With Bucknell University entering Saturday’s contest on a 23-game home winning streak, the Boston University women’s basketball team knew it needed its best effort to upset the Patriot League leaders.
Unfortunately for the Terriers (11-15, 9-6 Patriot League), they didn’t bring their A-game, as the team’s season-high four-game winning streak came to an end in a 73-56 defeat at the hands of the Bison (21-5, 13-2).
“Bucknell is too strong and too fast for us to play the way that we did,” said BU head coach Katy Steding. “But I told the team that we can’t let this game bog us down. We have a had a great run as of late.”
BU entered the game with momentum following an impressive 65-51 win over Colgate University at Case Gym on Wednesday. However, Bucknell continued its hot streak, earning its fourth-straight victory.
While senior guard Sarah Hope became BU’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals, the Bison flustered the Terriers with a tight defense. BU turned the ball over 19 times while shooting 35.7 percent from the field and an abysmal 15.4 percent from 3-point land.
Junior center Sophie Beaudry struggled as well, committing seven turnovers and failing to grab a rebound while shooting 25 percent en route to a seven-point performance.
“Sophie is one of, if not the best center in the Patriot League,” Steding said. “Bucknell is strong and physical. After having a couple of calls [not go her way], she got a little tentative. She was overthinking it a little bit, she didn’t do anything but have an off day.”
Sophomore guard Naiyah Thompson finished with four points and three assists in 29 minutes amid a 1-for-6 shooting night, while Hope cost the team as many possessions as she scored points (three), going just 1-of-7 on the afternoon.
Despite Hope’s ineffectiveness from long range, Steding has confidence that the guard will bounce back.
“I am never going to tell a shooter not to shoot,” Steding said.
Junior guard Corrine Williams and sophomore guard Payton Hauck were the lone Terriers to shoot over 50 percent on the day. Williams went 6-for-9 en route to a team-high 13 points while Hauck notched eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.
As for Bucknell, Senior Day unfolded in fitting fashion. Senior Claire DeBoer led all scorers with 19 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while senior Megan McGurk picked up 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. The third senior honored that afternoon, Sune Swart, recorded 10 points and five rebounds.
Turnovers and 3-point defense limited BU’s ability to stay in the game, as a three-pointer gave Bucknell a 10-6 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter, feeding into a frenzy of Bison points.
As soon as one could blink, a 14-1 Bison run had flipped a one-point game into a 24-7 lead. Despite an 11-6 run which sliced the Bucknell advantage to 30-18 at the break, the Terriers entered halftime having coughed up 12 turnovers while shooting just 7-21 from the field.
Following Hope’s record-setting trey to begin the third quarter, Bucknell broke the contest open, riding a 15-1 run to a commanding 45-22 advantage. At the conclusion of their 25-point explosion in the third quarter, the Bison entered the final 10 minutes with a comfortable 55-34 advantage.
Bucknell shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second half while turning the ball over on just seven occasions, creating an insurmountable gap it would not look back from.
As the Terriers look to move on, Steding is staying optimistic.
“This was nothing but a blip on the radar for us,” she said.
