Box Score

BOSTON - Trailing by one midway through the second half, the Boston University women's basketball team (11-6, 5-0 AE) used a 12-2 run to distance itself from defending conference champion Hartford (8-8, 3-1 AE) and claim a 76-65 victory on Wednesday evening at Case Gym. Four Terriers scored over 15 points to help extend BU's winning streak to six games and grab sole possession of first place in the America East.

The Terriers were firing on all cylinders with impressive performances from multiple players. Senior Amarachi Umez-Eronini led with a season-high 19 points, backed by a 7-for-10 showing from the free-throw line, and earned five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Classmate Kristi Dini, BU's America East Player of the Game, added 16 points on 6-for-9 field goal shooting, which included four baskets from behind the arc, to go along with six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley and junior Aly Hinton came on strong in the second half and went on to post 18 and 15 points, respectively, while senior Christine Kinneary dished out a season-high nine assists in the contest.

BU defended its home court for the second straight year against the Hawks, shooting 52.0 percent for the game and 73.1 from the charity stripe. BU edged Hartford in rebounding, 32-20, and in points in the paint, 28-26, and made the most of the Hawks' 15 miscues to score 21 points off turnovers.

It was a game of runs from the onset as the Terriers opened the showdown with an 11-2 stretch that spanned the first five minutes of the game. During this timeframe, Dini set the tone with a pair of threes from Umez-Eronini, but the Hawks responded with an 11-1 run of their own, moving the score to 13-12 in their favor at 11:25.

From there BU steadily reclaimed the lead and went up by as many as seven, 22-15, at 7:34, helped by three layups from Kinneary within a two-minute span. But, with just over three minutes remaining in the stanza and the score knotted at 25 the Hawks outscored the Terriers by an 11-6 margin to take a 34-31 advantage into the locker rooms at halftime.

In the second half, BU wasted no time as Burks-Wiley and Hinton's back-to-back jumpers put the squad on top, 37-36. Over the next four minutes, the Terriers and Hawks battled through two ties and three lead exchanges before a 9-0 spurt forced Hartford to call a timeout and regroup. Following the break, the Terriers continued to distance themselves from the Hawks as the game-changing 12-2 run continued.

The rest of the way BU kept Hartford at arm's length and extended its lead to as much as 13, 68-55, with 3:52 left to put the game out of reach. The Hawks came as close as nine, but not enough time was left on the clock for a rally as the Terriers took home their fifth-straight double-figure victory.

The Terriers will look to continue in their winning ways with a trip to Maine on Saturday (Jan. 23) with a 7 p.m. start time.