BC Pulls Away in Second Half to Top Dartmouth Women's Basketball

Monday, December 29

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Boston College

BC Pulls Away in Second Half to Top Dartmouth Women's Basketball

12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? After a back-and-forth first half with six lead changes and four ties, ACC foe Boston College pulled away from the Dartmouth women's basketball team to take an 85-51 win in the opening round of the Blue Sky Classic.

Dartmouth (2-8) trailed just 36-32 in the opening minutes of the second half before Boston College (9-3) went on a 12-2 run capped by a Brittney Johnson three to go up 48-34 with 14:49 to play and never looked back. Every available Dartmouth player saw action in the game and 10 scored. BC rattled off nine points in the final three minutes to inflate the final to 85-51. It was the first time Dartmouth has given up 80 points in regulation since a 2005 loss to UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The teams traded buckets in the early goings before Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) gave Dartmouth its first lead, up 5-3 at 17:10. It continued to be a back-and-forth battle though the Big Green still led, 16-15 at 11:42 after a Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas) layup. The Eagles stole the lead back at 10:12 after a Jaclyn Thoman three, starting a 9-0 run that inflated the lead to 26-18, BC at 6:50. Schram stopped the bleeding for Dartmouth with a runner in the lane before BC bumped its advantage back to 11, up 31-20 at 4:52.

Sophomore Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) nailed a pair of free throws on the next possession to start an 8-2 Dartmouth run, cutting the lead to 33-28 off a Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.) three at 1:29. Each team scored once more and the Eagles took a 36-30 lead into the lockerroom.

Both teams shot well in the first, with BC holding an edge hitting 51.9 percent of its shots to Dartmouth's 47.8 percent.

The Big Green carried the momentum from the first half into the second, striking first with a Williams jumper and answering a Mickel Picco three with another to make it 39-34, BC at 18:57. Unfortunately for Dartmouth, that would be the closest the Big Green could come for the remainder of the game.

Carolyn Swords used her 6-6 frame well in the post to start a 7-0 run that increased the BC lead to 14 points during the next three minutes before Schram hit a three off a feed from classmate Darcy Rose (Fort Collins, Colo.) to cut it back to 11, down 48-37 at 14:30. BC kept extending its lead but Dartmouth continued to answer until Ayla Brown started a 12-4 run that inflated the lead to 64-43 at 7:26.

The Eagles pulled away late while the Big Green subbed freely and saw some solid play off the bench from McFee and Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine) while fellow sophomore Louise Vanden Bosch (Kettering, Ohio) came in and nailed a big three, her first points of the season. McFee added four points, two rebounds in two steals while playing solid defense in a career-high 28 minutes.

Schram led the Big Green with 14 points while Williams added nine and Smith neared a double-double with eight points and eight boards. Stefanie Murphy led Boston College, who shot 54.1 percent for the game, with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Dartmouth's starters got some extra rest and will look to utilize that when they square-off against Wagner in the consolation game tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Leede Arena. BC will take on Fairfield, who defeated Wagner, 81-59, in the first game for the Blue Sky Classic title tomorrow at 7 p.m.