<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3rzrJC_1H1u37hF00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3rzrJC_1H1u37hF00" width="1956" height="1100" ><figcaption>Photo by: Meg Kelly</figcaption></figure>The first two games of Boston College's new era of women's basketball offered plenty of lessons to a young Eagles team still learning how to gel and play together as one single and solitary unit. On Wednesday night, the Eagles began to show what they had learned.BC delivered its most convincing performance of the young season, defeating UMass-Lowell in an 86-57 rout that protected Conte Forum's home turf. The 29-point victory marked the first win for head coach Kate Popovec-Goss at The Heights, but it offered more than a simple milestone for a program that found its footing for the first time under the program's new leadership."Obviously to get a first win at BC is incredible," said Popovec-Goss. "I'm super proud of my team. I thought we were really steady the whole game. I thought we played together. We were really connected…it's just a super [and] great victory for us. I'm really proud of our effort. There are some things to clean up, but overall it feels really good to be in the win column, so we're going to enjoy it and then prepare for Providence."Improvements existed on both sides of the floor in those first games against Holy Cross and Harvard, but the performances combined offensive balance and defensive pressure with an inconsistency that required tinkering and fixing throughout the interim days between games. The six-day break that followed the 30-point loss at Harvard reflected that progress, and after the River Hawks opened the game with a 7-1 advantage, the Eagles followed a script that turned the early deficit into a 16-9 lead.The ball movement remained crisp, and Jocelyne Grier and Megan Hollingsworth sank 11 consecutive points to set a tone that BC maintained for the remainder of the evening. Grier more specifically finished the first half with 15 points after hitting four three-pointers, and she eventually ended the game by tying a career-high 23 points while Hollingsworth added 12 points from an inner depth position.Athena Tomlinson and Daniele Paunksnyte added 10 points with five and four rebounds, respectively, but the true benefit emerged spreading the ball around a team that stepped through individual roles to produce four players with double figures, seven with eight points, and all nine players contributing to the scoring column."The offensive is very free-flowing," said Grier. "Everybody touches the ball, and no one's holding onto the ball, so it's very easy to score. Everybody can score, and I know that Coach Pop believes in me, so when I shoot, I'm confident that I know - like she knows - that it's going to go in. It's all just a togetherness thing."The inability to recover from the end of that early surge became more evident after Lowell's second half performance shot 7-for-25 from the floor, and few players beyond leading scorer Nia Chima effectively poured the ball towards the cup. Ten-point scorer Yazmin Edwards finished 2-for-6 with the bulk of her points coming via the free throw line, and Kayla Solomon committed six turnovers after scoring eight points on 2-for-10 shooting, a number replicated by the six giveaways from Carla Subirats.Even Achol Agok's six first half rebounds melted into a four-turnover night, and three additional River Hawks committed three turnovers apiece while Chima and Edwards had two turnovers. Conversely, only two BC players committed more than a pair of turnovers, and the 35 rebounds included 15 offensive boards that translated to 17 second chance points."We had been letting everything come easy for them," said Popovec-Goss. "Their shot seemed easy, and they seemed very comfortable. So we really challenged our kids. What was great was that I came into [the locker room] at halftime and asked what they discussed, and when I turned around, there was a list on the board. It made my heart really happy because everything was defensive, and I love defense. So I think seeing that buy-in, yes, we're not perfect and we have a lot of work to do, but to see them buying into the idea that we have to get stops and make things hard for the other team is great."For Popovec-Goss, the win carried significance beyond that improved statistical performance. It was, after the first two losses, the reward for the work of establishing the new culture that's guiding a new group through the challenges of a transitional season, and it reminded the Eagles about their collective capabilities as a depth-laden team that's currently fighting through a shortened roster. Grace Oliver's return added some additional star power to a team that expected her to provide a cornerstone, but Grier continued her development into a front-end shooter and provided a punch that Hollingsworth augmented from a bench position. That said, the victory was not dependent on one player having an exceptional night and instead reflected a group effort that allowed BC to establish control and sustain it."As coaches and as players, the messaging today is sometimes so caught up in who we're trying to be, that we can forget to be where our feet are," said Popovec-Goss. "To enjoy the moment and be confident in who we already are, even though we're trying to improve on that every day, that's the journey of athletics. This win exemplifies that. We've got a lot of work to do, and we'll address that, but let's celebrate and enjoy [a win]. This was a big win for our team and our program, and we're going to sit with that, and then we're going to prepare tomorrow to try and get the next one."BC returns to the court on Saturday when it hosts Providence at 12 p.m. Admission is free for kids 12 and under, and television coverage is available through the ACC Network Extra streaming option for cable subscribers with access to the network.</div></body>

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The first two games of Boston College's new era of women's basketball offered plenty of lessons to a young Eagles team still learning how to gel and play together as one single and solitary unit. On Wednesday night, the Eagles began to show what they had learned. BC delivered its...

Eagles Check First Box Before Turning To Providence

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The first two games of Boston College's new era of women's basketball offered plenty of lessons to a young Eagles team still learning how to gel and play t

Eagles Check First Box Before Turning To Providence

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