Women’s Basketball: Terriers Bite Lehigh on Alumni Weekend

By James Noyes

Case Gym was rocking Saturday when Boston University Women’s Basketball (15-6, 10-0 PL) beat the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks (10-11, 6-4 PL) 82-69. This win marks the Terriers 10th straight as they remain undefeated in Patriot League play this season.

It was a big win for other reasons, too; former Terriers from six different decades were honored before tip-off to celebrate BU’s alumni weekend. The alumni included Terrier legend Debbie Miller, who was twice a finalist for the Margaret Wade Trophy during her career at BU. 

The presence of past greats motivated the team, coaches and crowd, and made the lashing of Lehigh even better, according to BU Head Coach Melissa Graves. 

“For us to get this win at home in front of all of our alums and friends and family feels really good,” Graves said.

No matter what they did, Lehigh could not stop the hottest team in the Patriot League; three fouls against the Mountain Hawks in the first minute of the game stirred up the BU crowd. BU senior forward Maren Durant scored the first points of the game for the Terriers with a shifty spinning layup, and the noise from the crowd grew louder.

The first quarter was characterized by tough defense. Both teams finished with a combined 17 turnovers. While Lehigh was unable to find any real vulnerability in the Terrier defense, BU got good looks around the basket thanks to the amazing court vision of their guards, notably senior guard Sydney Johnson.

“I love to pass, that’s one of my favorite things to do,” Johnson said. “I just try to look for openings as much as I can.”

The distributor Johnson nailed a 3-pointer on what seemed to be the last Terrier possession of the quarter, before she stole the Lehigh inbound pass and closed out the quarter with a smooth layup to put BU up 16-15. 

The Terriers dominated the second quarter from start to finish. Two consecutive 3-pointers from Lauren Davenport and Sam Crispe to open the quarter got the BU crowd on their feet.

Davenport shined, playing lockdown defense and scoring in a variety of ways. Halfway through the quarter, Davenport drove inside, jumped, absorbed the contact, drew a foul and scored before landing hard. The Terrier bench and crowd exploded as she slowly rose to her feet and drained the And-1.

“We went into the second quarter with a defensive mindset,” Graves said. “We held them to eight points, which says a lot to a team that can score the way they can.”

Junior forward Caitlin Weimar also took over in the second quarter. The Lehigh bigs were no match for Weimar, who used her length to score in the paint at will. 

Weimar was the focal point of the quarter for the Terriers, scoring eight points along with a strong block that made the crowd inside Case Gym erupt. However, Weimar re-aggravated her previous foot injury from earlier in the season and had to leave the game with 2:17 left in the second quarter.

A Maggie Pina layup to finish the quarter put the Terriers ahead 37-23 at halftime. While the first half was dominated by Weimar and Davenport, Sydney Johnson took over in the second.

As the Terriers kept their lead in the third, the crowd only got louder. A Johnson three, then subsequent steal and layup to extend the lead to 20, got everyone inside Case Gym on their feet.

Later in the quarter, Johnson swooped in for another steal and layup, then hit a smooth jumper on the next Terrier possession. At the end of the third quarter, BU led 68-52.

Lehigh junior guard Mackenzie Kramer kept hitting tough shots to keep the game from becoming a blowout, but as the clock ticked down it became clear that BU was in the driver’s seat.

In the fourth quarter, a Johnson 3-pointer, then a Davenport block served as the hammer and nails for Lehigh’s coffin. Johnson buried the Mountain Hawks with 22 points, four offensive rebounds and two steals. Weimar, Crispe and Davenport also scored in double figures for the Terriers.

With their win streak extended to 10 games, BU will get a much-needed break this week before they take on Loyola Maryland at Case Gym in Boston on Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.