In its return to Case Gym after last weekend’s losses at the Arizona State University Classic, the Boston University women’s basketball team fell 61-49 to Dartmouth College on Wednesday night.
The Terriers’ (1-8) efforts to bounce back from the recent missteps in Tempe, Arizona proved unfruitful as they suffered their fourth straight defeat. This was also the third time in four games that BU got out to a first quarter lead, but couldn’t hold on for the victory.
In the first, BU crisply passed the ball around the perimeter looking for ways to feed junior center Sophie Beaudry. And for the most part, she delivered. The 6-foot-5 transfer finished with her first career double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Although the Terriers outscored the Big Green (3-4) 28 to 14 in the paint thanks in large part to Beaudry’s play, the visiting team responded by double-teaming BU’s post players to stifle its inside game.
“We have really struggled with stagnation in our offense,” BU head coach Katy Steding said. “We need to move and cut more. When we couldn’t get the ball to Sophie, we felt like we were out of options and we have so many other options. Everybody’s a scorer out there but we act like Sophie is the only one we can go to.”
Sophomore forward Naiyah Thompson did her part, as the Waldorf, Maryland native had a career-high 12 points.
The Terriers’ offensive struggles have persisted all season, and while the first quarter play has been impressive, once again BU was unable to find scoring lanes and was shut down by Dartmouth.
As a result, the Terriers finished with a 36.8 percent shooting percentage, while the Big Green shot 41.6 percent from the field.
BU was down by as many as 18 with 4:08 remaining, but despite closing the game on a 14-8 run, Steding and her staff left Case Gym unsatisfied.
“We talked about the sense of urgency that we had in the last four minutes,” Steding added. “Like where was that in the first 16? And my hat was off to our girls because they scrambled and got easy, easy open shots … We were very unaggressive going to the rim. We only shot four free throws, while they shot 19 free throws.”
The disparity in free throw shooting between the two teams points to the fact that BU needs to find more ways to get its guards and forwards to drive into the lane and draw contact.
However, the late offensive surge by the Terriers showed their potential as an offensive force when they don’t fully depend on Beaudry to create opportunities.
BU also had holes defensively as the Big Green escaped double-team efforts and the full court press. The Terrier defense was still able to force 14 turnovers and grab six steals, though.
According to Steding, these defensive efforts are not enough to compensate for an inconsistent offense.
“A lot of our turnovers come from indecisiveness,” Steding said. “This is an offense where you have multiple options so we need to try and get some fakes and need to move the ball to the right people.”
The Terriers have been aware of their offensive difficulties, and while they’re still trying to remedy them, Steding reminded her players that finding the first option will help them improve their play when they travel to New York this weekend to take on Marist College.
“The first open option is the best option,” Stenning said. “It doesn’t get better than that. Don’t wait for the magic option.”
