Despite the Terriers’ (13-6, 5-3 Patriot League) win, the Leopards (6-13, 1-7 PL) had an energetic start.
After 43 seconds, junior guard Abby Antognoli hit a 3-pointer for the Leopards. About a minute later, she hit another jumper, making the game 5-0.
The Terriers, trailing by five points, did not back down and turned on the heat. Junior guard Alex Giannoros soon hit two free throws to put the Terriers on the board.
Two minutes later, senior forward Cailtin Weimar scored a layup to cut the Lafayette lead to just four.
That was just the start of Weimars’ impact as she totaled 25 points, seven blocks and 12 rebounds by the end of the game.
“Cait brings so much more than just a scoring piece which is a big statistic that a lot of people see,” said BU head Coach Melissa Graves. “She did a really good job today being high on the ball screen coverage, and being able to get blocks off of the ball screen where they could have had open shots.”
The Terriers kept scoring going, and Weimar had another hook shot that finally tied the game 10-10 after the first quarter.
BU kept the ball rolling into the second quarter with freshman guard Aoibhe Gormley scoring to put the Terriers in the lead with 12-10.
The Leopards felt the pressure and responded with a jumper at the shot clock buzzer by senior guard Makayla Andrews. This was followed by another jumper by senior forward Kayla Drummond, giving Lafayette a 14-12 lead.
The responsiveness from the Leopards didn’t phase the Terriers as they remained collected, especially with their free throws in which they shot 100%, going 11-for-11 from the stripe.
Late in the first half, senior guard Sophie Beneventine shot an impressive 3-pointer. The end of the first half, the Terriers had the lead 24-17.
“I think we’re really comfortable here [in Case Gym]. We are confident,” said Coach Graves. “We’re playing in front of families, friends, fans and the fellow student body so the comfortability gives us a lot of confidence.”
All afternoon, Weimar was active on the boards, making constant offensive and defensive plays. Towards the end of the third, Weimar scored and the next minute blocked a shot and hauled in a rebound.
Weimar had hit 21 points, and was going back and forth on both ends, turning over the Leopards midway through the third quarter.
As BU finished the game, the Terriers truly showed they had found their rhythm after the first quarter.
“I thought we had a really good non-conference where we overachieved being so young and so new,” Coach Graves said. “It’s a reflection of how close they are off the floor and they have a really good bond off the floor.”
This game was also to honor Morgan’s Message, an organization that advocates for student-athletes’ mental health.
The Terriers will hit the road and play Holy Cross this Monday at 4 p.m.
