Bean Town Times

BU Topples Lehigh for Alumni Day Victory, 82-69

 Senior Sydney Johnson scored 22 points, four other Terriers also reached double figures, and the Boston University women's basketball program celebrated its alumnae in style with an 82-69 win over Lehigh on Saturday evening at Case Gym.

BU (15-6, 10-0 PL) overcame a first quarter where it shot just 20 percent, shooting over 60 percent the rest of the game while limiting the Mountain Hawks (10-11, 6-4 PL) below their season scoring average. The Terriers have now won 10 games in a row for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign, and for the fifth time overall.

In addition to Johnson, junior Caitlin Weimar (12 points, nine rebounds), freshman Sam Crispe (11 points, eight rebounds), senior Maren Durant (10 points), and sophomore Lauren Davenport (10 points, eight rebounds) all scored in double digits. Junior Sophie Beneventine had a team-best four assists.

Mackenzie Kramer paced Lehigh with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Frannie Hottinger, the Patriot League's leading scorer, was limited to 14 points on 14 shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU missed eight of its first nine shots to open the contest, but Weimar secured one of 12 first-half Terrier offensive rebounds for a putback that cut the deficit to 5-4 as the clock read 6:15 in the first.
• Trailing 12-8 with under three minutes left in the frame, Weimar sank two free throws, then Johnson's driving layup knotted the game at 12-12.
• Davenport scored seven-straight points for BU on four first-quarter foul shots, then a three to ignite the second. Freshman Sam Crispe then buried a triple on the next possession to widen the Terriers' advantage to 22-15.
• BU ripped off a 15-3 extended run over seven minutes, starting at the 8:05 mark. Weimar accounted for eight points, while Davenport capitalized on a nostalgic three-point play with a drive through the right lane.
• Ahead 37-23 at halftime, Johnson and Crispe found buckets to put the Terriers on top 41-28 in the opening 1:05 of the second half.
• Within 57 seconds, BU scored seven in a row, featuring five points from Johnson on a three plus a steal that led to a layup. The Terriers led 50-30 with 6:47 left in the third.
• Lehigh countered after a timeout with a 9-2 run, but Johnson scored six-straight to replenish the Terrier edge to 58-41.
• In total, the third quarter featured 60 combined points, with BU matching a season-best with 31.
• BU didn't score a basket in the fourth until the 7:16 mark, when sophomore Alex Giannaros received a handoff and nailed a left-elbow jumper. Johnson's following three nearly two minutes later boosted the Terrier advantage to 75-59.
• Senior Maggie Pina helped ice the game with a baseline drive that produced a right-handed layup with 1:05 left, making it 79-62 in BU's favor.

STATS

• In total, the Terriers shot 47.5 percent from the field, their 10th-straight game shooting better than 40 percent, and sixth time in the last seven outings above 47 percent.
• The Mountain Hawks shot 43.1 percent in the game, including a 34.5 percent clip from three-point range.
• BU set a season-high with 17 offensive rebounds, including 12 in the first half. The Terriers held a 45-24 edge on the glass for the game.
• Of those 45 caroms, 22 were from guards.
• The Terriers also set a season-high with 20 made free throws on 87 percent shooting. That marks the most foul shots BU hit in a game since scoring 22 against Marist on Nov. 8, 2019.
• Points in the paint favored BU, 38-24. The Terriers also recorded 16 second-chance points and 12 points off turnovers.

GAME NOTES

• Johnson's 22 points and eight field goals were season-highs. In her last four games against the Mountain Hawks, she is averaging 20.2 points per contest.
• Now with 1,092 career points, Johnson moves into 19th place all-time in program history. She passed Annemarie Olson '94 and Aly Hinton '10 with Saturday's effort.
• Despite leaving the game in the second quarter due to injury, Weimar scored 10 or more points for the 13th time in her last 14 appearances.
• Crispe reached double figures for the first time since Dec. 4 at Boston College.
• Davenport scored all 10 of her points in the first half. She now has five games this year with 10-plus points.
• Durant now has three Patriot League games with 10 or more points.
• BU had five scorers in double digits for the first time since the matchup at Boston College on Dec. 4.
• The Terriers improved to 8-2 at home in 2022-23.
• BU went 9-0 during the month of January, going undefeated in the month for the first time since January of 2012.
• The Terriers pull to within 11-10 of Lehigh in the all-time series.

Original source can be found here