CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- After another close battle coming down to the final minutes, the BYU women’s basketball team dropped its first game of the season falling 62-56 to Boston College Thursday on the road.

“We didn’t play with a lot intensity or urgency and we didn’t follow our game plan,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “I was happy we were able to come back but we didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

The Cougars fell to 2-1 on the season while Boston College improved to 2-1.

Sophomore Lexi Eaton led BYU with a game-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds while dishing out three assists. Graduate student Haley Steed contributed 11 points, five assists and three steals.

Senior Keilani Unga picked up a career-high and team-high nine boards.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half with Boston College failing to hit a field goal the last eight minutes of the half and shooting 8 of 30. The Cougars ended the half 9 of 28 from the field.

BYU started slow, giving up a 12-5 lead after five minutes of play. After a Cougar timeout, Eaton sparked a 6-0 run to bring BYU within one with 12:41 on the clock. Eaton scored nine of BYU’s first 11 points and finished the half with 11.

Eaton dished it out to Morgan Bailey under the basket for the first Cougar lead of the night before the Eagles quickly scored on their next possession to flip the score back in their favor.

Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn hit her first basket of the game from behind the arc to take a one-point lead with just under two minutes on the clock. Two shots from the line by Unga gave BYU its largest lead of the half, heading into the break up 24-21.

After exchanging baskets to kick off the second half, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to regain a three-point advantage after five minutes into the half. Seaborn knocked in her second 3-pointer to end the run and tie the game at 31. Boston College then hit back-to-back treys to push its lead to four with under 13 minutes to play.

A Katie Zenevitch layup helped the Eagles to their largest lead of the night, 50-41, with under six minutes left in the game. The Cougars continued fighting as Kim Parker Beeston was sent to the line for a one-and-one opportunity and knocked down both and Steed hit a big 3-pointer to shave Boston College’s lead to four with 5:13 remaining.

With 49 seconds on the clock, Eaton drove by her defender to bring the score to 56-52. Kristen Doeherty hit a pair of clutch shots from the line before Boston College was sent to the line again with 26 seconds remaining for another two points.

A late layup by Eaton and jumper from Ashley Garfield weren’t enough to prevent a 62-56 Boston College victory.

The Cougars continue their stint in Massachusetts, taking on Harvard Friday at 5 p.m. EST.

Postgame Notes

Team
BYU outrebounded Boston College 36-34.

The Cougars finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and 63 percent from the charity stripe.

BYU got 10 points off its bench compared to the Eagles’ three.

Player
Lexi Eaton has tallied double digits in points in all three games on the year. At Boston College she led all scorers with 17 points.

Keilani Unga picked up new career highs in rebounds, grabbing a team-high nine boards.

Haley Steed finished the game with 11 total points, marking her first double-figure outing in points on the season. Steed also dished out a game-high five assists. She has recorded game highs in assists in all three contests played to date.

Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn tied her season high in rebounds with six.

After the 58-57 victory over Dartmouth, the Cougar women’s basketball team (2-0) continues its road swing through the Northeast. They are at Boston College (1-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. ET and at Harvard (1-1) on Friday in a 5 p.m. ET tip off. Both games can be heard live on BYU Radio.

BYU Capsule
In the Dartmouth victory, sophomore Lexi Eaton led all scorers with 19 points. Morgan Bailey and Kim Parker Beeston also recorded double digits in points with 12 and 11 respectively. Bailey grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her first career double double. Haley Steed led the team in total assists and steals with six and four respectively. Both were also game highs.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins, enters his 12th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 Lexi Eaton, 21.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 Morgan Bailey, 8.5 rpg
• Team’s assist leader: #33 Haley Steed, 7.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #33 Steed, 2.5 spg

BYU’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
#33 Haley Steed – (5-4 guard, GS) 6.0 ppg; 1.0 rpg; 9.0 apg
#4 Kim Parker Beeston – (5-11 guard, JR) 13.0 ppg; 7.0 rpg; 2.0 apg
#21 Lexi Eaton – (5-10 guard, SO) 24.0 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 4.0 apg
#41 Morgan Bailey – (6-2 forward, SO) 11.5 ppg; 8.5 rpg
#45 Keilani Unga – (6-2 forward, SR) 9.0 ppg; 2.0 rpg; 2.0

Boston College Capsule
The Eagles opened the season with two road contests where they lost to Boston University 52-46 and then defeated Holy Cross 71-52.
Boston College (1-1) returns seven letterwinners including four starters from last year’s team that compiled a 7-23, 2-14 record, finishing 10th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

• Head coach: Erik Johnson is in his first year at BC
• Team’s leading scorer: #45 Katie Zenevitch, 15.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #45 Katie Zenevitch, 11.5 rpg
• Team’s assist leader: #3 Tessah Holt, 3.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #21 Kristen Doherty, 2.0 spg

Series History
This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

Harvard Capsule
Harvard has compiled a 1-1 record to date losing at North Dakota State 81-72 and then beating North Dakota 65-52 on the road.
Last year the Crimson tallied an 18-12, 10-4 record including a second place finish in the Ivy League. They return 13 letterwinners including four starters.

• Head coach: Kathy Delaney-Smith is in her 30th season at Harvard
• Team’s leading scorer: #22 Christine Clark, 16.0 ppg
• 3 other players also score in double digits - #21 Victoria Lippert, 13.0, #14 Temi Fagbenle 12.5, #13 Emma Golen, 11.5
• Team’s leading rebounder: #14 Fagbenle, 9.0 rpg
• Team’s assist leader: #25 Miriam Rutzen, 4.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: Three players are averaging 2.5 spg - #21 Lippert, #14 Fagbenle and #11 Jasmine Evans

Series History
BYU leads the series 1-0. These two schools met last during the 2006-07 season with the Cougars picking up the 66-51 road win on Nov. 29, 2006 in Boston. In that game, current assistant Melinda Johnsen Bendall was a guard/forward starter and Haley Steed came off the bench. Bendall played 27 minutes tallying two points, two rebounds and one assist. Steed played 26 minutes and scored 10 points, recorded four assists and two steals.

Co-Team Captains
Graduate student Haley Steed and senior Keilani Unga have been chosen by their teammates as co-captains for the 2012-13 season. This is Steed’s fifth straight co-captain selection.

Player Injury Report
Sophomore guard Stephanie Rovetti suffered a cartilage injury to her left knee in a team practice. She is out for the season.

What’s Next
After the three game road swing through the Northeast, the team continues play on the road at Arizona on Nov. 20 and at Washington State on Nov. 24.