Instant takeaways from BU women's basketball's 63-58 loss at Lafayette
The Terriers would have clinched the Patriot League's seventh-seed with a victory. Instead, they fell to the eighth-seed with one regular-season game remaining.
The Boston University women’s basketball team had a golden opportunity to win its fourth straight game and clinch the Patriot League’s seventh-seed.
But the Terriers could not build off of Wednesday’s win over Lehigh — its best win of the season — and fell to Lafayette, 63-58, at Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa., on Saturday afternoon.
Here are four takeaways from BU’s loss…
BU struggled in the decisive final frame.
BU (11-17, 5-12 PL) entered the fourth quarter leading 46-45. A strong fourth quarter would have clinched the seventh-seed for BU, resulting in a home first-round matchup against a one-win American. The Terriers will still host the first round due to Loyola Maryland's loss to Navy on Saturday, but the defeat at Lafayette (8-20, 5-12 PL) drops BU to the eighth-seed.
The Terriers went scoreless for a shade over four minutes in the final frame, and Lafayette took advantage with an 8-0 run to take a 53-48 lead. Freshman forward Allison Schwertner broke the scoring drought after a timeout from BU head coach Melissa Graves. The Leopards, however, immediately responded with back-to-back baskets against BU’s full-court press to take a seven-point lead with four minutes to play.
BU cut the deficit to three points with just over a minute to play, but sophomore Teresa Kiewiet (game-high 19 points) nailed a turnaround midrange jumper with 40 seconds remaining to restore a two-possession Leopards lead.
Lafayette shot 7 for 11 in the fourth quarter. BU was just 5 of 13.
Lafayette poked holes in BU’s defense.
Lafayette sports the third-lowest field goal percentage in the Patriot League — at just 39.1 percent. The Leopards shot 53.1 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3 against BU on Saturday afternoon.
BU’s full-court press has been a spark this season, but Lafayette broke the pressure at crucial times, especially in the second and fourth quarters.
BU controlled the rebounding battle.
BU did not shoot well from the field — 25 for 60 from the field and 2 for 8 from 3 — but the Terriers snagged many of their own misses. BU outrebounded Lafayette 16-3 on the offensive glass and finished with 10 second-chance points. Overall, the Terriers snagged 37 rebounds to Lafayette’s 24.
BU relied on its forwards.
BU’s three key forwards — Schwertner, junior Anete Adler and sophomore SiSi Bentley — all finished in double figures. Schwertner netted a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Bentley finished with 11 on 4-of-10. Adler added 10 on 5-for-13.
Overall, the Terriers outscored Lafayette 42-28 in the paint.
Lafayette didn’t have the size to match BU’s frontcourt — especially the 6-foot-5 Adler and 6-foot-3 Schwertner — and the Terriers took advantage with feeds off of the pick-and-roll, post-ups and putback opportunities.