Women’s Basketball: Terriers Drop Second Game of the Season Against Dartmouth
Featured image by Jackson Shahinfar
By Celine Cheung
Boston University’s Women’s Basketball Team dropped their second game of the season, losing 52-50 against Dartmouth College Friday night at the Case Gym. BU came close to closing the gap in the fourth quarter but ultimately lost by two points.
“Obviously disappointment. I think the whole team is disappointed with this one. Obviously we closed the lead at the end; it was obviously too late,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said. “I just didn’t think we were too focused, clearly, on the offensive side.”
After winning the tip-off, the Terriers brought the intensity from the start and went straight into press defense off of a turnover. Dartmouth’s defense quickly followed and put full-court pressure on BU. The relentless defense from both sides led to five turnovers combined during the nearly four minutes of game play that occurred before the Big Green’s forward Olivia Austin broke the scoreless streak with a post move and a free throw.
Junior guard Bella McLaughlin quickly followed, splitting two defenders and laying it up and in for the Terriers’ first points of the game. In the first five minutes of the game, BU had a 14.3% field goal percentage, with four missed attempts from the 3-point line, compared to Dartmouth’s 50% field goal percentage, who went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. Dartmouth led 6-2 before a media timeout stopped game play.
Both teams utilized a strong defense that caused slow starts offensively. At the end of the first quarter, Dartmouth led 10-9. McLaughlin led the Terriers in points after scoring five in the final 43 seconds of the quarter. Junior guard Audrey Ericksen added two points to BU’s total. On the Big Green side, Alexandra Eldredge played the whole quarter, totaling five points, while Nina Minicozzi also contributed two points.
With a floater from senior forward Anastasiia Semenova, BU went on a 7-0 scoring run from the end of the first quarter to the start of the second. The Terriers even gained the lead for 34 seconds. Dartmouth then responded with an 8-0 run that nearly lasted until the end of the second quarter.
BU had five total steals in the first half, compared to Dartmouth’s three. BU found most of its success when prioritizing team basketball. The Terriers had five first-half assists, while Dartmouth had just one.
Dartmouth led 27-20 at halftime. In the first half, BU utilized their height advantage and scored eight out of 20 points in the paint. The Terriers had seven more 3-point attempts in the second quarter than the first and converted three of those shots.
Coming out of the second half, BU played with more urgency, which led to turnovers on both the Terrier and the Big Green side. While guard Taylor Williams scored four points and forward Allison Schwertner two, it wasn’t enough against the Big Green, who kept a 35-26 lead more than five minutes into the third quarter.
The Terriers began to gain momentum towards the end of the 3rd quarter with a high-jumping steal by Rose Azmoudeh that led to a fast break bucket from Schwertner. After solid defense against Dartmouth’s attempt to run down the clock, BU cut the lead down to eight points, after it reached 11 points in the middle of the third quarter.
Starting the fourth quarter, Dartmouth Head Coach Linda Cimino utilized a new strategy for the game, subbing in Tahira Muhammad and Jacalyn Myrthil for Minicozzi and Ozel for short spurts. Cimino mainly subbed them in while the Big Green went on defense, though he kept them on offense as well.
BU and Dartmouth traded baskets back and forth, allowing Dartmouth to maintain a 10-point lead until halfway through the fourth quarter.
A fast break sprint, a foul taken, and a three pointer by Ericksen caused Dartmouth to call a timeout with 2 minutes left in the game. She made 5 straight points, cutting the lead down to six.
However, Minicozzi responded with a quick drive into the paint and scored off of the inbound play. Schwertner’s shot in the paint, and BU’s defense then forced Dartmouth to heave it at the end of the shot clock. With 21.4 seconds left, the Terriers still trailed by 6 points.
After a BU timeout, McLaughlin was subbed in for the first time since the start of the fourth quarter. She drove in and found Semenova for the easy bucket down low. They cut the lead to four points with 14 seconds left in the game, forcing Dartmouth to call a timeout.
Free throws from Dartmouth and a 3-pointer from Monteagudo kept BU five points away from tying with 1.7 seconds left in the game.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Azmoudeh hit a buzzer-beater three to end the game. However, the Terriers had lost a heartbreaking game, 50-52. BU had a valiant comeback effort, scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter.
“We don’t just have one person we’re relying on every single time. So I think that makes us, not only the five on the court but the five coming in, everyone’s a threat. So I think that makes us a lot harder to guard this year,” Ericksen said.
BU will look for redemption on Tuesday, Nov. 11th, at Northeastern University. Streaming will be available on FloCollege.