Women’s Basketball: Terriers end losing streak with first Patriot League win over Navy
By Aniya Sumner
Boston University Women’s Basketball (6-6, 1-0 PL) defeated Naval Academy (0-12, 0-1 PL) 62-39, giving the Terriers their first Patriot League win of the season.
Junior forward Caitlin Weimar led the team with 15 points and 12 rebounds, her sixth double-double of the season. Senior guard Sydney Johnson added another 15 points, along with three assists and three rebounds in the dominant win.
Up until Weimar’s successful hook shot with 1:16 left in the first quarter, BU had started the game 0-for-8 from the floor and had scored just three points on foul shots. After 10 minutes of play, Sydne Watts answered with a 3-pointer to increase Navy’s advantage to 15-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Johnson sparked some momentum in the second quarter with two made jump shots and a corner three to close the gap to 17-11. However, the Midshipmen made sure to keep the lead with a three of their own to make it 20-11.
With seven minutes left of the half, the Terriers went on a 13-0 run to make the score 24-20, their first lead of the game. Intense defense from the Terriers, along with a last-minute jumper from Navy kept the score at 24-22 to end the first half.
“Coming into the second quarter, the defensive end was really different,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said. “[The Terriers] looked like a different team, they were really aggressive and started to really own the glass.”
Johnson scored the first six points for BU in the third quarter, maintaining the Terriers’ two-point lead at 30-27 with seven minutes remaining in the period. Weimar scored two baskets in the final 38 seconds, including a buzzer-beating jumper in the high paint, after freshman Sam Crispe sank a left-wing three.
Despite a foul that allowed Navy to make two free throws, BU went on a 13-2 run to extend the lead to 43-32 at the end of the third quarter.
The Terriers continued to solidify their lead, scoring the first 12 points of the fourth quarter. Sophomore Alex Giannaros contributed with a 3-pointer off a fast break, followed by fast break layups from Crispe and Johnson.
“We were able to move the ball and get into ball screens really quickly,” Graves said. “The pace of our post players, sprinting the floor in transition, [I’m] extremely proud of that.”
With a little over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, junior guard Kelsi Mingo scored seven straight baskets for BU, including a 3-pointer that increased the lead to 60-37.
Two last-minute buckets from both teams ended the game with a final score of 62-39.
The Terriers’ fast-paced offense put a dent in the score, but their relentless defense ultimately sent the Terriers home with the victory, making it the first time the team has held an opponent to under 40 points in almost three years.
BU looks to build off this performance as they head into the new year with their Patriot League home-opener against Bucknell on Monday at 2 p.m.