The Massachusetts women’s basketball team lost 62-57 to Boston College in a Wednesday matinee at Conte Forum. The Minutewomen’s (4-6) start looked promising, but late struggles got the best of them once again as they fell to 1-5 in games decided by six points or less.
UMass has lost a number of games this season due to fourth quarter inefficiency and the loss to the Eagles (8-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) was no different. After Momo LaClair cut the deficit to one point with 6:10 left in the game, the Minutewomen went without a made field goal until just four ticks remained on the clock. The six-minute drought allowed BC to embark on an 11-4 run to close the victory.
A combination of turnovers and missed open shots made all the difference in the clutch. The Minutewomen registered 10 points from the free throw line and even those were not guaranteed. They missed five attempts from the charity stripe throughout the matchup, with four of those coming in the final three minutes. LaClair was off target on a crucial pair with the chance to regain the lead.
After a blazing start from Stefanie Kulesza, she went cold from deep. Seconds into the game, Megan Olbrys found her with an overhead pass and Kulesza swished the open 3-pointer which opened the scoring. Kulesza then drilled a shot from the same exact spot on the second possession of the game and hit her next try as well to begin 3-for-3. She proceeded to miss all five of her ensuing long-range attempts, including a chance to go ahead under the two-minute mark.
“That was something that we were talking about in the locker room, that we’re very optimistic about our [Atlantic 10] conference play,” Kulesza said after her 12-point performance. “If we can play with an ACC team like that, imagine what we can do in the A-10. I think that we have a lot of optimism going into conference play and the rest of our non-conference game.”
As a team, UMass shot 5-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first quarter in one of its most effective shooting periods of the season. Yahmani McKayle hit two to match Kulesza’s tally in the first frame, while Allie Palmieri sent one through the net. In the latter three quarters combined, the Minutewomen shot 11.7 percent from 3 and the shortcomings cost them in the long run.
UMass played much of the game in a two-three zone on the defensive end limited Boston College’s opportunities to score easy buckets. The Minutewomen also often enacted a press that forced their opponent to speed up offensive possessions and force shots up at the expiration of the shot clock.
“I thought we played hard, stuck together out there [and] had a good game plan,” head coach Mike Leflar said. “The times where we did get into our press, where it was more three-quarter court or even half court, it just took time off the clock. That was the goal, it wasn’t really to get steals and just to give them less time to execute in the half court.”
The Eagles grinded out the victory through their massive size advantage in the post and on the boards. A total of 56 out of BC’s 62 points came from players standing at six-foot or above. In comparison, UMass found 27 points from that category and Boston College had a 17-9 advantage on the offensive glass as a result of its superior height.
“I thought we could have extended the lead in the first half if we just came up with some defensive rebounds,” Leflar said. “Reading rebounding out of the zone is difficult, but we can’t use playing two-three zone as an excuse. BC’s obviously longer than us, more athletic than us, but they can’t be quicker to the ball than we are.”
Depth was a massive reason why the Eagles were able to hold onto their eighth win of the campaign. The BC rotation was composed of 12 players, which spread out the scoring and kept the five on the floor fresh at all times. Only two Eagles scraped 10 points because they boasted 10 different scorers. UMass played a true seven-player rotation, as Dallas Pierce played just one minute and Aleah Sorrentino did not appear in the contest. Olbrys played all 40 minutes.
The Minutewomen will now take eight days of rest and prepare for their next game against UMass Lowell on Friday, Dec. 20. The 1 p.m. tip will be streamed on ESPN+ and will close out UMass’ three-game road trip.
“I’m optimistic with how we’ve been fighting, optimistic with the fact that we’ve been improving and really proud of our team,” Leflar said. “And as I told [the team], we have some finals coming up, we have a couple off days sprinkled in the next week and a half. Yes, we’ll worry about [UMass Lowell] in time, but when we step on the court, we got to be continuing to get better.”
Cameron Pellegrino can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @cam_pellegrino.
