The Boston University women’s basketball team suffered its sixth loss of the season Sunday, falling to Old Dominion University by a score of 62-56 in the final game of the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge, despite another strong team performance and a career-best 14 points from junior forward Mollie McKendrick.
“[Tonight’s performance] has definitely fallen in line with our other games,” said BU coach Kelly Greenberg. “I thought our pressure bothered them and we managed to go on some runs of our own.”
BU (2-6) fell behind 9-6 before charging out with a six-point run that stretched past the 12-minute mark of the first half. The Lady Monarchs (3-4) responded right after the run with a few baskets of their own to even the game at 12-12.
The strong offensive play in the first half continued for the Terriers as freshman guard Sarah Hope managed to secure a 21-14 lead for BU with a shot from behind the 3-point line with just more than seven minutes remaining in the half.
The Terriers got consistent play inside the paint and frequent success off the bench, which combined for 12 and 18 points in the first half, respectively. The Lady Monarchs, however, managed to battle back with a seven-point run of their own to end the frame with a 28-27 lead over the Terriers.
BU managed to keep the game close at the start of the second half, but two 3-pointers by Old Dominion turned the score to 47-39 in favor of the Lady Monarchs with just more than 11 minutes to play in the game. Junior forward Shae Kelly was a thorn in the side of the Terriers, dominating both the half and the game, eventually tallying 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Even with Kelly’s strong performance, the two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the game. With only 1:22 left to play, however, guard Galaisha Goodhope sealed the win with a shot from the free-throw line.
Despite the losing effort, BU had a better overall field-goal percentage than the Lady Monarchs, holding a 40 to 39 percent advantage. However, the Terriers continued to have trouble keeping control of the ball. They committed 18 turnovers, leading to 19 Old Dominion points.
Although the Terriers fell, they did have some bright spots, including the team’s overall offensive effort and continued improvement. McKendrick’s double-double performance (14 points, 16 rebounds) was compounded with solid contributions by her teammates. Senior forward Rashidat Agboola added a season-high 16 points and went 8-for-9 from the paint, while senior guard Danielle Callahan continued her stellar start this year with another 10-point game while hitting two 3-pointers.
“That was definitely one of the biggest positives for us with this game,” Greenberg said referring to the team’s improvement in post-play. “I’m glad we managed to get [Agboola] more touches.”
The extended road trip has not been kind to the Terriers, as BU is now 1-4 over the five-game stretch. Still, Greenberg said she is optimistic that things will turn around sooner rather than later.
“It’s going to take some time to iron out some of these wrinkles,” Greenberg said in reference to the team’s young roster. “We just have to take baby steps and not continue to get caught up with what our record is and just continue to try and get better.”
Editor’s note: Some of the quotes in the original form of this story were found to be inaccurate. They have since been removed.
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