The Boston University women’s basketball continued its losing streak, as it extended to four games Wednesday night at Case Gym. BU (8-11, 3-6 Patriot League) fell to Lafayette College 47-45.
After struggling for a few games, freshman guard Katie Nelson had the hot hand for the Terriers early on. She connected on two early triples, which accounted for six of the team’s first eight points.
BU head coach Katy Steding said she was impressed with the depth and different options offensively her team possesses.
“Every night someone else is stepping up,” Steding said. “Tonight it was Katie, and it has been someone else pretty much every night recently. It’s great to see.”
Equally impressive for the Leopards (8-11, 5-4 Patriot league) was freshman forward Natalie Kucowski. She showed her offensive prowess from all over the floor, first with an impressive drive to the hoop before hitting a three.
In addition to Nelson, four other Terriers scored during the quarter, as they led 16-8 after 10 minutes of play.
Lafayette began the second quarter with a 15-7 run to knot the game. Senior guard Anna Ptasinski did most of the damage, scoring nine points on three three-pointers early in the quarter.
Although the Leopards were sloppy with the ball early on, BU started to turn the ball over more in the second quarter. Lafayette only had two turnovers in the quarter, and nine turnovers compared to the Terriers’ 10 during the half.
BU led 29-28 at the half, partially due to a convincing advantage at the free throw line. BU connected on all five of its free throws while Lafayette did not attempt a single one.
Steding said she was impressed with the team’s defense, but also thought her team did not have its best offensive rhythm.
“I thought we did a good job tonight of forcing them into some bad shots,” Steding said. “We were hounding the ball all night and forced a good amount of turnovers.”
The Leopards and the Terriers traded a basket each in the early part of third quarter.
It was an ineffective start for both teams, until senior center Sophie Beaudry worked inside the paint for her first points of the game to give BU a 33-30 lead.
Nelson hit her fourth three to give her 12 points on the night. It was her first time scoring more than nine points in five games and she was also the first Terrier in double figures.
Going into the fourth quarter, BU took a slim 40-36 lead and Lafayette tied the game with under six minutes to play in the game.
Freshman guard Drew Freeland connected on a three to knot the game at 42. After a steal, senior center Ellen Graham gave the Leopards their first lead since the first quarter.
A three from junior forward Naiyah Thompson put her into double figures and gave the Terriers the lead right back with 4:40 to play.
Down one and with 39 seconds to play, sophomore forward Nia Irving was fouled by Graham. While Irving has shot 63.9 percent on the season, her struggles from the line lingered. She missed both, dropping to just one of five on free throws.
With 10.4 seconds to go, Freeland hit one of two free throws to give Lafayette a 47-45 lead.
Sophomore guard Vanessa Edgehill missed a three, but Kucowski missed both free throws to give BU the ball back with 0.9 seconds to go, down by just two points.
Nelson was able to get a three point shot up for the win, but missed and the Terriers lost their fourth straight game after scoring only five points in the final quarter.
BU has officially reached the halfway point in conference play and sits in the bottom portion tied with the United States Military Academy.
However, Steding continues to remain optimistic about her team.
“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Steding said. “One or two shots fall the other way, it is a totally different game.”
