BC women uncomfortable vs. Irish

The first ranked opponent for the Boston College women's basketball team this season revealed a few problems.

Notre Dame rolled into Chestnut Hill with a No. 15 ranking and then rolled to a 102-54 victory yesterday, becoming the first opponent to hit the century mark in the Eagles' home since Ohio State captured a 104-65 win in 1992.

Nothing the unranked Eagles could muster was enough to slow the Irish (3-0), who had six players score in double figures, led by forward Becca Bruszewski's 18 points. The Irish (3-0) managed 23 assists and shot 64.6 percent from the field (42 of 65), and they were 7 of 8 from the 3-point line.

"Defensively, we still have a long ways to go," BC coach Sylvia Crawley said. "I saw a little bit in the last game, and we just didn't have enough time to correct it, but I think a team like Notre Dame will expose you whenever you rest for just a second on defense. And defensively, we take breaks. We take mental breaks, and you cannot do that against a good team like this.

"This is a good reality check for our players because they're going to face some pretty tough teams in the ACC."

This was the third game in six days for the Eagles (3-1), the previous a 71-60 victory against Hofstra. In that game Thursday, BC held off a late run for the victory. But yesterday, the Eagles struggled to just keep pace with their former Big East opponent.

Notre Dame was making its first trip to Conte Forum in four years, since BC jumped conferences. The Irish made themselves right at home, taking advantage of 17 turnovers in the first half to jump to a 49-25 lead at intermission. The turnovers ballooned to 28 for the game, which resulted in 32 Notre Dame points.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said she wanted to take the game away from BC post players Carolyn Swords and Stefanie Murphy by limiting their opportunities. Swords entered yesterday averaging a team-high 21.7 points per game and Murphy 11, but Notre Dame held them to a total of 18.

"[Swords and Murphy] are both outstanding players," McGraw said. "Our game plan was to pressure the guards and not let them make the entry pass into the post. I felt we were fairly successful with that for most of the game."

Swords wound up leading BC with 16 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The rest of the team fared far worse, shooting .378 (17 for 45).

Notre Dame caused fits for BC, which seemed to have slippery hands. At times the Eagles looked disorganized in transition, leading to an opening for Notre Dame. Once the turnovers became a focus, Crawley said, they only seemed to increase.

"Early in the game we were just beating ourselves and then later in the game, once Notre Dame saw they had us, they just turned on the pressure," Crawley said. "We've got to learn to keep our composure when teams trap us."

Crawley said she was looking for any type of remedy before she grew frustrated in the second half. The Eagles were trailing, 51-25, with 18:39 to go when Crawley brought in Jasmine Gill, Lauren Whitehurst, Ayla Brown, and Jaclyn Thoman to join Swords.

"At that moment I was just trying to stop the bleeding," Crawley said. "We had nothing to lose. I went with a whole different group just to try to get a spark off the bench. I thought those players went in and played with a lot of heart. We gave up a few points at that time, but at least we had some intensity on the floor."

There is time for the Eagles to improve as ACC play begins Jan. 8 against Georgia Tech. This week, the Eagles leave for Cancun, Mexico, where they will play in the Caribbean Challenge against Texas Christian (Thursday) and James Madison (Friday).

Crawley said she expects her team to bounce back.

"They hate to lose," she said. "They were completely embarrassed [yesterday] to let someone come on our home floor and score 102 points. We have to regroup. We don't have a lot of time to cry over this one."

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.