The Boston University women’s basketball team secured its eighth straight win on Wednesday afternoon when it triumphed over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on the road, 59-53.
The Terriers (15-6, 8-0 America East) remain undefeated in America East play with the win.
“We were thinking about UMBC,” said BU coach Kelly Greenber. “We weren’t thinking about staying in first place, about staying undefeated. We know their players so well, we just had to take care of business and our players did a great job of doing just that.”
UMBC (11-10, 5-3 America East) last faced the Terriers at home in the 2010-11 season, where it defeated BU 62-52. Despite last year’s loss, BU leads the series 13-6 overall.
“It’s a great win.” Greenberg said. “The last couple of years they’ve had a number down here.”
In a close contest, the leading scorers for the Terriers included senior guard Alex Young with 14 points and four rebounds and junior guard Chantell Alford, who scored 13 points and also added four rebounds. Sophomore guard Rashidat Agboola netted 11 points while securing eight rebounds.
Senior Caroline Stewart posted a game-high of 14 rebounds while contributing six points.
“It was a great team victory,” Greenberg said. “From the get go everyone was involved on both ends.”
The Terriers shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) while UMBC struggled, making only 17-of-66 to reach 25.8 percent scoring.
BU didn’t post its first field goal until 14:57, which allowed the Retrievers to take an early 6-1 lead. The game saw its first tie – but certainly not it’s last – with a basket from Alford to bring the score to 8-8.
Mo Moran sunk a 3-pointer to give the Terriers their first lead of the game, 11-8, but it wasn’t long before they found the game tied, once again, 13-13.
A 5-0 run gave UMBC an 18-15 advantage, but the game once again became tied for a third time 21-21. With just 4:06 left to play, the Retrievers broke the tie and extended their lead with seven unanswered points.
“They’re a very good offensive team,” Greenberg said. “They’re unstoppable if they feel good.”
Nonetheless, BU responded with a 10-2 run, complete with a pair of free throws from Agboola, to take a 31-30 lead going into halftime.
The Terriers returned from the locker room and immediately set out on a 9-0 run. UMBC failed to net any points until the 10:14 mark.
BU extended its lead to double-digits, 50-37, solidifying the deficit at 13 with two 3-pointers from Young.
But the Retrievers fought back, sinking 10 unanswered points to bring the score within three, 56-53 with just 21 seconds left to play.
“[UMBC] made some great runs,” Greenberg said, “but we were always ready to keep them at bay and get the win at the end.”
Fortunately for the Terriers, UMBC could not get the ball to the other end in the remaining seconds of the tilt. Instead, Alford sank two more shots from the foul line while Moran netted the final free throw to secure the victory.
The Terriers ability on the free-throw line aided the team significantly as BU were 17-of-22 from the charity stripe.
“We’ve got to make our free throws when they really count at the end,” says Greenberg. “[We have to] just take care of the ball.”
BU will have a week off before it tries to defend its 8-0 conference record and its winning streak against the University of Vermont at Agganis Arena next Wednesday, Feb. 1.
“You want the team to realize [they’re] OK, we’re pretty good,” Greenberg said, “but we just want to stay grounded. I’m very lucky that I get to coach all 14 of them. They’ll get plenty of rest this week and come back strong.”
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