Women’s Basketball: BU defeats Army, snaps three-game losing streak

Featured image by Jacob Ireland

By Henry Dinh-Price

BOSTON – BU had to have it. And it got it done. 

After suffering their first three-game losing streak since December 2021, the Terriers are back in the win column.

BU (14-9, 6-6 PL) excelled on both ends, defeating the Army Black Knights (10-2, 7-5 PL), 72-64, at Case Gym on Wednesday. 

“I thought it was just overall a great effort to get us back into the win column,” head coach Melissa Graves said. 

Leading the way was none other than Caitlin Weimar, BU’s star senior forward. Weimar was masterful, tallying 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, seven blocks, six assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Weimar was the offensive engine, but that didn’t stop her from hosting a block party as well. She did everything in her power to ensure that BU’s losing streak would come to an end. 

“We’ve been dying to get another win. We feel like we haven’t been playing to our potential,” Weimar said. 

Early on, it looked like the losing streak might continue. Army came out firing, taking a 21-11 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. 

The Terriers started to chip away at the deficit, but Army remained in front for the majority of the first half. 

BU, however, closed the half on a 7-0 surge and went into halftime up, 36-34. 

The Terriers stayed hot after the break.  

BU made 8-of-11 shots in the third quarter and held Army to 35 percent shooting. The only problem? Army grabbed five offensive rebounds in the third. The Black Knights shot 6-for-17 in the frame, but the six extra shots were an equalizer. BU outscored Army by just one point and entered the fourth ahead, 53-50. 

“The third quarter, we came out and gave up a ton of (offensive rebounds),” Graves said. 

Offensive rebounds and extra possessions were the only way Army stuck around. BU’s offense was clicking all game, shooting 54 percent (27-for-50) and 44 percent (8-for-18) from 3. The Terriers also held Army to just 38 percent (26-for-68) from the field. But the Black Knights took an extra 18 shots.

BU’s 19-to-6 advantage in free throw attempts skews the discrepancy, but Army still outrebounded the Terriers 11-to-3 on the offensive glass. 

“Army’s probably the best offensive rebounding team, aside from Holy Cross, in the conference. Last game we gave up 21 (offensive rebounds) and had 16 less shots off of that, and it wasn’t the foul differential that skewed it at all. So that was a huge focus for us,” Graves said. 

Ultimately, BU did enough to keep Army from killing them on the boards. In BU’s 61-57 road loss to Army earlier this year, it didn’t. 

“They’re always going to be a really good offensive rebounding team, so to hold them, you know, 11 instead of 21. I’m happy, much happier with that,” Graves added. 

With seven-and-a-half minutes remaining, the Terriers found Weimar inside, as they had all night. Army brought a double team, but Weimar kicked it to an open Kelsi Mingo on the weak side. Mingo, a senior guard, buried the right-wing 3 to give BU a 59-54 lead. 

“Just trying my best to recognize and find the best shot that I can,” Weimar said. “If I can’t make the move quick enough before the double comes, like looking opposite and having trust in my shooters. Kelsi and Inés really did a great job hitting that shot, too.”

Mingo finished with 11 points off the bench with three 3s. Freshman guard Inés Monteagudo did the same. 

After two scoreless minutes, freshman guard Aoibhe Gormley caught a pass from Weimar on the left wing. She surveyed, waiting for Weimar to set her a screen. Instead, the Army defenders sagged off, daring Gormley to make them pay. She did just that. Gormley drilled the 3, putting BU ahead 62-54, courtesy of an 8-0 run. 

“Take what the defense gives you. Usually, I’m looking more to attack which is why the defense plays me like that sometimes,” Gormley said. “On that one, I felt confident enough to put the shot up and luckily it went in.” 

Gormley, Mingo, and Monteagudo combined for 29 bench points, far outnumbering Army’s 11. 

Monteagudo nailed her third 3 of the game with four minutes on the clock. It put the Terriers back up by eight, 67-59. Each team failed to score after that until the final minute, all but sealing BU’s victory.

“I thought it was a total team effort. The way we got stops toward the end, the way we won the second half,” Graves said. 

The victory puts BU back on track, after its roughest stretch of the season. The Terriers needed this.  

“I think it was really important, you know, obviously not just for standings, but just for morale, for confidence pieces,” Graves said.

The Terriers now find themselves at 6-6 in Patriot League play, right in the middle of a jam-packed conference. BU is in a three-way tie for fifth, but it sits just two games behind first-place Holy Cross (14-9, 8-4 PL), who have lost three straight games. 

With six games remaining in the regular season, and so little space separating Patriot League foes, it will be a thrilling race to the finish. 

“I thought we’ve been really, you know, holding them accountable to a higher level in practice,” Graves said. “It’s been really good for us and I see the improvements.”

“If we can keep trending that way… I think we’ll be in a pretty good position moving forward.”