BU women’s basketball ‘couldn’t get stops’ in loss at Bucknell
Bucknell shot 57.4 percent from the field as BU slipped to 1-7 in Patriot League play.
Ashley Sofilkanich, Bucknell’s star sophomore forward, caught a pass at the low right block. She took one dribble, drawing the help defense of sophomore guard Bella McLaughlin. Sofilkanich, unfazed, shook off freshman forward and primary defender Channing Warren and spun back to her right side, away from McLaughlin, for a short turnaround jumper.
BU head coach Melissa Graves immediately called for a 30-second timeout. Upset with her team’s execution, she gathered her group for a stern message. “It matters. It matters,” she appeared to say.
BU took an early 5-2 lead, but Sofilkanich’s turnaround punctuated an 11-0 run to give the Bison a comfortable lead it would never relinquish.
BU played well in spurts but never got within six points, ultimately falling to Bucknell, 74-59, at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers, who fell to 7-12 and 1-7 in the Patriot League after a fifth straight loss, showed flashes. They shot 20 for 41 over the final three quarters. But BU, which is running out of time for moral victories, started slow and was unable to get stops.
Bucknell (10-9, 5-3 PL) shot 27 for 47 from the field, 9 of 18 from deep and 11 for 12 from the free throw line.
“I thought this game, we were better offensively,” said Graves. “We just couldn’t get stops. We couldn’t get stops today and it came down to that.”
“We didn’t execute in the half court of what we wanted to do defensively,” Graves added.
Sofilkanich, who tied Bucknell’s single-game scoring record with 44 points in an overtime win over Colgate on Wednesday, was again dominant against the Terriers.
Sofilkanich had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 7 for 10 from the field and 8 for 9 from the free-throw line.
“We wanted to double her on the dribble,” said Graves. “I didn’t think we always locked into that, where we wanted the weak side to go double her.”
“And then we fouled her a lot,” Graves continued. “She took 10 fouls today, which is like what Caitlin [Weimar] used to do for us.”
Sofilkanich did show shades of Weimar, who was last season’s Patriot League Player and Defensive Player of the Year. When BU left her one-on-one, it had its hands full. When she faced the double, she scored anyway or passed out of traps to free up open looks for her teammates.
Redshirt junior Sophia Sabino scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 3 for 3 from deep. Freshman guard Reese Zemitis added 13 and was 3 of 7 from 3.
“I didn’t think there was urgency to get out to shooters,” Graves said.
The Terriers committed a season-low 10 turnovers but, due to their defensive struggles, still lost by 15.
“I think we could have a better effort on the defensive end to try to put a full game on both sides of the ball together,” said Graves.
The Terriers received strong contributions from junior forward Anete Adler and sophomore guard Aoibhe Gormley.
Adler, who tore her ACL in December 2023, faced a long road to recovery. She even considered quitting. As Adler ramped up for this season, she missed the first three games of the season and wore a bulky knee brace when she returned.
She easily had her best game of the season, dropping a career-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Adler made an instant impact off the bench, earning strong positioning inside off of post-ups and rolls to the rim. She made numerous layups, connected on 3 of 4 free throws and nailed a midrange jumper.
“It was basically impossible to guard her, against one of the best defenders in the league too,” Graves said, referring to Adler’s matchup with Sofilkanich, the conference’s leader in blocks.
“She did a great job, and I’m hoping she can take some momentum in this from here on out for the rest of the league,” said Graves. “If she can get to a consistent point like that, she could be, you know, one of the best post players in this conference.”
Gormley scored 10 points for the second consecutive outing, adding five assists and five steals on Saturday. When BU implemented its full-court press after made baskets, she was flying around the court, earning deflections which led to points in transition. Gormley also hit two 3s in the fourth quarter, an area she has focused on improving since the end of last season.
“I thought she played a great game today. I thought she played as hard as she possibly could,” Graves said.
Graves also highlighted freshman forward Allison Schwertner, who scored eight points.
Still, BU has yet to have everything click at once. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Alex Giannaros did not play up to her typical standard, scoring 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting with four turnovers — three of which were travels called on the catch.
“I thought, not that Alex didn’t play well, she just missed some open shots. They were calling some travels on her, things like that,” said Graves.
During BU’s five-game losing streak, with defenses locked in on her, Giannaros has averaged 10.4 points on 32.7 percent shooting. In the 14 games prior, she netted 15.4 points a night.
“Just, you know, trying to get everyone trying to play well at the same time. Where it’s like, some games it’s this, some games it’s that,” Graves said. “If we can have Aoibhe playing that well, Anete playing that well, Allison, Alex playing what she typically plays every game, we’re gonna be pretty unstoppable as far as offensively.”
Unfortunately for the Terriers, highlights on offense did not get them any closer to a second Patriot League victory.
Bucknell shot the lights out, further dimming BU’s chances of a late-season turnaround.