Looking to avoid its second skid of four or more games this season, the Boston University women’s basketball team took on the United States Military Academy Thursday night in a Patriot League matchup that was postponed by Winter Storm Juno.
Against a surging offense, the Terriers (4-16, 1-8 Patriot League) were unable to pull out the victory at Case Gym, losing by a score of 65-40.
Marking the halfway point for their conference schedule, the Terriers went into Thursday still looking for their second Patriot League victory of the season. Ending their struggles against the Black Knights (14-5, 6-3 Patriot League), however, would prove to be no small task.
Coming into Thursday’s game, the Black Knights had won four in a row, all against Patriot League opponents. That, coupled with the fact that the Terriers have not beaten Army since 1982, set up an uphill battle for BU.
In the first half, the Terriers let the Black Knights control them. Army’s defense forced the Terriers to make errors, and the Black Knights’ offense was able to capitalize. The Terriers defense struggled, but not for lack of trying. After quickly realizing they had nothing going in the paint, the Black Knights looked to the perimeter and found nothing but success. The Black Knights’ star guard Kelsey Minato started early, scoring the first basket of the game with a 3-pointer, and she never looked back. That first 3-pointer was one of eight on the day, as she led Army through the night with 30 points.
Altogether, it seemed as though everyone was sinking threes. No matter what the Terriers did, the crisp passes of Army sooner than later ended up leading to someone open from behind the arc. Minato nearly scored more points in the first half than any Terrier has in a whole game all season. Her 20 points were just two fewer than both sophomore guard Sarah Hope and sophomore forward Meghan Green’s season-high 22 points against Colgate University Jan. 14 and Boston College Nov. 20, 2014, respectively. Just over two minutes into the second half, Minato eclipsed the Terriers’ individual season high with her seventh 3-pointers of the night.
Meanwhile the Terrier offense was nothing short of anemic. They couldn’t get to the hoop. They couldn’t get a shot off from deep. They could hardly hold onto the ball. With three minutes left in the half, the Terriers had a good opportunity in transition. The ball was passed to redshirt junior guard Troi Melton just beneath the basket, where she then missed an easy layup. Melton was 0-for-5 on the night from the floor. With just five field goals made in the first half and shooting 21.7 percent, the Terriers walked into the locker room trailing by a score of 35-15.
Coming into the second half, BU coach Katy Steding said she knew that she needed to get her team fired up.
“We were passive,” Steding said. “We were mousy in the first half.”
Something clicked for the Terriers in the second half. They were more aggressive, on both sides of the ball. Senior forward Mollie McKendrick really took control — fighting to make things work in the paint, connecting on some very hard-fought points down low. She finished the night leading the Terriers with 10 points. The damage was done already though. While the Terriers, seemingly a new team in the second half, were able to go nose-to-nose with Army down the stretch, the first half is what really did them in. Going forward, Steding said the team needs to fight more, the way they did in the second half.
“We’ve got to fight,” Steding said. “It’s a battle out there. That’s the freaking Army! I mean, shoot!”
