Women’s Basketball: Terriers Look to Rebound Against Maine in Thursday Matchup
Featured image by Jackson Shahinfar
By Samantha Genzer
Boston University Women’s Basketball (1-2, 0-0 PL) will host the University of Maine Black Bears (2-2,0-0 AL East) in a matchup on Thursday, Nov. 21 at Case Gymnasium.
The Terriers, ranked seventh in the Patriot League, started their season with a win against Northeastern University and Emmanuel College but fell to the University of New Hampshire and University of Connecticut.
The Black Bears, on the other hand, are currently fifth in the America East conference and opened their season with a win against La Salle University but dropped their most recent contest to Harvard on Nov. 17.
The last meeting between BU and Maine during the 2021-22 season ended in a nail-biter, with the Terriers falling 59-57 in an away game. The matchup featured back-and-forth lead changes, with turnovers and fouls proving costly for BU in the closing minutes.
This time, the Terriers will have home-court advantage as they aim for redemption.
BU senior guard Alex Giannaros has been the team’s standout performer this season, recently scoring her 1,000th career point during the Nov. 16 game against New Hampshire. Giannaros enters Thursday’s matchup as a preseason All-Patriot League selection, following her Third-Team All-Patriot League honors last year.
Giannaros is joined by co-captains junior forward Anastasiia Semenova and sophomore guard Audrey Eriksen, who both look to make significant contributions. Eriksen was the only Terrier to start all 32 games last season, while Semenova has shown steady improvement across her career.
Supporting Giannaros offensively, junior forward Anete Adler and sophomore guard Aoibhe Gormley have each averaged nine points per game this season.
Freshman forward Allison Schwertner has emerged as a key defensive presence for BU, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game. In the Terriers’ most recent outing, she pulled down an impressive 16 rebounds, including 13 on the defensive end.
For Maine, junior guard Sarah Talon has been a consistent scorer, recording 10 points against Harvard and 17 points in a win over the University of Rhode Island.
Senior forward Adrianna Smith has taken on a pivotal leadership role for the Black Bears following the graduation of Anne Simon, last season’s America East Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
Smith’s dominance was on full display in the 2022-23 season, where she tied for fifth nationally with 22 double-doubles, ranking alongside collegiate stars like LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark — both now in the WNBA.
The Terriers will aim to shake off their recent loss to UNH by leveraging their home-court advantage and dynamic guard play. Maine, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from their defeat to Harvard and build momentum heading into conference play.
The Terriers will face the Black Bears on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. at Case Gymnasium, with the matchup streaming on ESPN+ and SNY.