Women’s Basketball: Terriers fall to Northeastern in close opening night matchup
By James Noyes
Boston University Women’s Basketball (0-1) kicked off their season Monday in a hard-fought battle against the Northeastern University Huskies (1-0), but lost 66-65 in a game that came down to the last possession.
Northeastern got off to a hot start, shooting out to a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the first quarter, forcing Terriers Head Coach Melissa Graves to call a quick timeout.
“The struggle we’ve had is the slow start at the beginning,” Graves said. “Something we really need to focus on and fix is coming out of the gate strong.”
The Terriers came out strong after the timeout, rattling off nine unanswered points as BU forwards Caitlin Weimar and Maren Durant dominated the paint against the smaller Husky lineup. Meanwhile, Northeastern came out flustered, getting called for two travels.
The game evened out in the second quarter, with both teams trading buckets until halftime. The Terriers ran their offense through sophomore guard Alex Giannaros, who made the Patriot League All-Rookie team last year. Giannaros had the tough job of filling in for star point guard Sydney Johnson, who is in the University’s COVID protocol. Johnson was named Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year.
“With [Johnson] out, we needed to have her [Giannaros] step up. She’s still very young, as a sophomore, but her ability to score the basketball is so great,” Graves said. “It was really great to see her take that over and take Syd’s scoring responsibility.”
Despite having just nine points at halftime, Giannaros finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior forward Caitlin Weimar also contributed in Johnson’s absence, finishing with a double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Weimar dominated the second half, running all over the court and creating her own offense down low.
“Obviously without having [Johnson] there, it’s a big presence we’re missing, so [I’m] trying to step up and take as much leadership as I can,” Weimar said. “Going for every single offensive rebound, and pushing the pace to get those easy layups.”
Weimar and Giannaros pushed the momentum in the Terriers’ favor through the third quarter, aided by clutch shots from guard Maggie Pina. The Terriers overcame a four-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 48 entering the fourth quarter.
Giannaros, Weimar, and Pina continued hitting shots into the fourth, but the Huskies refused to go away. Northeastern guard Derin Erdogan caught fire late, hitting a momentum-killing 3-pointer with under three minutes to go. Both teams continued to swap the lead until the final possession.
The Terriers, down 66-65, brought the ball up the floor with 30 seconds to go. Pina dribbled the clock down to 10 seconds before passing to Weimar at the elbow. Weimar looked around for a pass before settling for the go-ahead jumper but missed. The Terriers recovered the rebound as time ran out.
The Terriers fought hard without Johnson, but it wasn’t enough against an aggressive Northeastern team.
“They’re a tough team,” Graves said of Northeastern. “They’re even more athletic than they were last year. How they pressure, how they deny passing lanes, that’s something we normally struggle with… I know Miami’s gonna be that way, and probably press us for 40 minutes, so can we take this game and not let it be a waste, and actually learn from it?”
The Terriers play a similar defense in their next opponent when they travel to the University of Miami on Nov. 13 to face the Hurricanes at 1 p.m.