The seven new faces of BU women’s basketball, and how they could help the Terriers
As they look to return to a third consecutive Patriot League Championship game, Melissa Graves and BU are setting sail with a roster that's 75 percent underclassmen.
In college basketball's current landscape, a handful of fresh faces on a team at the beginning of the year is normal practice. In that case, the Boston University women’s team doesn't differ from any other program.
But with respect to the women’s collegiate game, BU’s roster heading into 2024-25 is extremely young. With only four upperclassmen — two juniors and two seniors — the 12 underclassmen bring a youthful exuberance to the squad and a different challenge.
“The underclassmen have a really special energy — all of them, sophomores and freshmen — which I'm really excited about,” senior guard Alex Giannaros said. “This freshman class this year has come in and brought a lot of great things to our team so far.”
It’s a big class, with six first-year players — guards Taylor Williams, Brooke Baisley and Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir, and forwards Channing Warren, Inez Gallegos and Allison Schwertner.
The energetic bunch brings a little bit of everything to the team. They bring size — both Warren and Schwertner are 6-foot-3 — which BU will need as it looks to replace Caitlin Weimar, last season’s Patriot League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. There’s position versatility, too — Gunnsteinsdóttir is a taller guard and Gallegos a smaller forward — which could help head coach Melissa Graves and her staff as they battle a slew of early injuries. And they provide skill in the backcourt; Baisley has looked confident putting the ball on the deck in preseason practices, though Williams is out with an injury. And, critically, they all arrive at Case Gym looking to grow.
“I don't think that there's a day that goes by where those girls aren’t in the gym wanting to get better, wanting to learn, wanting to be around each other,” Giannaros said.
They’re also a tight knit group that spends much of their time together off the court.
“That makes them really special, because they're just gonna bond,” Giannaros said. “I think it is super important, especially with so many new pieces.”
Gallegos added, “Off the court, the chemistry is really good, and we’re really close. So I think that’ll translate well when we start playing.”
Gallegos, a 6-footer from San Francisco, is an embodiment of the freshman class. A high-motor player, Gallegos is a versatile forward who plays inside and out, both as a scorer and a playmaker. She’s found herself running with the presumed starters in practice thus far and has earned the praises of her head coach.
“She’s so good,” Graves said. “If you really watch her, like, she’s really good.”
She’s a very dynamic player, according to sophomore guard Bella McLaughlin.
“She can play the four, the three, whatever coach asks her to do,” McLaughlin said. “She plays with a lot of pace.”
McLaughlin isn’t a freshman, but she is new to the program. A transfer from Providence College, the 5-foot-8 guard adds another piece to BU’s backcourt.
When asked about what she brings to the team on the court, McLaughlin pointed to her speed and leadership. What can’t be understated on a team this young, even if she only played 81 minutes as a freshman for the Friars, is that McLaughlin’s actually played in collegiate games.
“The role of a point guard is to be the floor general. I try to really emulate that,” she said. “Off the court, I try to build relationships with [teammates] so that they have the trust when I call a play.
Even though the team is confident it will be connected when the season tips off, the Terriers know there will be bumps in the road. That’s the reality with so many new faces in one locker room.
Giannaros has a certain time of the season in mind where she’d like to see everything they’ve been practicing fully click.
“We might not be there fully right now, but by the time Patriot League starts, I think we're gonna be a really good basketball team,” she said.
McLaughlin agrees with Giannaros. Putting the pieces together takes time. But in the process, the Terriers won’t get down on themselves.
“We may be young and we may need to learn how to play together, but our effort always has to be there,” McLaughlin said.
The seven new players all have to work to find their roles on the team. Those roles are going to change over the course of the 29-game season. Certain aspects of the game aren’t going to go the Terriers’ way; that’s just the way it goes.
“Because we are so new, we’re going to struggle early on with just that lack of experience,” McLaughlin said. “We have a lot of skill, a lot of potential, have a lot of people who really care, we have the expertise... Early on, it’s just going to take a second because you can’t teach experience.
“There are seven people who have never played in this system. But I think that over the summer and throughout the preseason we have been really working to get to know each other better as individuals and players.”
Even with all the hills to climb, the goals remain the same, have remained the same and will remain the same until this program accomplishes them.
“Make March Madness. Win the Patriot League,” Gallegos said.