Women’s Basketball: Terriers’ size too much for Colgate as they extend winning streak to nine
By Eli Cloutier
Boston University Women’s Basketball (14-6, 9-0 PL) defeated the Colgate Raiders 58-44 (10-10, 4-5 PL) in Hamilton, New York on Wednesday night, extending their winning streak to nine games.
The Terriers made it a point early in the contest to get the ball down low, where they held a significant size advantage over the Raiders. 12 of BU’s 15 first-quarter points came in the paint. The other three came off made free throws, courtesy of fouls drawn down low.
“We were successful last time we played [Colgate] in paint points, so that was definitely a focus of ours, to just dominate the paint,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said.
The Terriers outrebounded Colgate 42-24, including snagging 16 offensive rebounds.
A big contributor on the glass was junior forward Caitlin Weimar, who finished with 11 boards, including four offensive rebounds. She also finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting, tying a career-high.
“Caitlin had a phenomenal game tonight. It didn’t look like she could be stopped,” Graves said. “[Weimar] was just a real force and so we really focused on getting the ball to her.”
After leading 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, BU turned the ball over eight times in the second 10 minutes, allowing Colgate to take a one-point lead going into halftime, 28-27.
The flip switched once again in the third quarter, as the Terriers outscored Colgate 23-9 in the third period. BU widened their lead with an 11-0 run halfway through the third quarter thanks to six straight points from Weimar, followed by five straight from Maggie Pina, including a made 3-pointer.
BU, known as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, struggled from beyond the arc, shooting an abysmal 2-for-13.
Even with the Terrier’s uncharacteristic shooting woes, it didn’t matter as they took a game-high 17-point lead with 8:19 left in regulation, courtesy of a Maren Durant layup.
Colgate would cut the lead to 12 points as Lindsay Blackmore scored five straight for the home side. The junior forward finished tied for the team-high in scoring with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting while adding a team-high six rebounds. Fellow junior forward Tiasia McMillan also finished the game with 10 points.
The brief 5-0 run was too little too late as the Terriers proved to be too much on both ends.
Graves’ message to her team at halftime was to lock in on the defensive end. They did just that as they held Colgate to just 16 second-half points, and gave up none in the last four minutes of the game.
BU closed out the game to earn their sixth road victory of the season, tying last season’s mark with over a month left to play in the regular season.
“I think with a veteran group who knows what to expect, knows what the culture is, they can get the team going and understand that it is harder to play on the road. I think they have that understanding. They learned from last year and are better for it,” Graves concluded about her team’s improvement away from home this season.
With Holy Cross (16-4, 8-1 PL) losing to Lehigh (10-10, 6-3 PL) 76-74 in overtime earlier in the evening, the Terriers are now in sole possession of first place in the Patriot League.
BU will look to extend its lead in the Patriot League standings when they host Lehigh this upcoming Saturday in Case Gym at 4 p.m.