The Boston University women’s basketball team will travel to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Saturday, where it will take on Bucknell University in an afternoon matchup.
The Terriers (8-11, 3-6 Patriot League) dropped their fourth straight on Wednesday night, losing to Lafayette College 47-45. BU was able to jump out to an early lead, but could not secure the win, as the Leopards (8-11, 4-5 Patriot League) were able to comeback in the second half to claim the victory.
This isn’t the first time the Terriers have allowed a lead to slip away at Case Gym. On Jan. 13, BU lost to the College of the Holy Cross 60-57 after leading by as many as 10 points.
Against Lafayette, the Terriers’ largest lead came in the first quarter, thanks to four free throws from senior guard Corrine Williams and layups from sophomore guard Vanessa Edgehill and sophomore forward Nia Irving. However, in the second half, they shot a mere 6-29 from the floor, and five fourth quarter points allowed the Leopards to gain the lead late in the game.
“Our guards are young,” BU head coach Katy Steding said. “Some of that is knowing the right time and place to shoot those shots. Sometimes when the pressure’s on, you take some shots that you probably wouldn’t earlier in the game and that’s the composure that we’re looking for.”
Despite the loss, freshman guard Katie Nelson led the Terriers with 12 points and went 4-for-10 from beyond the arc. Junior forward Naiyah Thompson added 10 points of her own while Irving collected eight rebounds.
This was also Edgehill’s first career start, and she contributed four points and three assists.
Steding said she was happy with Edgehill’s performance and explained the reasoning behind the slight changes to the starting lineup.
“Sometimes it’s based off personnel, sometimes it’s matchups, sometimes it’s the offensive style we’re tweaking a little bit,” Steding said. “I thought [Edgehill] played really well, so I was pleased with that. There’s been a little bit of inconsistency with a couple injuries here and there and changing some things up.”
In BU’s last matchup against Bucknell (12-8, 6-3 Patriot League), Edgehill led the team in scoring with 12 points off the bench. Perhaps she will be a similar presence this weekend.
The Bison currently sit tied for second place in the Patriot League and are coming off their third win in four games. They most recently beat the United States Naval Academy Wednesday night by the score of 47-39.
This will be the second meeting between the Terriers and the Bison this season. The two teams last met on Jan. 2, when BU fell 63-58.
“I thought we did a good job of playing faster, but we also took some ill-advised shots and I think that leads to a number of situations where they get a break or they just don’t have to play defense as long,” Steding said about the Terriers’ last performance against Bucknell.
Bucknell’s offense is lead by junior guard Kate Walker and junior forward Kaitlyn Slagus, who average 12 and 11.7 points per game respectively.
In the victory against Navy (16-4, 6-3 Patriot League), Walker added 14 points while Slagus contributed nine of her own and 11 rebounds.
In the Bison’s last meeting with BU, Marker and Slagus put up 21 combined points, but Bucknell’s biggest threat was junior guard Kyi English, who scored 21 of her own, going 7-for-12 from the floor.
“The big thing with such an explosive guard like [English] is is working really hard to keep her in front and not letting her run off the screen so much,” Steding said. “She’s a good guard, she’s got a lot of experience and she knows exactly where she wants to get her shots from.”
The Terriers will hope to have senior center Sophie Beaudry back for Saturday’s matchup. Steding said Beaudry is “day-to-day” after spraining her ankle in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s loss.
Despite some of the injuries that BU has suffered lately, Steding is confident that strong defensive performances and smart offense from her players this weekend will earn them the win.
“We have to really work to make sure [Bucknell] is playing their fair share of defense,” Steding said. “We’re making sure we take good care of the ball and getting it in the right place at the right time.”
