Dec. 11, 2007

Box Score

Cambridge, Mass. - The Boston University women's basketball team dropped a 72-62 decision to Harvard on Wednesday evening at the Crimson's Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson hit 18-of-19 free throws in the second half to earn the come-from-behind victory. The Terriers were paced by juniors Jesyka Burks-Wiley and Amarachi Umez-Eronini with 19 and 14 points, respectively. BU falls to 6-4 overall, while Harvard improves to 6-4.

BU shot 32.9 percent from the field and 76.5 percent from the charity stripe. Junior Christine Kinneary chipped in with 12 points and six assists. Senior Kasey Devine swatted three shots to go along with her eight points and two steals, while Burks-Wiley brought down eight boards.

In a fast-paced first half, the Terriers and Crimson traded baskets early and often, as Harvard jumped out to a 12-9 lead by the fifth minute. BU reclaimed the lead as Burks-Wiley nailed a jumper just inside the arc at 14:02. On a quick scoring spurt, BU extended its lead to 18-14 by 12:22, however, the Crimson scored nine consecutive points to take back the advantage, 23-18.

In another lead change, the Terriers took their largest lead of the half, 34-27, at 4:58 on a fast-break play that began with a steal by senior Cheri Raffo just outside the 3-point arc. Kinneary dished it off to junior Amarachi Umez-Eronini, who ran in for the easy layup and the seven-point advantage.

BU took a 42-38 lead into the locker rooms at the break, matching a season-high for points in the first half, while Burks-Wiley and Umez-Eronini posted 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead all scorers. BU capitalized on nine Harvard miscues, posting 15 points off turnovers in the first frame.

The Terriers began the second half with a 9-2 run that extended their lead to 11, 51-40. BU also held Harvard without a field goal for the first 6:45 of the stanza, as it scored its first four points on free throws, however, Emma Moretzsohn broke through with a field goal at 13:15.

Harvard came roaring back into the game, cutting the deficit to four points on back-to-back layups by Lindsay Hallion to move the score to 55-51. Hallion kept the Crimson close to the Terriers, scoring all but two points for Harvard in the first 12 minutes of the second half and going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Harvard's Claire Wheeler made it a two-point game, 57-55, with two made free throws at 8:19. Wheeler gave the Crimson its first lead since the first half with two more free throws at 6:43. Harvard continued to hit its free throws and went up by six when Emma Moretzsohn hit a jumper at 3:47.

Harvard made it an eight-point game, 70-62, at 2:16 on a jumper by Emily Tay and then hit the final basket with 47 seconds remaining.

The Terriers will return to the court on Dec. 27 when it travels to Richmond, Va., for the VCU tournament. BU will face Georgia Southern on the first day of the tourney, before taking on either host VCU or Morgan State on the second day.