Women’s Basketball: Terriers regain top spot with 74-56 win over Holy Cross

By Joe Eachus 

Despite a slow start that has become characteristic of late, the Boston University women’s basketball team rallied to defeat the Holy Cross Crusaders 74-56 Wednesday.

The Terriers (15-10, 11-3 PL) are now alone at the top of the Patriot League, with the Crusaders (16-9, 10-4 PL) sliding back to second.

Senior forward Chiara Tibbitt scored a career-high 16 points to go with three assists in 31 minutes of action. Freshman guard Alex Giannaros added 16 points of her own, shooting 66.7% from the field, and junior forward Maren Durant earned a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“A tremendous team win… the morale was great. We shared the basketball really well,” BU head coach Melissa Graves said. “We had a lot of contributors, especially [Chiara]. I thought she was phenomenal.”

BU shot 49.2% from the field and 47.1% from deep while holding the Crusaders to 30% from the field. The Terriers also had assists on 21 of their 31 baskets.

Defensively, the Terriers narrowly won the rebound battle, 41-39, and were effective in containing sophomore guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy, who scored five points on 25% shooting. Senior guard Avery LaBarbera led all players with 20 points but shot 35% from the field.

Holy Cross jumped out to a fast start while the Terriers struggled in the opening frame, with the Crusaders enjoying a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter. BU shot 26.7% from the field to open things up and did not hold the lead at any point.

The script was flipped in the second, as Holy Cross only managed 10 points on 20% shooting, while BU scored 25 to leave them with the lead entering halftime.

“I think us switching into our zone [defense] really helped a lot,” Graves noted. “Being able to switch between man and zone, being able to focus in on that and talk within that was really, really big for us.”

The Terriers did not take their foot off the gas in the second half, outscoring Holy Cross 40-28 the rest of the way to cruise to a comfortable win. A 14-2 run that encompassed most of the third quarter effectively sealed the game for BU.

BU takes on ninth-place Colgate at The Roof on Saturday. Looking ahead, Graves said that “we’ve talked about respecting every opponent but fearing none. Even with Colgate coming in here, anybody in the league could be an upset. Just focus on one opponent at a time, knowing every game is a big game.”

Tip-off against the Raiders is scheduled for 1 p.m.