After a thrilling one-point win over Harvard University Monday, the Boston University women’s basketball team suffered a setback against rival Boston College Thursday night in Chestnut Hill, falling 73-56.
BU (1-2) could not get going offensively, as it fell behind 7-0 within the first three minutes of play and trailed 38-21 at halftime.
The Eagles (2-1) remained in control throughout the first 20 minutes of play, racing out to a 35-14 lead with 3:36 left in the half. Guard Kelly Hughes led the way for BC with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists in the half.
The Terriers committed 15 turnovers in the first half and did not help themselves with their shooting, as they only connected on 24.2 percent of their attempts from the field. BU also struggled from behind the arc, as it shot 1-12 from 3-point range in the first half.
“We’re settling for outside shots and weren’t crashing the boards or boxing out,” said BU coach Katy Steding. “You’re going to come up on the short end of the stick a lot with that philosophy. We wanted to attack the rim more, and we weren’t really good at that tonight.”
Sophomore forward Meghan Green attempted to rally the Terriers in the last two-and-half minutes of the half with four quick points off of a layup and a jump shot to follow, but the Terriers still faced a 17-point deficit.
To start the second half, Green and sophomore guard Sarah Hope combined for eight points to cut the Eagles’ lead to 11 at 16:03. Hope and Green combined for 36 of the Terrier’s 56 points overall on the night.
Hope hit another trey at 6:03 to cut BC’s lead to nine at 58-49, but that was as close as the Terriers would get.
“We were really trying to do some things where we were using ball screens and attacking,” Steding said. “[We] tried to spread them out with limited success until we found the fight in us. We can’t wait till the end of the game to fight.”
The Eagles would pressure the Terriers again when guard Nicole Boudreau pushed the lead back to 17 with a 3-pointer at 4:33 — essentially ending the Terriers’ hopes for a comeback.
“We’ve got to come out of the gate stronger,” Steding said. “If teams sit back on us and switch everything, then we’ve got to find a way to get penetration and get to the rim more, and so we’ve got to open it up with our outside shooting so they can come out and get us and then we can attack. You’re not going to win many ball games when you shoot 30 percent from the field.”
Hughes paced the Eagles throughout the match, as she scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds. BC had two more double-digit scorers in forward Karima Gabriel and guard Kat Cooper and, who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Although they didn’t get the result they had wanted against their Green Line rival, the Terriers had a few top performers. Green scored a game-high 22 points and added 15 rebounds along with two assists.
Steding said she is impressed with Green’s improvement over the course of the young season.
“I do think we’re trying to find her more offense. She’s starting to take some initiative in the offense,” she said. “She’s starting to really gain some confidence and some understanding of what were really trying to do. She’s really starting to take some responsibility on herself.”
Doug covers women's soccer and other sports for the Daily Free Press. When he's not doing schoolwork, writing, or being a social butterfly on campus, he enjoys playing the piano, or hitting the course for a round of golf.
