After an undefeated season-opening series last week, the Boston University women’s basketball team recorded two wins Saturday and Sunday against Colgate University.
The Terriers were carried by senior guard Katie Nelson, who scored a total of 28 points in both games. Sophomore guard Sydney Johnson and junior forward Riley Childs also had strong matches.
Nelson — a standout player for the Terriers over the last four years — hit 1,000 points during Saturday’s game, making her the 24th player to do so in BU’s history.
Terriers head coach Marisa Moseley spoke to Nelson’s essential role on the team and her milestone accomplishment.
“Katie really is kind of the backbone of our program,” Moseley said. “As unselfish as a player as she is and to still be able to accomplish that speaks volumes to the type of player that she is.”
Nelson helped lead the team to victory in their first match against the Raiders. Sophomores Maggie Pina, Maren Durant and Johnson, along with Nelson, dominated the scoreboard in the first quarter — sophomore guard Alexa Brodie led the Raiders.
Colgate had multiple turnovers in the first quarter, which gave the Terriers the advantage leading into the second quarter with a score of 19-13.
Moseley said the sophomore class’ success on the court this weekend was impressive, especially given how young they are.
“They don’t play like freshmen or even sophomores,” Moseley said. “They elevate their game to be successful.”
Freshman guard Kelsi Mingo added to the score in the second quarter, along with several shots by Nelson, Pina, Childs, Durant and Johnson.
The second quarter saw an attempt to catch up by the Raiders with shots by freshman guard Ariel Loiter and freshman forward Lindsay Blackmore, but they were unable to pass the Terriers. The first half ended with a 41-27 lead by BU.
The margin grew steadily throughout the third quarter — the Terriers scored 26 points to the Raiders’ eight, which left the score at 67-35 going into the fourth quarter.
The Terriers broke 70 points in the fourth quarter with a layup by Johnson and ended the game with a 79-51 win against the Raiders.
Mosesley said the team’s attitude going into this weekend led to success for the Terriers.
“When we travel, we talk about [the games] being business trips,” Moseley said. “We came up there to take care of business and we needed to finish … on a high note.”
The Terriers lined up with the same starting five Sunday, and two of those starters — Durant and Johnson — sunk the first five points in the game.
Game two’s first quarter was a close match up between the Raiders and Terriers. The teams scored back and forth until the Terriers took the advantage with a six-point run with less than two minutes left on the clock.
Junior guard Chiara Tibbitt dominated the scoring in the first quarter with six points for the Terriers while Colgate senior guard Keelah Dixon followed close behind with five points.
Moseley said the Terriers’ bench is a big part of their success because they can use players such as Tibbitt and Childs when others are unavailable.
The second quarter saw a series of dominant plays from Nelson and Childs while personal fouls kept Johnson off the court.
In the second quarter, scoring slowed for both teams. But at the end of the first half, the Terriers had an eight-point lead against the Raiders.
The third quarter saw the two teams tied at 40 after successful free throw shots by Raiders junior forward Alexa Naessens.
The fourth quarter was slow for both teams, but the Terriers managed to extend their lead to double digits in the middle of the quarter.
Moseley told her players they had to “take” this win — no one was going to give it to them, which motivated the Terriers to keep pushing.
The Raiders were unable to catch up in the fourth quarter despite a series of free throws, and the Terriers won 62-58.
The Terriers remain undefeated going into their next weekend series against Army West Point Jan. 16 and 17.
