By: Hannah Yoshinaga
After building an early lead, the Boston University women’s basketball team defeated Colgate 60-58 and handed the Raiders their first home loss of the season.
The Terriers (13-10, 8-4 PL) are now owners of a five-game win streak, with four of those wins coming against teams with winning records. The victory moved them into second place in the Patriot League.
Leading the charge once again was freshman Maggie Pina. The standout guard made it rain from deep, and all of her made field goals were three-pointers. Pina finished with a team-best 18 points.
In addition to scoring 12 points, junior point guard Katie Nelson helped to facilitate the Terrier offense. Nelson dished out seven assists, tying her season high. Her seven rebounds also helped the Terriers record a 29-23 advantage over the Raiders on the boards.
Rebounds were key to the game, with each team choosing to focus more on inside scoring than perimeter shooting. The Terriers and Raiders attempted only 21 combined three-pointers all night. BU scored 28 points in the paint, while Colgate scored 32 points..
Helping out in the frontcourt were freshman forward Maren Durant and sophomore forward Riley Childs. Durant scored seven points and collected seven boards. Childs ended with nine points and six rebounds.
In only her fifth game off the bench this season, senior center Nia Irving stabilized the reserve unit. She scored 12 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting night from the field against Colgate.
The Raiders’ bench players had to shoulder much more of the load on offense than the Terriers. With Colgate starters Nia Ahart and Alexa Brodie making one field goal apiece, backup guards Tegan Graham and Haley Greer picked up the slack and scored 17 of the Raiders’ 23 bench points.
Although the Terriers’ defensive efforts forced the Raiders into several bad shots and turnovers, BU struggled to keep the ball under control as well. The Terriers committed 28 giveaways, easily their worst mark of the season. Prior to Wednesday’s contest, BU had not turned the ball over more than 27 times since November 13, 2009 against Kentucky.
The Terriers will get a good opportunity to regroup on defense in their next league matchup against Navy. The Mids average only 53.2 points per game, the worst offensive ranking in the league by almost five points. BU and Navy square off at Case Gym on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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