Lost in first half, BC can't find its way back
Eagles' rally falls short at Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. -- The Boston College women's basketball team traveled across the country to learn a valuable lesson last night.
After struggling in the first half, the 14th-ranked Eagles came alive and erased most of a 20-point halftime deficit to make a game of it before losing, 76-66, to No. 6 Stanford.
"We want to play the best teams in the country," BC coach Cathy Inglese said. "We had an opportunity to win, though we didn't show that in the first half. It's tough to come back from a 20-point deficit but I think the team felt we were capable of doing that."
BC (12-2) heads home to play West Virginia Thursday night with plenty of material to review.
"We definitely learned a lot from this game," Eagles forward Brooke Queenan said. "We know we can't come out the way we did. We have to turn that around. We have to play our game from the beginning."
The Eagles saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end, one shy of matching the school record. BC hadn't lost since Nov. 21, when it dropped an overtime game against then 15th-ranked Michigan State. Stanford (15-2) represented the Eagles' second nationally ranked opponent of the season.
Queenan scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half. Jessalyn Deveny led the Eagles with 26 points, 17 after intermission.
The Eagles rediscovered their intensity during halftime and boldly asserted themselves on a court where the Cardinal have won 15 straight, and 50 of their last 53.
BC's full-court pressure seemed to bother Stanford early in the second half and that translated into a more aggressive offensive attack as well.
After trailing at the break for the first time this season (41-21), the Eagles clawed to within 50-39 with 10:29 left thanks in part to Deveny and Aja Parham attacking the basket. BC went to the foul line just once in the first half, but Parham in particular was an effective penetrator in the second half, making all six of her free throws.
The Eagles eventually drew within 68-61 with 2:18 remaining but Stanford hit all eight of its foul shots the rest of the way to preserve the victory.
Rebounding also sparked BC's rally. The Eagles were outboarded, 17-12, in the first half, but held a 20-10 advantage after the break.
Kathrin Ress, who ran into early foul trouble, had eight of her 10 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
"In retrospect, even with two fouls I should have maybe kept [Ress] in," Inglese said. "She did a good job playing with three fouls in the second half."
Stanford held a 66-48 advantage with 5:17 left but Queenan and Deveny combined for a 13-2 run that brought the Eagles within striking distance.
"We were getting a little out of control and playing at their pace," Deveny said. "The whole team settled down and got more open looks."
BC, making its first trip to California in five years, fell behind early because of a combination of Stanford's torrid shooting (57 percent in the first half) and the Eagles' inability to hold on to the ball. They committed 10 turnovers before the break, seven in the first 12 minutes. "I was disappointed in the first half," Inglese said. "I wasn't pleased with our focus. We got a little bit rattled."
The Eagles also missed 10 of their first 16 shots while Stanford made 10 of 17, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
Deveny was 4 of 8 from the field in the first half, and the rest of her teammates were a combined 6 of 16.
The Eagles dramatically improved their shooting in the second half, feeding off their full-court pressure. But they had dug themselves too deep a hole. 