Boston College finally got the first one for Kate Popovec-Goss and her staff, and it came with plenty of breathing room.
The Eagles rolled past UMass Lowell 86-57 on Wednesday night at Conte Forum, moving to 1-2 on the season while handing the River Hawks their second loss in four games. Boston College did its best work by turning defense into offense, forcing a season-high 29 turnovers and cashing those in for 33 points. The Eagles also piled up 17 steals, with six players collecting multiple steals and three finishing with three apiece.
Jocelyne Grier set the tone and matched her career high with 23 points. She had 15 of those in the first half, went 7-of-15 from the floor, and knocked down four 3-pointers. She also added four rebounds and two steals as part of a balanced night for BC, which had four players reach double figures and seven score at least eight points.
The bench gave the Eagles a lift too. Megan Hollingsworth scored a season-high 12 points, while Athena Tomlinson posted a season-best 10 points and five rebounds.
Daniele Paunksnyte also finished with 10 points, along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Nora Arozena led the team with six rebounds, and Paunksnyte and Grace Oliver each handed out three assists.
BC had to shake off an early punch after falling behind 7-1, but Grier and Hollingsworth took over from there. The two combined for all 15 points during a 15-2 burst, including 11 straight points that flipped the game and put the Eagles ahead 16-9 with 3:32 left in the opening quarter. UMass Lowell answered with five in a row to get within two, but Arozena closed the period with a buzzer-beater that sent BC into the second quarter up 26-17.
The Eagles kept pressing in the second, pushing the margin to 15 on a Paunksnyte layup. Boston College shot 50 percent in the first half and carried a 41-30 lead into halftime.
Grier opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, then Oliver scored five straight to stretch the lead to 19. UMass Lowell cut it to 13, but BC answered and never let the margin dip below 15 the rest of the way. The Eagles took a 64-44 lead into the fourth and kept widening the gap from there, getting up by as many as 33 before closing out the 29-point win.
Boston College is back in action Saturday at noon, when Providence visits Conte Forum.
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