BU women's basketball digs itself out of enormous hole, but still falls short at New Hampshire
The Terriers (1-2) flipped an 18-point deficit on its head, but couldn't fully overcome a barrage of UNH 3-pointers and a career-night from Wildcat Eva DeChent.
The Boston University women’s basketball team came out flat, digging itself into an 18-point deficit and a 36-19 hole at the half on Saturday night.
The Terriers flipped a switch after halftime and came all the way back to tie the game twice.
But it wasn’t enough, as BU never took the lead and fell to New Hampshire, 69-60, at Lundholm Gymnasium.
“There are things, obviously, we need to work on, but I was really proud of that effort to get back,” said BU head coach Melissa Graves.
“I told them we can’t start that way and dig ourselves into a hole like that,” she continued. “We have to have better starts to games.”
UNH (4-1) came into the contest shooting just 21.3 percent from 3, connecting on 17 of 80 shots from deep through four games.
But the Wildcats opened with a long range barrage to begin the contest, knocking down six straight 3-pointers to take an 18-6 lead late in the first quarter.
“I was definitely surprised at the way they shot it tonight, just because they have not done that all year yet,” said Graves. “We actually talked about that before the game on how many paint points they hunt, and that we need to protect the paint is the biggest thing.”
UNH’s first paint points did not come until midway through the second quarter. The Wildcats finished 11 for 24 from 3. They only scored 14 points in the paint.
“They had, obviously, their best night all season, from shooting, and that happens,” Graves said.
“We talked about at halftime just adjusting to that and now guarding them a little bit closer.”
In the first half, BU (1-2) shot just 7 for 21 from the field and 3 of 9 from 3, turned it over 10 times and scored 19 points.
But Graves’ third-quarter adjustments worked masterfully as BU clawed back.
The Terriers sped up UNH with a full-court press and made the Wildcats look like a shell of their first-half selves. Sophomore forward SiSi Bentley and sophomore guard Aoibhe Gormley operated at the top of BU’s press, successfully taking UNH out of its offensive rhythm.
Gormley and Bentley turned that defense into offense, sparking a 16-2 BU run to open the half. It cut the deficit to three, 38-35. Bentley went 6 for 6 on free throws during the stretch. Gormley opened the half with a 3-point play. A minute later, she drove to the rim for a layup.
Gormley finished with a team-high 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Bentley had 11, going 9 for 10 from the free throw line.
“I thought SiSi was phenomenal,” said Graves. “She is our defensive spark.”
“We were able to make that run back and she was a huge piece to it,” Graves continued. “She really helped in that piece, turning our defense into offense.”
Junior forward Anete Adler, in her first game since tearing her ACL in December last season, also chipped in scoring four points during the run. She finished with 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
“It’s really nice,” said Graves of Adler’s return. “She’s actually better than when she started last year without a torn ACL. So just really proud of her. She feels like she’s overcome this, and she could overcome anything.”
Bentley made two more free throws late in the quarter, followed by two from sophomore guard Bella McLaughlin on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 41 apiece.
Powered by a 3-pointer and four free throws by UNH sophomore guard Eva DeChent, the Wildcats regained a six-point advantage, 51-45, with seven minutes remaining in the fourth.
It took much longer than expected, but BU senior guard Alex Giannaros answered with a 3 to finally get on the scoreboard. Entering the contest with 999 career points, the 3 took her across the 1,000 point threshold. Giannaros is the 27th Terrier to join the 1,000 point club.
“We tried to get it for her at UConn and it just, you know, didn’t happen,” said Graves. “I didn’t really have a doubt that she wouldn’t get, like, one point in game. I just think they made it really hard for her.”
On the next possession, freshman forward Allison Schwertner converted on an and-one layup. The three-point play tied the contest at 51-51 with 5:54 remaining.
But over the final minutes, DeChent took over for UNH. She scored the next five points, providing a cushion the Wildcats would not relinquish. And in a four-point game with under a minute to go, she made the driving layup and subsequent free throws to put the game out of reach.
DeChent finished with 34 points, 20 of which came in the fourth quarter. She was 9 of 18 from the field, 4 of 9 from 3, and made 12 of 13 free throws.
“[DeChent] we were trying to take out. I don’t think we did a good job on her,” Graves said. “We talked about just locking in on personnel, where she’s their best player, she is their team. And we needed to do a better job there and we didn’t.”
The Terriers will look to get back on track when hosting Maine on Thursday at 6 p.m. Until then, they can take solace in the second half fight to get back into the contest.
“I was really happy with coming back from an 18-point deficit to bring it to a tie twice,” said Graves. “You know, gave ourselves a chance in the game. It was a really good run for us in the second half.”