In a game where Boston University struggled to score for long stretches, the Terriers (7-12, 3-5 Patriot League) relied on some timely shooting and hustle plays to close out their 58-54 win over the Colgate Raiders on Saturday.

Entering the last three minutes of regulation, the Terriers had only connected on four of their 17 3-point attempts in the game. But late in the fourth quarter, sophomore guard Rose Azmoudeh hit two 3s in the span of one minute to give BU a 1-point lead.

Azmoudeh’s biggest contribution of the game, however, came on the defensive end. With 34 seconds remaining, Azmoudeh’s defensive pressure led to a Colgate turnover that forced the Raiders (5-14, 1-7 PL) to intentionally foul Terrier senior forward Anete Adler to extend the game. 

After Adler hit her first free throw to give BU a 2-point lead, she missed her second attempt, but junior guard Aoibhe Gormley corralled the key offensive rebound to give BU the chance to close out the game. 

The hustle plays and free throws from Adler and fellow senior forward Anastasiia Semenova were enough to lift the Terriers to their third win in conference play in front of a crowd of former BU players who returned for Alumni Weekend at Case Gym.  

“Just really proud,” head coach Melissa Graves said after the win. “It is alumni weekend, so just having a lot of pride in that we were able to pull it out for our alumni and now we’re able to celebrate with them a little bit.”

The Terriers’ offense was again led by its senior frontcourt of Adler and Semenova. Both forwards finished with 16 points. Azmoudeh chipped in with 14 points, hitting a team-high four 3-pointers and collecting a season-high three steals. 

“Her ability to play both sides of the ball has obviously earned her more time,” Graves said about Azmoudeh. “She hit some big shots when we were missing 3s and she hit some big ones at the end.” 

The Terriers struggled to find an offensive rhythm for the majority of the game, with the team shooting just 38.5% from the field and 31.6% from 3. But BU was able to rely on its defense to stay in the game, forcing 17 turnovers that led to 15 Terrier points.  

“It fires us up. When we get the shot-clock violation, we’re fired up,” Adler said about the Terriers’ defensive pressure. “It goes to our offense as well. When we have more energy, it feeds us in offense.”

The victory gives BU consecutive wins for the second time this season — but with the Terriers set to face Patriot League-leading Navy next, the team is determined not to rest on its laurels. 

“Just keep working on whatever’s been working for us,” Semenova said. “This is probably our first game where we outshot our opponent, and we didn’t have double-digit turnovers. Just have to keep emphasizing the turnovers in practice and then boxing out.”

The Terriers will look to make it three straight wins when they travel to Annapolis to play Navy on Wednesday.