Women’s Basketball: Terriers finish third after dropping regular-season finale to Holy Cross

By Joe Eachus 

The Boston University women’s basketball team finished its regular-season schedule on a sour note Wednesday evening, losing 59-48 to the Holy Cross Crusaders.

The Terriers (16-13, 12-6 PL) struggled offensively matched up against a stout Holy Cross (20-9, 14-4 PL) defensive unit. BU scored its lowest point total of conference play and fourth-lowest total overall.

With their win, the Crusaders clinched the Patriot League regular-season title. The Terriers are locked into the three-seed for the Patriot League tournament with their loss and American’s win against Lafayette.

“Hats off to Holy Cross, they did an amazing job defensively… it was a very tough environment to play in tonight,” BU assistant coach Kourtni Williams said. “We struggled to score a little bit and didn’t share the ball as well as we did in our previous matchup.”

BU managed just two team assists throughout the entire game and struggled from the field, shooting 34.5%.

Three Terriers scored in double figures, with freshman guard Alex Giannaros leading the way with 15 points. Junior forward Maren Durant notched her fourth double-double of the 2021-22 campaign with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Holy Cross senior guard Avery LaBarbera notched her third-straight game with more than twenty points, recording 24 in the contest on 50% shooting. LaBarbera also added 11 rebounds.

BU did win the rebound battle, grabbing 38 to Holy Cross’ 31, and notched 15 offensive rebounds.

Following a 5-0 Terrier run to start things off, Holy Cross seized the momentum behind a raucous crowd, taking the lead on a LaBarbera layup at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter and never giving it back to BU.

The Terriers limped to the end of the first quarter, scoring only three more points after giving up the lead and facing a 15-8 deficit after one frame.

Renewed energy helped BU battle back to cut the lead down to as little as four points in the second quarter, but Holy Cross refused to let go of its edge. The Crusaders answered almost every BU run with one of their own, and the Terriers entered halftime trailing by nine.

The third was much the same as the second, with BU threatening to take the momentum and Holy Cross responding right back.

Holy Cross stretched its lead to as many as 14 points to open the fourth, and BU brought it back to a three-possession game. However, all hope of a comeback was crushed when junior guard Liz Shean committed a critical offensive foul, turning the ball over and effectively sealing the game for the Crusaders.

The Terriers take on six-seed Army in the Patriot League quarterfinals on Monday in Case Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.