Women’s Basketball: The Terriers fall to the Black Knights 62-69 in another competitive matchup

 By Jane Guay 

There’s something about the number three that brought out the bad luck of the competitive matchup between the Boston University Women’s Basketball team (7-16, 3-9 PL) and the Army West Point Women’s Basketball team (19-5, 10-3 PL). Whether it be the inability to block open threes made by the Black Knights or the trifecta of black and gold jersey numbers 20, 21, and 22, the number three will haunt the Terriers after their ultimate loss of 62-69 on Wednesday night. 

Right off the bat, the Black Knights were easily hitting shot after shot from the three-point line. Army’s junior guard Taylor Wilson opened up the game with her own back-to-back three-pointers, not knowing that many more were on the way for Wilson and her teammates. While this showcased the Black Knights’ offensive capabilities, this was mainly a fault of the Terriers’ defensive strategy. Not only did their defense struggle early on, but so did their ability to connect as a team, ultimately slowing down their rhythm. 

“I think sometimes we let teams go on runs, and then we let it just really pin us down,” junior guard Bella McLaughlin stated in a post-game press conference while discussing the Terriers as a unit.

The Terriers’ senior forward Anastasiia Semenova attempted to gain momentum to finish off the first quarter with a made three, just for the Black Knights’ senior guard Reese Ericson to get the last laugh with her first made three of the night.  This made up one of the six threes Ericson hit from beyond the arc on Wednesday night, making it her season high.  Ericson also contributed 19 points total, another season high for the Black Knight. 

In neighboring jersey numbers, junior guard Camryn Tade and Wilson helped the trio score a collective 46 of the Black Knights’ 69 points to end the night. Not only did these three athletes work well together to build a consistent momentum in the Army’s energy throughout the game, but they also exposed the not-as-consistent defensive effort by the Terriers.

The Terriers were able to contribute their own offensive strategy into the mix, especially in the second and third quarters. Specifically, the Terriers’ junior guard Inés Monteagudo finished the night with five three-point shots made and 15 points, two career highs for the Terrier. 

“That’s something we need from our wings consistently, the ability to hit from the outside so we can have inside and outside,” Coach Melissa Graves stated when discussing how large of an impact Monteagudo had on the floor. 

This type of offensive strategy is what allowed for some gained momentum for the Terriers, leading them to cut down the lead to single digits by the end of the third quarter. 

“[I and Ava, along with the captains] need to set the tone, but we do our best when everybody’s kind of with us there and feeding off of what we bring . . . we couldn’t do it without all of us,” McLaughlin stated when discussing the team’s collective effort in terms of energy. 

Unfortunately for the Terriers, the team finished off the night with sloppy turnovers and mistakes that overcame a potential comeback after cutting the lead to six with just two minutes to go.

“They had 25 points off the turnovers,” Coach Graves stated in reference to the Terriers’ inability to carry out certain plays. 

This ultimately came from a rush to get anything to hit after seeing the time quickly head to zero, where the Terriers lost their quality altogether. 

While there were moments of the team coming together as a collective unit, it wasn’t enough, as after a hard fight, the Terriers fell to the Black Knights 62-69. The Terriers will look to end their losing streak of five when they play the Bucknell Bison on Saturday, February 14, at 2 p.m. away in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.