BC Women Stun No. 10 NC State
After starting the new year off with a blowout loss to Notre Dame on Sunday, women’s basketball coach Joanna McNamee wanted to see a response from her team.
She got it, and then some.
The Eagles stunned no. 10 NC State 79-71 on the road Thursday night, beating a Top 10 team for the first time since 2010. It also snapped an 0-10 streak against the Wolfpack. BC improved to 12-5 and continues to stay right in the thick of the absolutely wild ACC standings.
“The day after that loss, it was an off day and to these guys’ credit, every single player got in the gym, every single player got in and watched film. Those are things they did, they weren’t forced to,” said McNamee. “We had a film session and I thought I went a little too crazy in it, but clearly, maybe the crazy film session was going to be okay. I think what they saw…Notre Dame is a really good team, but we made them look good because we weren’t us.”
The game was tied at halftime (35-35), and the Eagles took a 59-52 lead with 9:43 remaining on a jumper by Dontavia Waggoner. Waggoner was a force all night, racking up 23 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. The teams went back and forth, but the Eagles started to pull away late. Freshman phenom Taina Mair (15 points, 10 assist, 6 rebounds) dished to JoJo Lacey who buried a three pointer with 1:52 left to go, pushing the lead to 76-69. Mair is currently the only freshman in the country averaging 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds per game.
Eventually, NC State forced BC to make free throws down the stretch before the Eagles were able to dribble out the final seconds and celebrate the huge upset.
To put in perspective how long its been since the BC women beat a Top 10 team, McNamee, Mair and Waoggner were all asked where they were or what they were doing in 2010.“I was a stay at home mom,” said McNamee.“2010? I was in preschool,” said Mair. “I was nine,” added Waggoner.
The victory was also No. 200 in McNamee’s career, but the Eagles didn’t have much time to celebrate. After dousing McNamee with water in the locker room, BC quickly boarded a flight home and McNamee talked about immediately beginning prep for another huge game against 15-2 Florida State on Sunday.
“This game sets a standard of how we want to play together and how we want to communicate on the court. The tempo and the pace we want to play at, I hope it is a springboard game. That’s one of the things with the ACC, it’s Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday and it’s never an easy game and Florida State is an unbelievable opponent.
“Thursday’s for me, because they’re night games, I drink the Spark (energy drink), so I’ll be up all night breaking down them, breaking down this game and I kind of pull my all-nighters on Thursdays. I know (the players) have to talk themselves into flying back, getting rest and really getting off their legs because it’s a quick turn around for them preparing for the next game.