It’s commonly said that it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and Wednesday night, Terriers feasted on Bulldogs as the Boston University women’s basketball team defeated Yale University 59-54 in New Haven, Conn.
The Terriers’ (4-4) win over the Bulldogs (4-4) was their first road win of the season. The victory against the Bulldogs was a relief in a game that, until the end, seemed firmly in the hands of the Terriers.
“I think that there was a sense that we really had to get a road win,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg.
Two made free throws by junior guard Chantell Alford in the last seconds of the game helped BU secure its victory after a sudden second-half resurgence by Yale. BU was able to break its two-game losing streak that began with a loss against Yale’s Ivy League rival, Harvard University.
The Terriers’ final field goal percentage was 39.7 percent (23-of-58) and Yale finished the night shooting 36.2 percent from the field (17-of-47), a much better final number than its first half shooting percentage.
The Terriers also had the advantage in rebounds, recovering 40 to the Bulldogs’ 32.
“Throughout the entire game I thought our rebounding was very good,” Greenberg said.
BU started the game with an unanswered 10 point run, gaining a lead that it would never surrender. Yale would respond with a 5-0 run to bring the game close, but soon BU would pull away for the entirety of the first half.
Throughout the first half, the Terriers dominated the Bulldogs, building a 30-14 advantage by the end of the half. BU was able to hold Yale to an 18 percent field goal percentage (4-for-22) and scored on 12-of-33 shots for a 36 percent field goal percentage.
“The entire first half was a good half for us,” Greenberg said. “We played great defense and things were clicking on all cylinders thankfully because we struggled in the second half.”
Senior forward Caroline Stewart’s 14 points and 14 rebounds, her first double-double of the season, led the Terriers on a night when Alford, the team’s leading scorer on the season, scored eight points.
“I thought Caroline played a great game,” Greenberg said. “She was very aggressive on the boards. We had a lot of people scoring.”
The Terriers also posted impressive numbers from the bench, as sophomore guard Melissa Gallo scored a career-high 12 points.
The second half of Wednesday night’s game was incredibly different from the BU-dominated first half, as the Bulldogs outscored the Terriers 40-29.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Greenberg said.
Early in the second half the Terriers were able to take a 20-point lead after a basket by senior guard Alex Young but they would not be able to maintain that big of a lead for most of the second half.
The second half of the game was dominated by the strong play of Yale’s guard Megan Vasquez who scored a season-high 22 points, most of which came in the second half of the game.
With six minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs were able to keep BU from scoring for the next three minutes and brought BU’s lead down to 52-47. Vasquez would bring Yale within a basket with barely a minute left in the game.
However, successful free throws from Alford and junior guard Mo Moran helped the Terriers clinch a victory.
One thing both teams struggled with all night was turning over the ball. Yale scored fourteen points off of turnovers and the Terriers scored 12.
Now Greenberg and the Terriers are looking forward to coming games against Marist College and Boston College before the holiday break.
“There is a lot we can learn from tonight’s second half,” said Greenberg. “Hopefully we will learn a lot from it and be prepared for Saturday’s game.”
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