Despite a valiant defensive showing, the Boston University women’s basketball team fell to Boston College, 58-37, on Saturday at Case Gym.
Sophomore forwards Kara Sheftic and Erin Bayram, who finished with nine and eight points, respectively, buoyed the Terriers (0-3) as all four quarters unfolded. Freshman guard Peyton Hauck also provided a nice spark, offering up six points and a steal.
BU is still in a rebuilding mode and it is only BU coach Katy Steding’s second year at the helm, but several positive elements emerged against BC (4-0). The defensive effort was there, as the Eagles only shot 38.8 percent, down from their season average of 42.4 percent. Contrastingly, BU shot 32.1 percent from the field — more than BC’s opponents this season on average, who shoot 31.5 percent — but couldn’t capitalize on BC’s own offensive struggles.
An early foul committed just 13 seconds into the game by redshirt senior Troi Melton led to three free throws made by Eagles guard Nicole Boudreau. Melton then committed two straight turnovers, leading to a BC layup. After freshman forward Naiyah Thompson missed a layup, Boudreau then drained a three on the other end and BC jumped out to an early 8-0 lead.
Melton was able to score a layup just over two minutes into the game to give BU its first points of the game.
The Terriers played the Eagles close for most of the first quarter, with the frame ending with BU trailing 18-11. To begin the second quarter, with back-to-back layups from Hauck and junior forward Meghan Green, the Terriers came within 18-15.
But that’s as close as the Terriers came, and the Eagles went on a 13-4 run in the remainder of the first half, making the halftime score 31-19. The Terriers shot just 30 percent from the field in the half.
BC then opened the third quarter with 15 unanswered points, with its lead ballooning to 46-19 before Sheftic stopped the bleeding with her jumper with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. BU only managed six total points in the quarter, trailing 46-25 entering the fourth.
In the final quarter, the Terriers managed to come within 19 points, after Bayram’s layup with 8:08 remaining in the game brought the score to 50-31, but BC, despite missing seven of its final nine shot attempts, ended the game with a 21-point margin of victory.
BU missed all 14 3-pointers attempted in the game, going 0-for-7 in both halves. With the 3-point shot well dry, BU also could not capitalize on the few times they attempted free-throw shots. They were 3-for-7 in that category, considerably less than BC’s 14-for-17 mark from the line.
The Terriers were also outmatched in the rebounding category, pulling down 33 boards, while BC manage to haul in 37 of their own.
