BU women’s basketball’s win streak snapped at Lafayette
The Terriers fell to the eighth seed in the Patriot League standings after getting swept by Lafayette.
The Boston University women’s basketball team entered Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Lafayette on a three-game win streak, having just defeated the best team in the Patriot League.
Lafayette had dropped four straight — all by double figures, including a 41-point home loss to Holy Cross and a 27-point loss at Army.
Signs seemed pointed towards BU’s fourth-consecutive victory, which would have clinched the Patriot League’s seventh seed and a first-round home game against one-win American.
But in a back-and-forth affair, the Terriers could not generate enough fourth quarter stops and fell, 63-58, at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.
Lafayette (8-20, 5-12 PL) — shooting 39.1 percent on the season entering Saturday’s contest — connected on 53.1 percent of its field goals and was 7 for 11 in the fourth quarter.
“We could have done a better job keeping them out of the middle,” said head coach Melissa Graves. “We gave up about 25 middle drives when we statted that in the game, and almost all of those, if not, 70 percent, of middle drives turned into offensive scores for them.”
BU (11-17, 5-12 PL) had the edge in almost every statistical category. The Terriers outrebounded Lafayette 37-24 and 16-3 on the offensive glass. They netted 10 second-chance points to Lafayette’s two. They outscored the Leopards 42-28 in the paint.
But BU couldn’t hit shots. The Terriers were 25 for 60 from the field, 2 of 8 from 3 and a lowly 6 for 13 from the free throw line.
“This is a tough one to look at because we won in almost every statistical category,” Graves said. “Shooting percentage wise, obviously, you know, they outshot us.”
BU played through the post, with its three key forwards scoring in double figures. Freshman Allison Schwertner netted a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Sophomore SiSi Bentley added 11 points and 8 rebounds — seven offensive. Junior Anete Adler had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
“I thought our posts did a really good job scoring the ball inside and then rebounding the ball for us,” said Graves.
The Leopards took a 28-21 lead midway through the second quarter after starting 6 for 7 in the frame.
Graves mentioned a long road trip affecting BU’s slow start.
“We got in super late, so we didn’t have that shootaround in the morning to let them kind of sleep in,” Graves said. “We didn’t have a lot of energy to start the game.”
BU, however, kept Lafayette off the scoresheet for the next seven minutes and opened up a seven-point lead, 35-28, early in the third quarter, courtesy of a 14-0 run. The Terriers limited Lafayette’s transition opportunities and forced the Leopards into difficult looks. It was a dominant defensive stretch that was not replicated in the remainder of the contest.
“I just kept harping on every timeout, like, we got to slow the ball down,” said Graves.
The Terriers entered the fourth quarter leading by one, 46-45. Bentley netted a layup off the pick-and-roll with senior guard Alex Giannaros (12 points, 3 assists) on BU’s first offensive possession of the quarter.
BU then went scoreless for over four minutes, and Lafayette capitalized with an 8-0 run. After sophomore guard Teresa Kiewiet (game-high 19 points) drove through a wide-open middle of the lane for a layup, Graves called timeout.
“It was defense. It was middle drives,” Graves said.
Out of the timeout, Schwertner netted a layup that trimmed the deficit to three. The Terriers set up their patented full-court press on the next two trips but got beat up the floor both times.
“We got blown up maybe twice in the press,” said Graves.
The Terriers stopped pressing and got three straight stops. On the offensive end, Giannaros drilled a midrange jumper and Schwertner and Bentley each split a pair of free throws, leaving BU trailing 59-56 with a minute remaining.
“We missed a lot of free throws down the stretch,” Graves said.
Needing a stop for a chance to tie, BU allowed Kiewiet to drive through the lane before turning around for a 10-foot jumper over Bentley.
Schwertner missed a layup on the other end, and BU was unable to close a five-point gap with under 25 seconds remaining by playing the foul game.
With the loss, the Terriers fell to the eighth seed with one regular-season game remaining: at fifth-place Navy on Wednesday. The Terriers will have a home game in the first round regardless, but to move back into the seven spot and face last-place American (1-27, 1-16 PL), BU needs a win and a Lafayette loss at Loyola Maryland (9-19, 3-14 PL).
A BU loss or a Lafayette victory would earn BU the eighth seed and a first-round matchup against Loyola Maryland, with whom the Terriers split the season series.
“I’m happy that we do have a home game, no matter what. Is there one team that we’d rather play over the other? You know, potentially,” said Graves.
The biggest emphasis for Wednesday’s game, however, is finding a way to execute away from Case Gym. Because even if BU wins that first-round game, it will almost certainly be on the road the rest of the way.
“We want to be quote, like, ‘Road Dogs,’ and be competitive on the road,” Graves said. “Because that’s our reality.”