Women’s Basketball: Terriers Flounder on Offense, Drop Game to Holy Cross
Featured image by Elyse Paugh
By Samantha Genzer
Despite a strong effort from freshman forward Allison Schwertner, who recorded 10 points and eight rebounds, Boston University Women’s Basketball (8-14, 2-9 PL) was unable to overcome Holy Cross (15-7, 8-3 PL) in a 60-47 defeat Saturday at the Hart Center Arena.
The Terriers struggled offensively, shooting under 39% from the field and trailing over 35 minutes of the game. The Crusaders took control midway through the second quarter and maintained the lead — led by forward Meg Cahalan’s career-high 25 points.
“I thought we had good moments. I thought there were some lapses,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said. “We need to take some things away and … get some wins as we go into playoffs.”
Starting the first quarter, Holy Cross opened with a 6-0 run, forcing BU into an early timeout.
“I called the timeout, and I said, ‘We talked about these things that we needed to do better, being aggressive, attacking the rim,’” Graves said. “I thought we executed better after that timeout.”
The Terriers regained strength after the timeout, with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guards Inés Monteagudo Pardo and Aoibhe Gormley.
BU briefly took a 21-18 lead in the second quarter, after an underhanded layup from sophomore guard Bella McLaughlin and a basket from freshman forward Inez Gallegos. Monteagudo’s third three-pointer extended BU’s lead to four, but the Crusaders closed the half on a 12-2 run to take a 32-26 advantage.
In the third quarter, Cahalan extended Holy Cross’ lead by hitting back-to-back three-pointers within the first two minutes.
BU responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a three-point play from junior forward Anete Adler, pulling the Terriers within 38-35.
However, Cahalan hit another three-pointer, and Holy Cross ended the quarter with a buzzer-beating layup by Hannah Griffin, pushing the Crusaders lead to 49-41.
BU struggled offensively in the final quarter, failing to score until Schwertner’s layup with under 4 minutes left in the game.
Holy Cross capitalized on the Terriers’ shooting drought, building a 16-point lead before Cahalan’s fifth and final three-pointer sealed the result at 60-43. Adler’s assist to Schwertner offered a brief bright spot, but BU couldn’t mount a comeback.
Schwertner led nine different Terriers with 10 points, while Monteagudo Pardo added nine. On the defensive end, BU limited the Crusaders to under 27 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Despite the loss, BU’s bench had a strong showing, contributing 26 points, with McLaughlin and Gallegos adding valuable minutes. However, Holy Cross outperformed BU in key areas, including shooting efficiency, rebounding and turnovers.
“I still believe in this team, but we got to find a way to get some wins,” Graves said. “There’s no other option right now but to continue to play hard and to try to keep getting better.”
BU will look to regain their momentum, as they host Bucknell University at Case Gym on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.