Women’s Basketball: Rough start leads to 64-61 loss

By Michael Wax 

Despite 21 points from junior guard Sydney Johnson and a third consecutive double-double from sophomore center Caitlin Weimar, the Boston University Terriers (15-11, 11-4 PL) fell to the Colgate Raiders (6-21, 4-11 PL) 64-61 on Saturday afternoon.

A highlight from the game for BU came during the pregame, where BU and Colgate joined together to honor Kay Yow through the Play4Kay initiative. BU wore Play 4 Kay warmup tees, and the teams gathered for a group photo at the center court logo. Kay Yow was a trailblazer in the game of women’s basketball before her passing in 2009, and BU head coach Melissa Graves used the occasion to bring the team together.

“We talked a little bit pregame about the legacy that she left, not only affecting women’s basketball but all sports,” Graves said. “We talked about playing with toughness, playing with a fight, and being an example to people who are fighting their own battles. We wanted to try to exemplify that on the floor today.”

BU’s last game against Colgate came on Jan. 29, where a big second quarter fueled them to a victory. Coming into the rematch, BU wanted to replicate that Jan. 29 defensive performance and put forth a good start to the game.

BU fell behind early in the game, shooting below 40% from the field, which allowed Colgate to dictate the game from beyond the three-point line.

“We didn’t make a statement in the first quarter, they did,” Graves said. “They came out and they were ready to go, and they were confident the whole rest of the game.”

Similar to its last matchup, BU used a big second quarter to claw its way back into the game. At halftime, the Terriers only trailed by one, and the message was clear: Continue the defensive improvement and regroup from an offensive standpoint.

“When we move the ball and share the basketball, we look phenomenal, and it’s beautiful basketball,” Graves said. “But I thought there were a lot of times today where we didn’t do that, we didn’t get it to two sides of the floor, and we tried to just nail it in off one pass. Defensively, we had a good defensive second quarter. We were going to try to continue to build off that.”

BU and Colgate went back and forth in the second half, with neither team leading by more than five points. Ultimately, the Terriers struggled from the three-point line, going 2-for-15, while the Raiders put together an 45.3% performance to seal the victory.

With Holy Cross’ victory today, the Terriers need to win out to clinch the one-seed.

“Every single game matters,” Graves said. “This game mattered, and they know it, so I think they’re disappointed. I think they’re going to come back on Monday ready to go and ready to get better. We talked about wanting to play our best basketball in February and then heading into March like all teams want to be playing their best right now.”

BU takes on Lafayette on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. on the road.