Women’s Basketball: Terriers Fall to Wildcats in New Hampshire

By: Alex Smith

A late fourth quarter push wasn’t enough for Boston University Women’s Basketball on Saturday, as the Terriers fell 69-52 in their visit to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.

The game finished the opposite way it began, with the Terriers outscoring the Wildcats 19-8 in the final frame after the first quarter ended 20-8 in favor of UNH. BU trailed by as much as 33 midway through the fourth quarter before rallying back and going on a 17-1 run to close out the game.

Sarah Hope kept up her hot shooting, going 4-6, including 3-4 from downtown which was good for 12 points on the night. The outburst marks her second consecutive double-digit point output, and perhaps she will be occupying the 2-guard spot in coach Steding’s starting line up soon.

Meghan Green netted 15 points to lead the way for BU on the scoreboard. The junior had an off night shooting wise however, and needed 14 shots to reach that total. She did a nice job getting to the line, but only converted half of her 10 attempts from the stripe.

The contest saw several Terriers struggle shooting the ball, but all 12 Terriers who dressed appeared on the court. The Terriers late surges also suggest that perhaps it was those who rarely feature who made the strongest contribution late in the game.

Milla Ekstrom was featured off the bench in the fourth quarter, registering her first collegiate points. She also recorded a block, a steal, and two rebounds in her seven minutes of action on the floor.

Elizabeth Belanger did the damage early and often for UNH, scoring her 24 points on a clinical 9-12 shooting. Her team shot a red hot 53.6% in the first half, with the Terriers shooting only half that at 26% during that same stretch. That difference ended up being insurmountable for the Terriers, who drop to 0-7.

Troubling again for the Terriers was the turnover margin, as they allowed UNH 20 points off turnovers while only creating ten such points of their own. However, they only turned the ball over 15 times compared to UNH’s 13, which does suggest an improvement on that end.

The Terriers also showed improvement in their other weakest area, the glass. They ended the game with 35 rebounds, identical to UNH’s total. They were simply outshot by the 6-2 Wildcats on the day.

BU will be back in action on Wednesday as they host Rhode Island at 7 p.m. at Case, entering the final four games of non-conference action before Patriot League play begins during the winter break. The game will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network, with myself on the call as always.