Women’s Basketball: Terriers go “Seiper Mode” in home-opener victory
By: Andrew Mason
The Boston University women’s basketball squad (1-1) grabbed its first victory of the season on Monday night, in a 72-51 home-opener win over the Brown University Bears. It was a milestone night for first-year head coach Marisa Moseley, who now has an official Terrier win under her belt.
Unlike last Friday’s loss at Northeastern, BU came out with the energy to get the job done on Monday night. After missing her first two open shot attempts, senior Payton Hauck maintained the composure to shoot 50 percent (5-10) for the rest of the contest, 83 percent (5-6) from the free-throw line.
“That’s a big shoutout to all my teammates,” Hauck said. “When we miss shots, no ones head goes down. That’s something you can always rely on to keep you going.”
Hauck finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while forward Nia Irving added 16 points of her own to go with 12 boards. The Terriers’ dynamic guard duo of Katie Nelson (10 pts, 7 asts, 4 rebs, 4 stls) and Lauren Spearman (nine pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts) added to an impressive outing for the starting unit.
However, it was freshman center Ashley Seiper who made the biggest splash on Monday night. In her Case Gym debut, the Tampa, Florida native grabbed 10 points and four rebounds in 11 minutes coming off the bench.
“We were all just working so hard to keep our lead,” Seiper said. “Tonight we were ready to win this came and come back from [the] Northeastern [loss].”
Seiper, who is the second tallest player on the Terriers roster at 6-foot-2, showed off an impressive mid-range jump shot on Monday, knocking down multiple shots from the short corner areas.
“I’ve been working on [mid-range shots] a lot lately in practice,” Seiper said. “I knew today they would be open against the zone. I wanted to make sure I could hit that shot.”
The freshmen class as a whole has been a major bright spot for BU through two games. While Riley Childs and Audrey Nicholson continue to sit due to injuries, Chiara Tibbit (6 pts, 3 rebs), and Seiper have represented the class of 2022 quite well.
Their play has even gained the attention of their older teammates.
“[Seiper] works hard and it shows in practice everyday and on the court,” Hauck said. “She’s not timid or scared, and that’s a huge thing as a freshman.”
On the defensive end, the scarlet and white were able to keep one-half on the high-scoring duo of Shayna Mehta and Justine Gaziano in check. While Mehta grabbed a game-high 23 points, Gaziano struggled to connect from the field, finishing the day with just seven points. In last season’s blowout victory for the Bears, the two had combined for 44 points.
Moving forward, the Terriers head to Poughkeepsie, New York this Friday to take on the Red Foxes of Marist College (1-0). Marist stole a 80-52 road win last time these teams’ met a season ago.
Tip-off between the Terriers and the Red Foxes is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16 inside the McCann Center from the campus of Marist College. .