Basketball, NCAA, Sports

Women’s basketball wins 11th straight

The Boston University women’s basketball team continued its dominant conference play on Wednesday night when it defeated the University of Maine 73-50. The win extends the Terriers’ winning streak to 11 straight victories and further solidified their position atop America East.

Junior guard Chantell Alford led the Terriers in points during Wednesday's game against Maine RACHAELCORTELLESSA/DFPStaff

Early in the game, the Terriers (18-6, 11-0 America East) pulled ahead 8-4 after a 5-0 run put them in the lead. BU expanded this lead after junior guard Chantell Alford hit four consecutive 3-pointers.

“[Alford] really shot the 3-ball really well. She was 6-for-9 from the three and that’s just really off the charts,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg.

These treys marked the beginning of a run during which Alford and senior guard Alex Young combined for seven 3-pointers and pulled BU ahead of Maine (6-18, 3-8 America East) 28-19.

Despite having missed practice the day before due to illness, all nine of Young’s points on the night came from 3-pointers as she provided a spark for the Terriers all night.

“She really put a great effort on the floor for us,” Greenberg said.

Young’s three 3-pointers during the first half allowed her to tie BU’s record for most 3-pointers in school history with a total of 208 during her career.

Despite Young and Alford’s strong play to open the first half, BU allowed Maine to go on a 12-2 run as the frame came to a close, leading to a narrow 30-27 BU lead at halftime.

“We started off the game strong offensively and then we went into a scoring lull,” Greenberg said. “When we can’t score we start talking about getting the ball inside more.”

In the final eight minutes of the half the Terriers only managed to score points on two free throws. The team struggled to put the ball in the net within the arc during a half in which seven of BU’s nine baskets came from three-pointers from Alford and Young.

Early in the second half, Alford reached a new career high with six successful 3-pointers as she continued to put points on the scoreboard for the Terriers.

“Our level of toughness willed us the win,” Greenberg said. “In the second half we just came out much more aggressive.”

Throughout the second half, during which they outscored the Black Bears 43-23, the Terriers continued to increase their lead. BU quickly pulled ahead by more than 10 points as they recovered from its less-than-stellar finish to the first half.

With a little more than three minutes left to play, the Terriers pulled ahead 66-44, their largest lead up to that point in the game. In the next three minutes they moved ahead by 26 points, maintaining the lead for the rest of the game and finishing with a final score of 73-50.

This strong shooting combined with much improved second-half defense helped the Terriers shut down Maine’s forwards.

“In the first half their forwards scored 18 points and we weren’t happy with that,” Greenberg said. “So we really clogged up the paint area and they only scored four in the second half. We were really happy with that. It made a big difference in the game.”

After struggling at the end of the first half, during which they shot at only 25 percent (9-for-36), the Terriers were able to improve their play greatly, finishing the game with a 38.2 percent (26-for-68) shooting percentage.

The Terriers real strength during the game was outside the arc as they went 11-for-22 (50 percent) from beyond the parabola. BU also continued to improve on the boards, finishing with a 48-33 rebound advantage.

But numbers aside, the story of Wednesday night’s game, for Greenberg, was the team’s resilience as it refused to allow its first-half struggles to carry over into the second half.

“I thought tonight’s win was better than our home game [against Maine earlier this season] because we had to fight through some scoring lulls,” Greenberg said.

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