The Boston University women’s basketball team fell to the University of Colorado 85-55 on Tuesday in the second game of a Colorado road trip.
Despite the lopsided final score, BU (5-2) remained competitive for three quarters. At the end of the third quarter, BU was down by just four points against the No. 7 ranked opponent.
But the Buffaloes (7-1) put on the gas in the final quarter, outscoring the Terriers 30-4 to put home their seventh win of the season and giving the Terriers their second loss. On Nov. 6, Colorado beat then-No. 1 powerhouse Louisiana State University — the defending national champions — 92-78.
“They’re going to be a really good team. They went to a Sweet 16 last year. I don’t see a reason why they couldn’t repeat that, at the very least. They have really good pieces,” BU head coach Melissa Graves said.
Colorado and BU ended the first quarter tied with 16 points apiece after a back-and-forth quarter with five lead changes. Then, Buffalo senior guard Frida Formann scored nine consecutive points with two threes alongside three free throws to jump out to an early lead in the second quarter. The Terriers could not climb back by the half, ending the first 20 minutes down 35-27.
“We talked a lot about offensively what we wanted to do,” Graves said. “I thought we had a good defensive first half to a team that averages about 85 points a game.”
The Terriers opened the second half with a three from junior guard Alex Giannaros, who also knotted up the score at 41-41 with another three later in the quarter. Giannaros finished with 16 points, tying for a team high with senior forward Caitlin Weimar. Sophomore forward Anete Adler was perfect from the field, going 3-3 alongside a free throw for seven points.
“Anete and Cait are really starting to play well together, when they high-low or they cut off of each other,” Graves said.
Senior guard Sophie Beneventine, who leads the team in field goal percentage, entered into a starting role this season after averaging around 15 minutes a game last season.
“She’s not a huge offensive threat that you’re going to see like 16 a game for her, but she does what we need as far as getting the ball up the floor, running the team, getting the ball to people we need to get it to, and she’s such an unselfish player,” Graves said. “With the atmosphere we played in, with playing a top 10 program, she really kept her cool and her confidence, and she was really locked in defensively.”
This game wraps up the two-game road trip for the Terriers, who will now have a week off from game play to recuperate before their next matchup against Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. in Case Gym.
“We have a tough schedule coming up with the next two with St. Joe’s and Harvard,” Graves said. “We definitely want to take away the good effort that we had in those three quarters from this and we definitely want to take away things we want to improve as well.”
