Women’s Basketball: Terriers Fall to Lehigh

By: Alex Smith

Boston University women’s basketball ushered in the new year with its strongest performance of the season, hosting Lehigh at Case Gym on Saturday Afternoon. BU shot a season high 44% on the game, and nearly completed a late game comeback before falling 73-66 to the Mountain Hawks.

Kara Sheftic went off for a career high 15 points, battling down low all afternoon with a Lehigh team ranked second in the Patriot League in rebounding. Her role within the BU offense continues to increase, as she went 5/11 from the field and continues to improve her efficiency. Along with Meghan Green (13 points), the pair dominated down low against what was supposed to be a tough big pairing put up by Lehigh.

The Mountain Hawks ultimately have Elizabeth Jordan to thank for their win. Jordan cashed in 15 of her 17 points from beyond the arc in the first half, which led to Lehigh’s 14 point halftime lead. The second half was more or less a scramble to hang on for the Mountain Hawks, who were a BU turnover away from a tie game with a minute to spare.

Sarah Hope led the way for BU (0-13) as they stormed back in the third and fourth quarters. She could not miss, going 6/6 from the field and 5/5 from downtown to finish with 18 points. It was often difficult for her to find space from beyond the arc, but as the game neared its conclusion and BU got some consistent scoring inside from Green and Sheftic, space opened up for her.

Corrinne Williams also contributed defensively, making some big stops as BU looked likely to pull ahead late in the fourth. She stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 5 assists and 6 rebounds to go with her 4 points. She also recorded one of her two blocks down the stretch which help cut it to a one possession game at 66-68 with 45 seconds to play. That was as close as the Terriers would come, and the 6 point loss marks their slimmest margin of the season.

Lexi Martins continued her assault on the boards, posting 13 and 11 for her Patriot League Leading 10th (10!!!!!) double double in just 13 games. Her eleven boards actually will shrink her conference lead for rebounds, but she still holds a comfortable four rebound lead over her closest Patriot League competitor.

Terrier fans will be left wondering why Sarah Hope only took 6 shots on the night despite making all of them. On a rare night where the Terriers didn’t struggle to create offense, it seemed like Hope was right there waiting to explode for a career n. Whether it was her teammates not finding her or the Lehigh defense running her off the line, the Terriers must utilize Hope to the fullest going forward, and though it feels harsh to say, she could have gone off for far more than 18.

BU will take confidence from playing what should be an upper-mid level Patriot League team down to the wire, and had it not been for Elizabeth Jordan off the bench, they may be celebrating their first win tonight. That will have to wait, however, as the Terriers travel to Navy on January 7th. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.