The Boston University women’s basketball team succumbed to a difficult 81-46 loss Sunday, falling to the University of Miami. The Terriers (0-2) faced off against a juggernaut NCAA opponent in the Hurricanes (3-0), who tested BU’s capabilities.
“Miami is a very, very good team,” head coach Melissa Graves said in a post-game interview. “This has been able to prep us for finishing our non conference (schedule), for going into conference play and Patriot League play.”
The Hurricanes dominated the Terriers throughout the entire game. The Terriers gave up 27 points on turnovers to Miami, while only scraping together six points on second-chance opportunities.
The Hurricanes held the Terriers to eight points in the first quarter, while scoring 22 points of their own. Miami eventually jumped to a 21-point lead in the second quarter before going into halftime up 40-21.
However, a silver lining came in the fourth quarter, as the Terriers were able to outscore the Hurricanes, despite victory being out of reach. Graves said she was optimistic about this quarter.
“We finished the game winning the fourth quarter against a team that pressed us for 40 minutes and tries to wear you down mentally,” Graves said. “Instead of declining throughout the game, I thought we went upward, and we started to execute better.”
The Terriers also improved at the free-throw line, shooting 8-10 in the fourth. This is also an improvement from their first game against Northeastern University when they shot an underwhelming 59% throughout the game and ended up losing by one point.
On the offensive side of the court, senior guard Sydney Johnson and junior guard Kelsi Mingo both posted double digits, scoring 11 points each. Mingo recorded three three-pointers, which led the Terriers for the game.
Although 81 points were allowed, the Terriers still put up good numbers defensively. Junior forward Caitlin Weimar, senior forward Maren Durant and freshman forward Sam Crispe all gave defensive contributions. Weimar and Durant recorded seven rebounds each, while Crispe had six rebounds and a steal.
The Terriers’ turned the ball over 23 times in the game, which is one aspect of the Terriers’ game coach Graves said she looks to improve upon.
“A goal of ours is to be the better rebounding team each time we play an opponent, so that’s what we definitely want to work on,” Graves said. “We’re not going to face another team that defensively plays the way Miami plays.”
The Terriers will look to record their first win of the season as they travel to University of Massachusetts Lowell on Wednesday.
