The Massachusetts Women’s Basketball team was overpowered by Boston College as they suffered their ninth straight loss, falling to the Eagles 95-57 on Wednesday night.
UMass opened the first quarter with a 5-4 lead, but BC took over after that. The Eagles went on an 11-2 run, forcing a timeout by Minutewomen head coach Mike Leflar. The Eagles led by 15 points at one point during the first quarter, but Massachusetts closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run to trail by eight points going into the second quarter.
Despite the lead being under the double digits, BC dominated UMass offensively. The Eagles shot 67% from the field and three, forced five turnovers and played with more intensity to start the game.
The second quarter was a low-scoring affair that saw both teams shoot poorly. Both teams shot 35% from the field in the second quarter. UMass has struggled rebounding the ball this season but kept it close in the first half, being outrebounded by only one.
However, turnovers were a problem for Masschusetts. They had 11 turnovers in the first half and the Eagles scored 12 points from those 11 turnovers. In total, UMass turned the ball over 21 times to BC’s 11 with the Eagles scoring 26 points off those turnovers.
One of the few bright spots for Massachusetts was guard Jermany Mapp who had her best game as a Minutewomen on Wednesday. Mapp led UMass in scoring with a season-high of 14 points shooting 6-8 from the field.
Freshman center Lilly Taulelei continues to flourish with her third straight game with 10 or more points. Taulelei finished with 12 points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6.
Leading the Eagles in points was forward Teya Sidberry with a career-high 22 points, shooting 70%. Guards T’yana Todd and Andrea Daley both had 17 points, while guards Dontavia Waggoner and JoJo Lacey also had good games of their own. Waggoner had 15 points and Lacey had 11 points. The Eagles shot 56% from the field and 53% from three.
The third quarter is where UMass lost the game. Only trailing by 13 points, the Minutewomen started the quarter slow, allowing the Eagles to go on a 10-2 run to open the quarter. Leflar called a timeout to try to mend the ship, but the Eagles were relentless against UMass.
BC extended the 10-2 run to a 26-9 run, forcing Leflar to take another timeout. A complete dominant quarter by the Eagles that saw them extend their lead to 30 points. BC shot 80% from the field, did not miss from three and had seven assists in the third quarter.
The 38-point loss to BC is the second-biggest defeat this season. Simply, UMass just does not have enough at the moment to compete against teams such as BC. UMass was without guard Tori Hyduke as she was not out there for warm-ups. An already shorthanded Massachusetts team, the injuries just keep adding up for the Minutewomen.
The injuries are the biggest factor why teams are dominating against UMass. The Minutewomen do not have enough players to be rotating the lineup. Leflar has been dealt a tough hand with a completely new roster and with the vast amount of injuries, he has not been able to field a fully healthy roster.
UMass is slowly getting healthy with freshman center Chinenye Odenigbo playing in her second game of the season and freshman guard Avery Childers making her season debut.
The Minutewomen now fall to 1-9 and finally return home after this long six-game road trip as they take on UMass Lowell on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled at noon.
