Women’s Basketball: Terriers Dominate Against Depleted Lafayette for 13th Straight Win
By Brendan Galvin
It was all smiles at Case Gymnasium on Saturday as the Boston University Women’s Basketball team was too much to handle over a depleted Lafayette College in their 83-54 win, marking the team’s 13th straight win to remain undefeated in conference play.
The Terriers (18-6, 13-0 PL) were able to take advantage of a Lafayette (8-15, 5-8 PL) team with only six active players. A run-and-gun play style and a consistently high tempo on offense quickly tired out the Tigers.
Junior forward Caitlin Weimar continued her dominant season, leading the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Maggie Pina also totaled 19 points, including four 3-pointers, four rebounds and four assists.
BU started the game cold from deep, failing to connect on their first six 3-point attempts. However, senior guard Sydney Johnson, sophomore guard Alex Giannaros and Pina knocked down 3’s to give the Terriers an early five-point lead.
After taking a 24-14 lead after the first quarter, BU held Lafayette to just seven points in the second half, limiting the Tigers to 3-for-13 (23%) shooting in the frame. Lafayette also went on a scoring drought of longer than seven minutes, and BU was able to capitalize and cement their 13th straight win. The win sets a new program record for conference wins in a season.
“The biggest thing to take from this run is to take it one game at a time and continue to try to improve and get better each day,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said.
A shallow bench also meant an adjusted defensive game for the Tigers, who were forced to run a zone the entire game to combat their depth. While the team chose to focus their zone defense on the paint, this left Terrier shooters wide open in the corners for open shots.
Pina, Johnson, Giannaros and senior guard Liz Shean took advantage of the defensive holes, connecting from behind the arc to extend the Terrier lead.
For Lafayette, despite only one player coming off the bench, junior guard Makayla Andrews scored 21 points and pulled in seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Halee Smith and freshman guard Sauda Ntaconayigize each contributed 10 points.
Saturday also marked Senior Day for the Terriers, who celebrated the playing careers of Shean, Johnson and Pina along with guard Annabelle Larnard and forward Maren Durant before tip-off.
“It was a fun experience to celebrate the seniors in general but also to get the win in front of their families. So it’s just a special memory for them,” Graves.
But Graves emphasized that these seniors mean more than just basketball to the team.
“Aside from the basketball piece, [the seniors] have shown tremendous leadership this year,” Graves said.
“To be able to come in in my second year and not have to worry about the things like the team culture, team expectations and teaching the younger players who will be our future leaders is huge,” Graves said.
The Terriers will look to build on their win streak next Wednesday at home against Holy Cross. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.