Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season With a 95-72 Loss to First-Place Boston University

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Boston, Mass. – Senior Amarachi Umez-Eronini netted 24 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead Boston University to a convincing 95-72 victory over UAlbany in America East Conference women’s basketball action at Case Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With their 17th straight victory on Senior Day, the Terriers became the first America East school to finish the regular season undefeated in league play since Maine accomplished the feat in the 2002-03 season.

Boston U. (22-6, AE 16-0), which entered the weekend as one of only five teams left in the country unbeaten in conference play, scored the first four points before the Great Danes converted three shots from the free throw line. Leading 8-5, the Terriers broke the game open with a 17-2 run to go ahead 25-7 with 13:40 left in the half. Kristi Dini, one of four Terriers to eclipse double figures in scoring over the first 20 minutes, closed out the stretch with four three-point field goals.

Led by Tabitha Makopondo and Charity Iromuanya, UAlbany (5-24, AE 3-13) scored 13 of the next 20 points to close the gap to 12 at 32-20 at the 9:15 mark. However, Boston U. did not allow the Great Danes to get any closer the rest of the stanza. The lead grew to as many as 20 points, and a layup by Kerry Cashman as time expired gave the Terriers a 53-36 advantage at the break.

UAlbany scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 13-point deficit. Iromunaya hit a short jumper, and Britney McGee followed up with a pair of free throws. After shooting 60 percent in the first half, Boston U. answered with a 12-2 run, as a three-pointer by Jesyka Burks-Wiley gave her team a 65-42 advantage. Iromuanya cut the lead down to 19 with a conventional three-point play, but that was as close as the Great Danes would come the rest of the way before suffering the 23-point defeat.

In addition to Umez-Eronini, Boston University, which netted a season-high for points in the contest, was paced by classmates Christine Kinneary, Burks-Wiley and Dini. All four players netted at least 15 points in their final game at Case Gymnasium. In addition to scoring 18 points, Kinneary also contributed 11 assists while committing only one turnover

UAlbany was led by Iromuanya, who matched a season-high with 14 points. She also grabbed a team-best six rebounds. Janea Aiken scored a team-leading 17 points, while McGee added 13.

“I thought they had too many offensive weapons for us to handle,” said head coach Trina Patterson, whose team was outrebounded for just the first time over the past four games to close out the regular season. “I thought that our players shot the ball well. If we could have played better defense, it would have been a much better game. Charity was excellent today. (Our team) will need to bring the same amount of energy as she did off the bench today to be successful in the tournament.”

For the game, Boston University outshot UAlbany from the field, 53.9 percent (41-76) to 51.9 percent (28-54) and beyond the arc, 38.1 percent (8-21) to 28.6 percent (2-7). The Terriers, who also held a 39-26 advantage on the boards, outshot the Great Danes, 83.3 percent (5-6) to 70 percent (14-20) from the charity stripe.