The Boston University women’s basketball team traveled to Tempe, Arizona this weekend to take part in the 2016 Arizona State Classic, and dropped both of its games to fall to 1-7 on the season.
Hosted by No. 24 Arizona State University, the tournament included the Terriers, Long Beach State University and the University of Florida.
The Terriers fell to Arizona State (4-2) and the 49ers (4-4) in consecutive contests. BU was defeated 71-42 by the Sun Devils on Saturday afternoon and fell to the 49ers in Sunday’s third-place game by a score of 61-48.
After being down just 12-10 with 3:21 left in the first quarter, the Terriers then saw Arizona State go on a 24-9 run and went into halftime trailing 36-19.
The deficit at one point extended to 45-19, all but clinching the Sun Devils’ victory.
Junior center Sophie Beaudry led the Terriers with eight points, three assists and three rebounds against Arizona State. Beaudry also committed just one turnover in 33 minutes of play, and stayed out of foul trouble.
Foul trouble has been one of Beaudry’s recurring issues thus far, and continuing to eliminate bailing out opponents is key for the Terriers.
The Sun Devils had three players in double figures against BU, with sophomore guard Sabrina Haines and seniors Quinn Dornstauder and Sophie Brunner leading the team in scoring.
Hayes’ 12 points led all scorers, Dornstauder’s 11 points included a 5-for-5 effort from the field and Brunner contributed 10 points and three steals.
“I thought we competed well for the first 15, 16, even 17 minutes [against Arizona State] and I think the usual stuff kind of got us,” BU head coach Katy Steding said.
Steding’s side managed to tie its season-high of 22 turnovers while the Sun Devils only committed 18. Senior guard Courtney Latham contributed four of those turnovers, and the team will need to minimize those giveaways in the coming weeks.
On Sunday against the 49ers, BU senior guard Sarah Hope nailed a triple from the right corner on the game’s first possession and the Terriers stormed to an 11-3 lead in just under four minutes.
Beaudry scored four points and had two steals to help BU finish the opening stanza with a 15-6 lead, holding Long Beach State to just one field goal. The 49ers’ lone basket came courtesy of junior Cece Wilson’s 3-pointer with 8:31 remaining in the period.
Long Beach buckled down in the second quarter, though, forcing 12 BU turnovers with a stifling full-court trap defense. Luckily for the Terriers, they maintained composure and retained a one-point lead at the half despite getting outscored 15-7 in the second period.
In a tightly-contested third quarter, BU was once again outscored, and trailed 41-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
“Franky I think our heads got in the way a little bit in the second half,” Steding said. “We started to lose our confidence a little when they began to pressure us but I think in general we played hard.”
The 49ers opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run, prompting a Steding timeout with 5:34 remaining.
Two free throws from senior forward Meghan Green and baskets from Hope and Beaudry would trim the Long Beach State advantage to 49-46 with 3:57 left. A Beaudry jumper with 1:04 remaining got the Terriers to within five at 53-48, but that was as close as BU would get.
The 49ers closed the door on any possible Terriers comeback by ending the game on an 8-0 run, leaving Tempe with the 61-48 come-from-behind victory.
“I knew it would be good for our kids to get out there and play against some of the best competition,” Steding added. “I wanted our kids to see that they could play with the best teams in the country. You can compete, if you put your mind to it you can compete with anyone you want to.”
