The Boston University women’s basketball team fell to the College of the Holy Cross by a score of 74-50 Saturday afternoon in another installment of the Turnpike Trophy.
The Terriers (3-25, 3-14 Patriot League) got off to a rough start in their penultimate game of the regular season, as they were outscored 22-10 in the first quarter. They went into the locker room at halftime trailing 37-27 in spite of a terrific first-half performance from sophomore guard Meghan Doogan.
She had 13 first half points on 5-of-6 shooting and drained three of her four attempts from behind the arc. Doogan went on to finish the game with a team-high 19 points. She has gradually improved as the regular season has wrapped up, and BU head coach Katy Steding says it’s a direct result of the sophomore’s work ethic.
“She’s a kid that works extremely hard, she’s been ready for her opportunity and she’s taken advantage of it,” Steding said. “She has a great touch for the ball. I think she’s developed a lot of confidence over the last several weeks. I’m really proud of her.”
Sophomore forward Corrine Williams had 11 points and seven rebounds, and junior forward Meghan Green chipped in seven points. Doogan, Williams and Green combined to score 37 of the Terriers’ 50 points.
Senior Lisa Mifsud’s 21 points paced Holy Cross (13-15, 10-7 Patriot League). Sophomore Katie Doherty and senior Kate Gillespie scored 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Although BU shot relatively well from the field (42.5 percent), its downfall was turnovers. The Terriers had 17 turnovers as compared to five for the Crusaders, who also recorded nine steals.
“One of the things that has not helped us this year has been our passing woes and making decisions about who is open and who is not open,” Steding said. “I don’t think we did a great job, obviously, managing that. It leads to quick transition baskets for the other team and that puts a lot of pressure on our transition defense. [The turnovers] were destructive for us for sure.”
BU has struggled all season to box opponents out, and Saturday’s contest was no different. Holy Cross finished the game with 61 shot attempts, thanks in part to 13 offensive rebounds. In comparison, BU only had 40 shots and five offensive rebounds.
“[Boxing out] is something that we have emphasized in practice,” Steding said. “It’s something that we work on. It really comes down to who wants the ball more in that situation. That’s not to say we don’t want the ball. Holy Cross was fired up, it was Senior Day, they clearly in several situations wanted the ball more than we did. That is something that we have to address.”
BU will face Army Wednesday night at Case Gym in its regular season finale. The Patriot League Tournament then begins Saturday.
Come both of those dates, the Terriers will try and learn from their mistakes and conjure up an upset victory or two. To do that, Steding said she knows just what her team has focus on.
“We have to know what were looking for,” Steding said. “We have to just work on decision-making, and that comes with experience in time. The number of turnovers should come down if we make better decisions with the ball. We’ve got to make rebounding a real priority this week.”
