BU Women Fall To Maine, Lose Ground In Conference Standings

The Boston University women’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker of a game yesterday at the University of Maine, falling 67-64 and winding up in a three-way tie for second place in the America East.

The Terriers (16-10, 9-6 America East) led for more than 37 minutes on Sunday until the 2:54 mark of the second half, when freshman Kim Corbitt hit two free throws to tie the game at 61. After a defensive stop by the Black Bears (16-10, 9-6), the Terriers played stifling defense, and Maine was forced to use a timeout. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Corbitt passed the ball to herself off a Terrier defender’s back, then fed sophomore Julie Veilleux for a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired to give the Black Bears their first lead at 63-61.

Terrier sophomore guard Katie Terhune, who is among the league leaders in free throw shooting, hit one-of-two from the charity stripe, followed by another one-of-two by freshman forward Adrienne Norris to tie the game at 63 with half a minute to go.

With Maine up two again, Norris drove to the hoop and was fouled with four seconds remaining. She was again able to hit only one-of-two from the line and was forced to foul Corbitt after she rebounded the missed free throw. The Maine freshman calmly hit both shots to ice the win for the Black Bears.

Terhune, the league’s leading scorer, scored 26 points while pulling down six rebounds. While she led the game in scoring, Terhune was unable to hit shots down the stretch, hitting only the one free throw in the game’s final nine minutes. Sophomore Heather Ernest led Maine with 14 points.

Terhune was complimented by a double-double performance by freshman Larissa Parr, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Maine sophomore Melissa Heon turned in quite an all-around performance, contributing 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Veilleux scored all nine of her points in the second half, while freshman Monica Peterson added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

If the Terriers want something on which to blame the loss, they need to look no further than the box score. After having trouble getting to the free throw line in recent games, BU took 34 attempts Sunday. The problem is, only 19 of them went in.

Coach Margaret McKeon used her starters heavily, with three of five playing at least 31 minutes. Annie Tomasini, who is making a late-season push for minutes, led BU off the bench, scoring nine and adding two steals in 20 minutes of action. She also hit both of her shots from three-point land.

With the loss, the Terriers place themselves in a volatile situation heading into their last game. They are currently tied for second, but could finish as low as sixth. BU has nearly a week off before closing out the regular season at the University of New Hampshire on Friday night. A win in Durham would give the squad 10 conference wins on the year.

The win gives the Black Bears control of their own destiny in the conference. While the University of Vermont cannot lose the top spot, Maine can lock up the second seed in the America East Tournament with a win this weekend against Hartford, no matter what BU does at UNH.