Women’s Basketball: Terriers top rival Eagles in close match
By Sara Sturtevant
Boston University women’s basketball (2-1, 0-0 PL) took on longtime rival Boston College (2-1, 0-0 ACC) for the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue Wednesday night, securing a tight 69-65 victory in the final seconds of the game.
The win also marked Sydney Johnson’s best career performance on the offensive end, as the junior point guard scored a career-high 26 points and finished 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
In the first quarter, the Terriers had trouble establishing a rhythm on offense. Several possessions ended in turnovers, and nine of 11 points came from Johnson alone.
Going into the second down 11-13, BU managed to flip the script. Sophomore center Caitlin Weimar began to find her game and handled a physical matchup down low, with BC sometimes sending as many as four defenders into the paint.
The Terriers went on an 8-0 scoring run, but the Eagles managed to squash any chance of a halftime lead for the Terriers with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to close the period with the score tied at 24-24.
The intense back-and-forth ensued to begin the third period, with both BU and BC making high-effort plays in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Each team had success from two-point range, but junior guard Maggie Pina gave BU an edge with a breakaway layup early in the quarter and other clutch scores. Pina finished with 13 points and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Ther Terriers weren’t the only ones with star power, however. The Eagles’ Taylor Soule kept BC in the game and hit several mid-range jumpers over BU defenders, managing 25 points on the night. She finished 11-of-17 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 at the line.
The game intensified in the fourth. As the clock wound down, BC began to foul more and freed up some opportunities for BU, allowing the Terriers to maintain a lead, albeit a close one. Senior forward Riley Childs secured the win for BU with two made free throws with just .8 seconds left.
It was an all-around effort in Case Gym Wednesday, and several players made key contributions. One such player was senior Emily Esposito, who finished with nine points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals after playing all but one minute and eight seconds of the contest.
On the other end of the floor, BC’s 65 points were a season-low after they averaged more than 80 points in their first two games. Soule was the sole Eagle to reach double digits in scoring.
Before the match, BU had not defeated a Power Five team since the Terriers edged out a 61-57 win against BC on Nov. 26, 2017.
Head Coach Melissa Graves said that the Terriers’ ability to play effectively on both sides of the ball was crucial in the win.
“We talked about how we were a little stagnant in the last game with our offense and trying to move and share the basketball and move it on two sides of the floor,” Graves said. “I thought we did a really, really good job of that today. Then, we really dug in on the defensive end. I think we’re really confident with our pressure defense and extending ourselves fullcourt.”
Graves also felt that BU’s mindset was an important piece of their performance.
“Going into this game we knew we needed to control the highs and the lows, we knew there were going to be runs in the game, and I thought we really stayed composed throughout all of that.”
The Terriers take on the University of Maine next Sunday at 1 p.m.
