Guard Laura Salmeron scored 28 points to lead Loyola University Maryland to a narrow 72-68 victory over Boston University on Saturday evening at Case Gym.
Freshman forward Allison Schwertner was the standout player for the Terriers (8-13, 2-8 Patriot League), scoring 22 points and shooting 8-for-10 from the field. Senior guard Alex Giannaros added 20 points of her own in the loss.
“I think my teammates did a good job of finding me,” Schwertner said. “In practice, I’ve worked on posting up with my coaches, and so just them being patient with me and being able to find me was successful.”
The Terriers struggled from beyond the arc, shooting only 23.5% and hitting just 4 of their 17 attempts from deep.
For Loyola (8-13, 2-8 PL), Salmeron went 10-for-14 from the field while forward Koi Sims contributed 10 rebounds and fell just four points short of a double-double as the Greyhounds connected on almost 58% of their shots. .
“I think we just had too many defensive lapses today, [but] I’m happy with our offense,” head coach Melissa Graves said. “This is one of our higher scoring games and…I thought we were aggressive.”
The Greyhounds opened the game with a three-pointer, but the Terriers soon went on a 9-0 run to go up 9-3 halfway through the first quarter.
BU maintained their lead through the rest of the frame, but the Greyhounds never lost sight, cutting it to three on a buzzer-beating jumper from Salmeron.
The Greyholds took the momentum and started the second quarter with a 10-0 run.
The Terriers answered with a run of their own, igniting a 7-0 run off of a score by sophomore forward Sisi Bentley assisted by Giannaros.
Neither team was able to take control of the game, with the lead changing four times within the first four minutes of the second half.
A turnover late in the third for BU proved costly as Loyola gained an advantage, pulling ahead by 10 with only 2:37 remaining in the quarter. The Terriers brought it within eight with sophomore guard Bella McLaughlin’s successful shift at the free-throw line.
Playing a game of catch-up in the final 10 minutes, BU worked hard to keep the Greyhounds within striking distance, coming within just three off of Giannaros’ three-pointer with only 77 seconds left in the game.
A minute later, Salmeron scored on a layup before the teams’ back-and-forth free throw attempts, with Loyola going 4-6 and the Terriers 5-5 as the score settled at 72-68.
The Terriers scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, compared to just 13 in the third, as they tried to mount a comeback—but the Greyhounds pulled just far enough out of reach.
“I thought we were just more aggressive toward the end,” Graves said. “We got more aggressive in the press. We got turnovers that transitioned to points.”
The Terriers now have six days of rest before they travel to Worcester to take on Holy Cross this Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
