The Boston University women’s basketball team started strong but could not finish to conclude a two-game road trip against Bucknell University on Saturday, falling 72-56.
The Terriers (4-15, 1-7 Patriot League) have been mired in a losing streak, in which they have lost 12 of 13 games and couldn’t break the trend against the Bison (13-6, 5-3 Patriot League).
Despite the streak, the Terriers have had different players attempt to step up every game. This time, it was redshirt junior guard Troi Melton, who scored a new career-high 16 points, and sophomore forward Meghan Green, who added 14 points with five rebounds, leading the way for BU.
BU coach Katy Steding said Melton’s effort was encouraging.
“She [Melton] was much more aggressive,” Steding said. “She was finding loose balls, she was getting deflections, much more aggressive defensively, and that’s something we’ve been talking with the girls about. Your offense picks up when you’re more aggressive defensively. We’ve been trying as much as we can to be more pressure-oriented with hopes of getting the ball back quicker.”
The Terriers came out strong in the first half as they built on an early five-point lead with a 6-0 run, culminating in senior forward Mollie McKendrick’s layup with 16:29 to play.
The Bison answered in the last 3:01 of the half as senior Audrey Dotson scored nine of her 18 points, and Bucknell took a 34-30 lead going into the break.
The second half began with the same kind of back-and-forth action as the first as neither team had a lead of more than five until the Bison led 42-36 on a free throw by forward Claire DeBoer, who scored a game-high 27 points.
The Bison did not relinquish the lead and went on to an 8-0 run ending with another layup by DeBoer to make the score 50-41.
The Terriers were not able to fight their way back as they were outsized and beaten inside.
“It’s both parts of our defense, in terms of applying more ball pressure and being more active on the block,” Steding said. “It’s really tough to defend when you’re on the block. The more you can do to help yourself early, the better off you’ll be.”
It was Dotson who ended the Terriers’ hopes for a victory when she laid the ball off the glass and in to give the Bison a 67-53 lead with 2:32 remaining.
Although the outcome was not the intended one for the Terriers, Steding said she was encouraged with the opportunity to give new players minutes, as freshman guard Meghan Doogan came out off the bench to score eight points.
“Meghan Doogan has had more opportunity to play and the rotation has opened up,” Steding said. “She had a great game. I was really proud of her. She’ s waited patiently for her opportunity. She’s gotten to a point where she is ready to play and ready to take advantage of it, and it really paid off for her.”
Steding said she has noticed improvements in her young team, even through its struggles, something that she said could bode well for the future.
“Helping them see that the things we’re doing right now are paying off, we just haven’t done it continuously for 40 minutes,” she said. “The Colgate game was a great testament to the fact that even when you aren’t playing your best basketball and you’re gritty and you’re tough and you really care about every possession, it shows up in the win column.”
Doug covers women's soccer and other sports for the Daily Free Press. When he's not doing schoolwork, writing, or being a social butterfly on campus, he enjoys playing the piano, or hitting the course for a round of golf.
