Despite leading by as much as 10 points, the Boston University women’s basketball team fell to Colgate University 58-48 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Wednesday night.
Colgate (9-21, 7-11 Patriot League) moves on to face the United States Military Academy on Friday in the Patriot League quarterfinals. BU (5-25, 2-16 Patriot League) ends the 2014-15 season having captured just two league wins, one against Colgate on Jan. 14 and one against Lafayette College on Feb. 7.
BU and Colgate battled evenly in the first half, and BU went into the halftime with a one-point 26-25 lead.
“I loved watching [freshman forward Kara Sheftic] really fight inside. She’s so tough and is only going to get better,” wrote BU coach Katy Steding in an email after the game.
BU scored 18 out of its 48 points in the paint and had 15 second-chance baskets Wednesday.
Senior forward Mollie McKendrick scored 14 while Sheftic had nine and sophomore guard Courtney Latham ended the game with eight points.
Steding also said she appreciated the contributions from redshirt junior guard Troi Melton, who added 14 points herself Wednesday and was a valuable offensive threat for the Terriers throughout the second half of the season.
“Troi had an excellent game and has developed such confidence,” Steding said.
After shooting 40.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Terriers were unable to maintain their offensive edge and completed the second half shooting with a 25.9 percent field goal percentage. Colgate also increased its defensive pressure on McKendrick, who had 12 points in the first half, yet scored just two in the second half. Colgate went on to outscore BU 33-22 in the last 20 minutes of play, which led to the Raiders’ postseason victory.
“Generally speaking, I’d like to say that I’m happy with the effort tonight,” Steding said.
Though Steding has often cited her team’s lack of experience as something that has hurt it in past games, she returns eight players, including sophomore guard Meghan Green and Melton, who averaged a combined 18.7 points per game. Green remains ninth in Patriot League scoring as well as rebounding.
And despite an overall disappointing season for the Terriers in Steding’s first year at the helm, Steding said she, her coaching staff and her team are already eager to make improvements to their play for next season.
“In thinking about next year, we have a lot of work to do in all areas but especially interior defense, taking care of the ball and developing [sophomore guard] Sarah Hope, Courtney Latham and [freshman guard] Meghan Doogan into consistent outside shooters,” she said.
Hope led the Terriers from long-range, shooting 36.3 percent this season beyond the arc before tearing her ACL in the middle of the season.
Regarding her team’s interior play, Steding said Sheftic, freshman forward Erin Bayram and Green have to become an even greater force inside and battle every night.
“Then, it’s getting our freshmen to adjust quickly to the pace and intensity of Division 1 basketball,” Steding said.
BU will lose just one senior in co-captain McKendrick. McKendrick averaged 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for BU this season.
“Mollie has been a really valued teammate this year,” Steding said. “I would’ve liked her to get a few more wins, but I think she has been very helpful to her young teammates in setting the tone for the future of this program. She is a terrific person, and I’m thankful I got to know her.”
I transferred to BU after playing a year of college hoops at Wesleyan University. Previous experience includes interning at the 7NBC-Boston (WHDH-TV) sports desk. I'm excited to cover women's soccer this fall for the Daily Free Press. Follow me here: @kfin2bu
Hi Karly:met you at the Nobles function at the ICA. I spoke to Bill Bussey last night and he told me that your mom was Carmen Fields!. I used to work with your mom at WGBH back in 1991, and she is friends with my cousin Alvine Williams. Please keep in touch!