The Boston University women’s basketball team beat American University 71-62 at Case Gym on Wednesday night.
BU’s (9-14, 7-5 Patriot League) key to victory was its suffocating defense. The Terriers successfully neutralized the Eagles’ (11-12, 8-4 Patriot League) ability to score in the paint, especially in the first half, when American scored only 8 points inside.
Following the first half, BU head coach Katy Steding continued to encourage toughness out of her players.
“In the first half, we were a little too soft, letting cutters go through our middle unfettered,” Steding said. “We wanted to make sure that we were putting a body on somebody every time they were cutting into the lane, whether we were playing our zone, or we’re playing in man.
In the second half, the aggressive defense caused foul troubles for BU, stunting its interior defense. Junior center Sophie Beaudry, who anchored the defense in the first half, sat out most of the third quarter due to foul trouble.
“It gets dicey when you’re in foul trouble,” Steding said. “But all is well if it ends well.”
When Beaudry returned, her defensive presence was instantly felt, as she recorded two of her three blocks in the fourth quarter.
“She plays with a lot of emotions, and there’s a lot of emotions in a game like that, at the end of the game,” Steding said. “She kind of feeds off of it, and it feeds off of her, and the team really responds to her energy at the end of the game too.”
Without the ability to be effective in the paint, the Eagles were forced to shoot from outside. However, they struggled to find luck from deep, as they were limited to 5-for-22 shooting from the 3-point line.
One silver lining for American was sophomore Cecily Carl, who challenged Beaudry with her shooting touch.
“[Carl] was 3-for-6 [from the 3-point line], but everyone feels like it goes in when she’s shooting,” Steding said. “[Her form] is so smooth and pretty.”
Carl’s game involved more than just outside shooting, as she recorded 19 points and nine rebounds for the game.
The Terriers displayed a rejuvenated effort to defend Carl in the second half, and they were successful, limiting her to just 3-for-10 shooting from the field.
“Staying with Carl is challenging no matter what because she is so long,” Steding said. “[In the second half] we were running defenses where we’re switching players depending on what they’re doing, what their action is. I think that helped us stay with them a little bit better, and you just try not to let their best player have a career night against you.”
No other Eagle was able to score in the double-digits.
As for the Terriers, senior guard Sarah Hope and junior guard Corrine Williams led the offense. Hope finished with a game-high 24 points, shooting 4-8 from beyond the arc and and recorded five assists, while Williams scored 14 points and made both of her 3-point attempts.
The two shot a combined 14-for-17 shooting from the free throw line, much of which came in the closing minutes of the game to secure the win for BU.
The win cemented the Terriers into the top half of the Patriot League standings, putting them two games above sixth-place Loyola University Maryland and just one game behind American and the United States Military Academy.
The Terriers’ win tonight has given them their first back-to-back victories since they beat Lehigh University on the road earlier this year.
“That was a big win for us,” Steding said. “That was a huge win for us. Beating somebody at the top of the conference feels really good.”
