (28-for-29). The Minutewomen finished the night 7-for-18 (38.9%) from beyond the arc, while Boston College was 4-for-22 (18.2%).
Shayra Brown and Ruffin led the way for the Eagles with 18 points apiece. Doherty and Joy Caracciolo added 10 points each and Katie Zenevitch had a game-best 12 rebounds while scoring eight.
UMass returns to action on Friday, Dec. 9, playing its first of two straight at home with a matchup against Providence at 7 p.m.
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