BERKELEY, Calif. – Boston College women’s basketball fell short in a 72-63 setback to California on Thursday evening at Haas Pavilion.
The Eagles fall to 13-14 and 4-10 in the ACC, while the Bears improve to 20-6 and 8-5 in the league.
T’yana Todd registered a game-high 24 points, scoring 18 of her points in the second half. The junior guard shot 7-of-16, with four field goals from deep, and went 6-for-7 from the line.
Savannah Samuel rounded out the leading scorers with 10 points, pacing a bench that scored 21 points to Cal’s six. Teya Sidberry led the team in rebounding with seven boards.
BC surged back from a 17-point deficit in the third after a slow start to the second half on offense.
The Eagles shortened the deficit to 10 at the end of the third after a second Nene Ndiaye buzzer-beater. BC continued the comeback, climbing back to within five points, 64-59, following a Todd 3-pointer. However, the hosts scored the following four points to pull away for the win.
It was a back-and-forth contest early in the first quarter until the hosts broke a 9-9 with a 6-0 spurt. BC sliced the gap to one possession, scoring six of the final eight over the last 1:46 of the contest, thanks to a pair of corner treys from Ndiaye.
The bench continued to provide a spark in the first half, with Savannah Samuel scoring five of the first eight points for BC. Back-to-back trifectas from Todd and Samuel gave the Eagles their first game lead, 23-22.
Cal responded by shooting 70 percent the rest of the quarter to head into the break with a 36-25 lead.
BC forced Cal into 26 turnovers for 23 points and held a 15-point edge in bench points.
The Eagles return to action on Sunday to close out the road trip against Stanford at 5 p.m. (ET).
Tip-Ins
- Todd is four points away from 1,000 for her career.
- It’s the fourth game with at least 20 points for Todd – all coming in ACC play, while three have come on the road.
- She now has a career-long 11 straight games in double figures.
- It’s the third game in double figures for Samuel in conference action.
