Seconds after tip-off, Terrier senior guard Sophie Beneventine snagged the ball and slung it to junior guard Alex Giannaros. With a shot setting the tone for the rest of the night, Giannaros sent the ball into the net for a triple.
The Boston University women’s basketball team took home their second win of the season, beating the University of New Hampshire 56-47.
“I was really proud of the fact that we came out and regrouped after halftime,” said head coach Melissa Graves. “We won both quarters in the second half and that was a goal of ours, to come out and win the second half as a whole.”
BU (2-0) ended the first quarter leading 14-11, and the Wildcats (2-1) were ready to pounce in the second, rushing and blocking until they took the lead. Taking advantage of a turnover, UNH senior guard Adara Groman flew down the court — untouched by the Terrier defense — and made a swift layup to give UNH a 24-23 lead headed into the half.
The scoreboard reflected a cat-and-mouse chase between the teams throughout the game –– neither let up.
The Terriers bit back and yanked the reins once again. Giannaros took charge, racking seven points in the fourth quarter, including a three off a turnover that gave the Terriers a 50-42 lead with four minutes left.
“[I was] just taking shots that came to me,” Giannaros said. “I wasn’t trying to force anything. They did a good job defending, so making sure that whatever we could get, [we] get the best shots possible.”
Overall, BU led 12-11 in second-chance points and 15-11 in bench points.
Giannaros definitively leads the team in threes with six so far this season. As “the dog of the game,” she gets to wear a gold chain necklace with a Rhett pendant dangling below. Every game, the team votes on a new “dog.”
Now coming off two straight wins, Graves expects the team to play hard, starting with Yale at 6 p.m. at Case Gym on Tuesday.
“Yale is a good team. It’s a team we’ve lost to two years in a row,” she said. “[We’re] definitely playing with a chip on our shoulder, but there are things in practice that we just have to continually improve on.”
