Women’s Basketball: Terriers Complete Crusade of Holy Cross to Win Turnpike Trophy
Featured image by Jackson Shahinfar
By Ryan Abazari
Boston University Women’s Basketball (8-12, 2-7 PL) defeated the Holy Cross Crusaders (14-6, 7-2 PL) 52-49 to take home the Turnpike Trophy, and get revenge in a rematch of last year’s Patriots League Championship game where the Terriers finished only six points away from the school’s second ever NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth conference championship.
Having beaten the Crusaders at Case Gymnasium last year, the teams would enter this year’s matchup on opposite sides of the standings, with the Terriers being tied for second last in the Patriots League with one win and the Crusaders being tied for the league lead having only one loss. The Terriers hoped to emulate the performance put on earlier in the season by the Navy Midshipmen, who are the sole team to beat the Crusaders in 2025.
Speaking about the importance of this game for the Terriers, Head Coach Melissa Graves said “We really looked at this game as one where we were really motivated coming in, obviously, with the rivalry.”
Alex Giannaros would start the game off for the Terriers, scoring the first points of the game with a three, three minutes into the game just as she had done last time out against the Bucknell Bisons. A very important shot that would tie her for 4th all time in BU history, with Kristi Dini at 208 for both their careers, and give the Terriers a solid start.
After Giannaros’s three, the game would slow down and would see just three made shots between both teams in the first five minutes of the game, leaving Holy Cross with a six to three lead after six minutes of game time. The Terriers would keep the deficit at only three by the end of the first quarter, trailing 12-9.
A slightly nervy moment in the second quarter, Terriers star Giannaros dove over the Crusaders bench for a loose ball and went crashing over the seats. She thankfully would get up mostly unharmed, apart from a potentially bruised ego as she was unable to save the ball. The hustle from Giannaros was necessary as the Crusaders, knowing of her accolades and ability, would spend most of the game tightly marking her and doubling her on numerous occasions.
A smooth passing move from the Terriers with two minutes left in the half saw the Crusaders double team Giannaros on the left side who threw it over the defender’s arms to Sisi Bentley. After a dribble she stumbled, but before falling down she managed to spot a wide open Aoibhe Gormley across the court in the right corner who sank the corner three and cut the Crusaders’ lead to five. This meant the Terriers would enter the break trailing 25-21.
Audrey Ericksen hit a big corner three with 6:22 in the third quarter to give the Terriers a 27-26 lead, their first lead since early in the first quarter and one that would culminate the end of a great Terriers run where they erased the Crusaders earlier double digit lead, and have them end the third quarter with the lead 35-33.
Starting a fourth quarter with everything to play, the Terriers lost their one score lead as both teams would go blow for blow.
Alex Giannaros broke the tie with Kristi Diani with a incredibly clutch step back three pointer that sent The Roof into a pandemonium and give the Terriers a 49-47 lead with under 40 seconds to go in regulation, a lead they would never relinquish and the final of 18 lead changes in the contest.
The Terriers followed it up with a steal of the ball and after getting fouled, Giannaros made both of her free throws, giving her double digits on the night and the Terriers a 51-47 lead. After a Holy Cross basket and Anete Adler going 1-2 from the line, the Crusaders got the ball down 52-49 with only 6.5 seconds left, and a chance to send the game to overtime.
Giannaros then put her final stamp on the game, blocking the Crusaders’ three pointer and giving the Terriers the 52-49 win, snapping their five game losing streak and getting revenge for last year’s championship.
Adler had a game high and set a new career high of 19 points off the bench, less than 48 hours after she had set her previous career high of 15 against Bucknell. When asked about her performance and back to back career highs she said, “It’s been a long ride. I had a big injury, and getting that confidence has been a rocky, rocky road, but thanks to my teammates mostly…I gotta give credit to my teammates for that, for feeding me in the post and by giving me the ball.”
The Terriers will return for the second game of their homestand where they will take on the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds on Saturday at Case Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN+.