Boston University
14-12, 11-3AE
Stony Brook
5-21, 2-12AE
Terriers Earn 72-68 Comeback Victory over Stony Brook
February 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2011
BOSTON - Coming back from a 14-point deficit, the Boston University women's basketball team (14-12. 11-3 AE) earned a 72-68 victory over Stony Brook (5-21, 2-12 AE) on Sunday afternoon at Case Gym. Sophomore Kristen Sims had an impressive game off the bench with a season-high 15 points, while classmate Chantell Alford added 14 and junior Caroline Stewart chipped in 12.
With the win, the program earned its 500th victory in 36 seasons.
The Terriers were down by as much as 14 points, however, a crucial 19-6 run in the first half put them within striking distance and the tightly contested second half turned the Terriers way as Sims played inspired basketball, scoring 11 of her game-high 15 points in that stanza.
Sims earned America East Player of the Game honors after shooting 5-of-8 from the field, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She also hit one critical 3-pointer late in the game to extend the Terriers' lead. Stewart was 4-for-9 from the field with seven rebounds, one assist, and one block. In addition to her 14 points, Alford recorded four steals and five rebounds, while classmate Mo Moran dished out 10 assists.
The Terriers went to the line a season-high 33 times and ended up shooting an impressive .727 (24-of-33) from the charity stripe. BU's bench also played an important part in the triumph as it scored 22 points. BU's aggressive play also forced 21 SBU miscues and it converted on 22 points off those turnovers.
The game was as close as four points, 69-65, with 12 seconds left, and SBU earned a trip to the free throw line, however, two missed attempts maintained the two-possession advantage for the Terriers. Alford hit 1-of-2 down the other end of the court and Sims capped it off with two more freebies to put the game out of reach.
To start the game, the Seawolves came out aggressively and jumped out to a 20-10 lead by the 13:27 mark and held that lead for a few minutes before junior Alex Young jumpstarted the rally with five straight points. Young's 3-pointer sparked a game-changing 19-6 run over the course of six minutes that cut the deficit to just one, 32-31, at 4:49.
Both teams found themselves in foul trouble during the first half and BU was able to get 14 points from the line during the first 20 minutes of action, including one from Stewart when she tied the game at 36-36 with 1:30 remaining in the stanza. However, at the break, the Seawolves still owned a four-point lead, 40-36, as Sam Landers pulled for a jumper and sank two free throws.
The second half was much more closely contested as Sims provided a spark off the bench. At 12:39, she knotted the score at 47-47 with a jumper, and then gave the Terriers their first lead since early in the first half when she went in for a fastbreak layup. One minute later, another fastbreak layup forced SBU into a timeout to regroup but BU would not relent its lead the rest of the way. At 7:16 Stewart hit a jumper that capped off 10-3 run as the Terriers now owned a 59-50 advantage.
The Seawolves would come as close as four points three times in the final three minutes, but clutch free throw shooting from the Terriers sealed the victory.
BU will travel to third-place Binghamton on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
