Senior Anastasiia Semenova matched her career high with 21 points and junior Inés Monteagudo Pardo set a personal best with 20 points as the Boston University women’s basketball team defeated Bucknell 68-54 on Saturday at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Boston University (8-17, 4-10 Patriot League) outscored Bucknell (9-16, 5-9 Patriot League) by 20-9 in the fourth quarter. The Terriers held Bucknell to less than 22 percent shooting from three-point range on 28 attempts, ending their five-game losing streak.
Semenova made nine of her 14 shots and led all players with seven rebounds. Monteagudo hit a career-high six three-pointers. Junior Bella McLaughlin contributed 15 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.
Reese Zemitis led Bucknell with 14 points. Mariah Hardy and Tuana Coskun each scored 10 points for the Bison.
Boston University started strong with a 9-0 run in the first three minutes, including layups from McLaughlin and Semenova and a three-pointer from Monteagudo. Sophomore Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir assisted Semenova for another layup to make it 14-4 before Bucknell responded with a six-point run. Freshman Kate Allard stopped that run with a jumper.
Monteagudo’s third three-pointer and a putback layup from McLaughlin gave BU a ten-point lead early in the second quarter. However, Bucknell closed the half on a strong note, scoring 16 of the last 18 points to take a five-point lead into halftime. Hardy scored seven during this stretch while Zemitis hit three three-pointers, including one at the buzzer.
Hardy opened the third quarter with a layup for Bucknell, but BU answered with a 12-0 run featuring two more threes from Monteagudo to reclaim the lead at 40-34. Anna Kunzwiler cut BU’s lead to one possession late in the third quarter, but BU stayed ahead going into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Coskun’s putback brought Bucknell within two points before Semenova responded with a three-pointer. Isabella Casey and Monteagudo traded threes as BU maintained its advantage. In the last four minutes, Semenova and McLaughlin combined for BU’s final twelve points. McLaughlin’s steal and layup restored Boston University’s double-digit lead late in the game.
Boston University shot over fifty-three percent from the field and made nine of eleven shots in the first quarter alone. Monteagudo was responsible for six of BU’s eight total three-pointers as they shot forty percent from beyond the arc overall. The Terriers outrebounded Bucknell by four despite giving up thirteen offensive boards to their opponent.
Semenova’s performance tied her previous career high set against Lafayette earlier this season on January 6th. For Monteagudo, it was her first time reaching twenty points; she made eleven of seventeen threes across two games this week. McLaughlin also tied her personal best for points set against Rider on December 1st; she averaged fourteen-and-a-half points over two games this week along with seven assists per game.
With this win, Boston University improved to three wins without losses in Patriot League games played in Pennsylvania this season after road victories over Lehigh, Lafayette, and now Bucknell. The victory also ended their five-game losing streak against Bucknell; however, Bucknell still leads their all-time series sixteen to eight.
Boston University will play its next game at Colgate on Wednesday (February 18), which will be their regular season road finale.
