Women’s Basketball: Terriers Beat the Buzzer in Season Opener

Photo courtesy of Hannah Yoshinaga

By James Noyes

“I was dribbling and all I remember is hearing people counting down from two seconds, and I just throw up a hook shot and hope for the best”

Those were the thoughts racing through star senior forward Caitlin Weimar’s head as she launched the final shot for Boston University women’s basketball (1-0) in their season opener against the UMass Lowell River Hawks (0-1). There were 19.8 seconds left in the game after UMass senior Leilani Rodriguez hit two free throws to tie the game at 58-58. 

As the Terriers set up for the inbound, the noise level inside Case Gym gradually increased to a deafening roar. With the clock under 10 seconds, senior guard Sophie Beneventine circled the arc, and the sounds of the game were drowned out by chants of ‘LET’S GO TER-RIERS’.

Beneventine handed it off to freshman guard Audrey Ericksen, who found her fellow freshman Aoibhe Gormley open in the corner. Gormley, per the Terriers game plan, passed it to Caitlin Weimar with 2 seconds left in the game. Weimar took one dribble, turned into the paint, and floated up a hook shot.

The ball seemed to move through the air in slow motion before finally swishing through the basket. And as the final buzzer sounded, the Terrier faithful erupted and the team came together on the court after a 60-58 victory.

“I’m proud of this team. We found a way to win,” BU head coach Melissa Graves said. “It wasn’t the prettiest of games at all times, and we really needed to dig in and get stops at the end.”

The Terriers did just that and ended up forcing 18 Lowell turnovers. Both freshman guards, Ericksen and Gormley, shined on defense. New faces like sophomore Anete Adler and freshman Inés Monteagudo Pardo also played prominent roles in shutting down the River Hawks’ offense. 

“We have eight new kids, and six of them are freshmen. Our upperclassmen have done a great job of taking them under their wing, showing them what the expectation is,” said Graves. “But I think the biggest thing about the newcomers is that they just play hard. They play really hard.”

The new Terriers had great examples to follow against UMass; Weimar and junior guard Alex Giannaros combined for 47 points. Giannaros scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting, including four three-pointers, along with 4 assists. 

Weimar, last year’s Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and All-Patriot League first-team member, had a sparkling performance to match her dazzling resume. She scored a career-high 33 points, and notched 12 rebounds on the way. Weimar shot 12-20 in her double-double, taking nearly 40% of all Terrier shots. She not only led the game in scoring, she led all of the NCAA’s first division on Monday. 

Weimar’s buzzer beater was the perfect capstone for her dominant night, and the perfect start to the Terriers season. “It’s something that you hope will happen,” said Weimar. “and when it actually does, it just makes all the hard work that we’ve done and all the practices that we did leading up to this game worth it.” 

Following their hard-fought victory, BU will host the University of New Hampshire in Case Gym in Boston on Friday at 5 p.m.