Feb. 19, 2009

Chestnut Hill, Mass. - The Boston College women's basketball team (18-8, 6-5 ACC) dropped a tough ACC match-up in front of a full 5,097 home crowd Thursday night, falling to the No. 10/7 North Carolina Tarheels (23-4, 8-3 ACC) by the score of 92-68.

The Eagles were led by sophomore Stefanie Murphy and junior Mickel Picco, who combined for 33 points. Murphy shot 7-for-14 from the field while Picco shot 6-16, including two three-pointers. Junior Ayla Brown led the team in both rebounds and assists, tallying eight boards and a season-high seven assists.

In the first half, Murphy started off perfect from the field, making 4-of-4 baskets for eight points, boosting Boston College to an early 13-6 lead. She finished with a team-high 12 points. At the 11:35 mark, BC had combined for 8-15 shooting with six of its points coming from second chance shots. North Carolina made just four of their first thirteen shots but went on a ten-point run, bringing the score to a 21-16 Eagles advantage with 7:42 left. Carolina then knotted the score at 21 at 6:02 and took a three-point advantage at 5:26 after junior Christina Dewitt nailed a three-pointer. Junior Jaaclyn Thoman gave BC a one-point lead with 3:06 left, finishing with a 3-5 first-half performance. The half was capped off by a nine-point run by the Tarheels who took a 42-34 lead into the locker room.

The Eagles forced a season-high eight steals in the half. The team also shot 42 percent from the field and brought down 19 rebounds. North Carolina shot 50 percent and took down 17 rebounds.

The Tarheels took their first double-digit lead at 17:33, starting the second half on a 10-2 scoring run. With its bench on the floor, BC fell behind by 20 points at 12:55, shooting just 3-8 from the field. North Carolina maintained a steady lead, tallying its largest advantage of 16 points with 5:37 left in the game. They took the road win by the final 92-68 score.

The Eagles finished with a 39 percent shooting effort while the Tarheels shot 51 percent. North Carolina also won the battle of the boards 41-34.

With just three games left in the regular season, Boston College will visit Charlottesville, Va. next to take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The game will be held Sunday, February 22 at 1:00 p.m.

Story by Meredith Cook.