Notre Dame falls to Boston College at the buzzer

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Emma Guy’s catch-and-shoot basket as time expired off a side inbound at one second remaining lifted Boston College to a wild 56-55 women’s basketball victory over Notre Dame on Thursday night at Conte Forum.

The Irish (10-15, 5-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) — after leading 43-28 with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter — saw their season-best winning streak snapped at three.

Guy’s basket followed Destinee Walker’s putback score for Notre Dame with just one second to go for a 55-54 Irish lead.

The Eagles (14-10, 7-6) then called a timeout, enabling them to inbound from the forecourt.

Walker led ND with 21 points, all over the final three quarters, to go with nine rebounds.

Katlyn Gilbert added 10 points before fouling out with 2:58 remaining, while Sam Brunelle had nine points and four steals, and Marta Sniezek nine points on a night that both teams struggled mightily from the field.

Taylor Soule collected 20 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for BC, all of those numbers coming over the first two and a half quarters, before some of her teammates finally heated up the rest of the way.

Georgia Pineau, who made the decisive inbound to Guy, finished with 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench, while Guy closed at 12 points and nine boards.

The Eagles soared back from their 43-28 deficit with a 20-0 run for a 48-43 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Irish went scoreless for more than nine minutes.

BC stretched its advantage to 51-45 at 3:49 to go — before ND mounted its own charge.

Walker capped an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer to put the Irish up 53-51 at 2:07 to go. Pineau made 1-of-2 free throws at 58 seconds remaining, then nailed a 15-footer at 18 ticks showing for a 54-53 lead, before Walker and Guy exchanged their last-second shots.

Notre Dame finished 21-of-64 from the field with four 3-pointers and 9-of-11 at the line.

The Eagles went 20-of-64 from the field, including just 2-of-22 on 3-pointers, but added 14-of-20 from the stripe.

BC, which also won 75-65 at Purcell Pavilion a month ago, ended a seven-game home losing skid against ND.

The Irish hit the road for their next game as well, visiting No. 9 Louisville for a 3 p.m. tip on Sunday.

The Cardinals breezed past host Notre Dame, 86-54, two weeks ago.

After the Louisville rematch, ND plays three straight at Purcell Pavilion to close the home portion of its regular season, beginning with next Thursday’s 8 p.m. contest against Virginia Tech.