{"id":37218,"date":"2023-03-12T21:31:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T01:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=37218"},"modified":"2023-03-12T21:31:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T01:31:55","slug":"womens-basketball-terriers-fall-short-in-patriot-league-championship-game-against-holy-cross-in-instant-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/03\/12\/womens-basketball-terriers-fall-short-in-patriot-league-championship-game-against-holy-cross-in-instant-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Basketball: Terriers fall short in Patriot League Championship Game against Holy Cross in Instant Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Cover Photo Credit: Eliza Nuestro<\/em><\/p>\n

Boston University Women\u2019s Basketball (24-8, 17-1 PL) couldn\u2019t complete a 16-0 fourth quarter run in the Patriot League Championship Game, running out of clock against the Holy Cross Crusaders (24-8, 13-5 PL) and falling 66-61.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With two-and-a-half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Sydney Johnson\u2019s sudden crossover dropped Crusader senior guard Addisyn Cross to the hardwood. The 3-pointer that followed was Johnson\u2019s third of the game and her 10th point of the quarter, bringing BU to within one point after trailing by as much as 22 with two minutes left in the third.<\/span><\/p>\n

The home crowd almost blew through the roof of The Roof at Case Gymnasium, the pinnacle of an electric 26-6 Terrier run over 12 in-game minutes. A run that, after four-straight scoreless BU possessions to close the game, ended a couple of baskets short.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be down 22 and to cut the lead on a run of our own, it was tremendous,\u201d BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said. \u201cIf we could have just started that way from the beginning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BU trailed by nine points at the half on the back of a 9-4 Holy Cross run over the last five minutes of the second quarter. Holy Cross junior guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy was perfect from the field in the first half (6-for-6), ending the first two quarters with 15 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBronagh is a tough matchup for us, because she\u2019s basically a guard,\u201d Graves said.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 5-foot-10, Power-Cassidy was one of the tallest players on the floor, but did most of her work on the perimeter. She didn\u2019t miss a shot, from the field or the free-throw line, until late in the third-quarter, and finished as the game\u2019s leading scorer with 21 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

Power-Cassidy\u2019s contested free-throw line jumper with two minutes left in the game gave the Crusaders a three-point lead that was enough to outlast the Terriers. It came directly out of the timeout that followed Johnson\u2019s ankle-breaking 3-pointer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Power-Cassidy] has just had an amazing, amazing tournament,\u201d Holy Cross Head Coach Maureen Magarity said. \u201cBronagh has just been so locked in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to commend the rest of my team,\u201d Power-Cassidy said. \u201cThey\u2019ve gotten me the ball, so the least I can do is put it in the basket.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Holy Cross junior forward Janelle Allen had 16 points, going 4-for-5 from the field in the second half. Postmate Lindsay Berger added 11, and the two led the Crusaders\u2019 third quarter charge with 13 combined points in the period.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many different weapons,\u201d Magarity said. \u201cThose were big shots [in the third quarter].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Crusaders led by 14 entering the fourth quarter, but only after leading by 22 two minutes earlier. A flurry of defensive action from the Terriers, sparked by Graves\u2019 decision to move to a full-court press, produced an 8-0 run to end the third quarter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe press was really effective,\u201d Graves said. \u201c[The press] got them to turn it over, and to take not such great shots.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A wide-open Holy Cross layup with 4:46 left in the third quarter prompted Graves to call an immediate timeout, as the Crusaders were shooting over 70 percent from the field (19-for-27). In the 15 minutes that followed, riddled with BU\u2019s consistent full-court press, the Crusaders shot under 24% (4-for-17) and scored eight points.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTheir pressure got us a little bit off tempo,\u201d Magarity said.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a home crowd unwilling to quit behind them, the Terriers opened the fourth quarter on another 8-0 run. After a layup on the first possession of the quarter, Johnson stroked BU back within single-digits with a confident pull-up 3-pointer in transition at 9:01.<\/span><\/p>\n

After picking up her third personal foul in the second quarter and sitting out the last 4:27 of the first half, Johnson played all 20 minutes of the second half and finished with 19 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGetting down and finding a way to come back, that\u2019s been our M.O., especially in the postseason,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI mentioned to the team during halftime that we\u2019ve done crazier things before, so anything is possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Johnson played the second half with three fouls, Maren Durant fouled out with 2:54 left in the third quarter. It was her replacement off the bench, sophomore wing Lauren Davenport, whose contributions energized what was the defining run of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Davenport\u2019s tough three-point play over Allen with five seconds left in the third quarter carried BU\u2019s momentum into the fourth, where her block of Crusader Kaitlyn Flanagan led to a Maggie Pina 3-pointer that cut the lead to six with over seven minutes left.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLauren really stepped up and played well for us,\u201d Graves said. \u201cNot just defensively but she was able to score the ball and she played really hard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers, fighting through Johnson and Durant\u2019s foul trouble and their largest deficit against a Patriot League opponent of the season, came within one point of climbing all the way back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really fought,\u201d Graves said. \u201cI can\u2019t be upset with the fight in the team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people start believing and start having an intensity about themselves that we can win this game, that\u2019s when we started playing really well,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIf we would have come out with that from the jump, the score might have been different.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Recovering from a tearful and prolonged postgame assembly with her team, Graves turned the Terriers\u2019 attention to the NIT, for which BU qualified by virtue of their regular season conference championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have basketball to play in the NIT, and it\u2019s still a really good tournament,\u201d Graves said. \u201cWe can make a run there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the NIT is a consolation prize for the Terriers. With their win, Holy Cross advances to the NCAA Tournament through the Patriot League\u2019s lone automatic ticket. Selected as a No. 15 seed in the second of two regions in Greenville, South Carolina, they\u2019ll play second-seeded Maryland later this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be the Crusaders\u2019 first appearance at March Madness since 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust an incredible day for our program,\u201d Magarity said. \u201cI\u2019ve cried quite a bit but I can\u2019t say enough about this team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute I stepped foot on campus this summer, I knew we had a special group,\u201d Magarity said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Graves and the Terriers, a historic season ends in heartbreak, the countless records broken all paling in significance to the one that eventually eluded them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo win a Patriot League championship would just be the ultimate goal for everybody,\u201d Graves said on Feb. 6, before their 12th of a record-breaking 17-straight conference wins. It would have been BU\u2019s first conference title since 2003 and the first Patriot League Championship in program history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cObviously [the loss] is disappointing, but it doesn\u2019t negate what we\u2019ve done all year,\u201d Graves said. \u201c[We] set a tremendous legacy here, especially for our five seniors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of everything that we\u2019ve accomplished this year as a team, and I\u2019m excited for the team going forward,\u201d Johnson said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan Cover Photo Credit: Eliza Nuestro Boston University Women\u2019s Basketball (24-8, 17-1 PL) couldn\u2019t complete a 16-0 fourth quarter run in the Patriot League Championship Game, running out of clock against the Holy Cross Crusaders (24-8, 13-5 PL) and falling 66-61.\u00a0 With two-and-a-half minutes left in the fourth quarter, Sydney Johnson\u2019s sudden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":36423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,1039,1040],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37220,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37218\/revisions\/37220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}