Nov. 22, 2013

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Saturday vs. St. Bonaventure: Listen | GameTracker

STORRS, Conn. – The Boston University women’s basketball team opened the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge with a 96-38 loss to No. 1 Connecticut on Friday night in Gampel Pavilion. BU moves to 1-4 on the season while UConn improves to 6-0.

Sophomore Clodagh Scannell led BU with a career-high nine points off of a trio of 3-pointers while classmate Katie Poppe led the Terriers with seven rebounds. Freshman Sarah Hope was second on the team with seven points while senior Rashidat Agboola finished with six points and four rebounds.

The Huskies, the defending national champions, had four players reach double-figures in scoring and were led by Breanna Stewart’s 25 points. Stefanie Dolson was second on the team with 23 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double while Saniya Chong and Kiah Stokes finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

BU shot 26.9 percent from the floor compared to UConn’s 55.9 percent. The Terriers went 7-of-25 (28.0 percent) from beyond the arc while the Huskies went 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from the 3-point line. UConn held a 41-30 rebounding advantage and converted 24 BU turnovers into 37 points.

The Terriers led early in the game, holding a 5-4 advantage following a 3-pointer from freshman Courtney Latham. The Huskies took a slim lead following a layup from Brianna Banks but Agboola tied the game at 7-7 with 14:28 left in the first half.

After struggling to shoot the ball early, the Huskies took off on a 13-0 run over the next four and a half minutes to open up a 20-7 lead. Scannell answered a 3-pointer from Chung with a trey of her own to cut BU’s deficit to 10 points, 20-10, with 9:26 to play in the half.

The Terriers were held to just one field goal, a 3-pointer from Hope, for the remainder of the first half as the Huskies took a 45-13 lead into halftime.

BU’s post players led the Terriers early in the second half, as Agboola and senior Whitney Turner hit the first three baskets of the second period while Poppe chipped in a pair of free throws to make it 53-21 in favor of the Huskies. From there, the Terriers were held scoreless for over seven minutes before Scannell hit her second 3-pointer of the game with 9:22 remaining in the half.

Scannell connected on her third 3-pointer of the game with 6:27 on the clock and junior Troi Melton scored her first points of the game about a minute later, as the Huskies took a 89-30 lead into the final media timeout called at 3:23.

Senior Melissa Gallo connected on a 3-pointer and a layup in the final minute and Hope sank her second trey of the game, as the Huskies closed out play for the 96-38 victory.

The Terriers will play their second game of the Hall of Fame Challenge on Saturday (Nov. 23) when they face St. Bonaventure in Gampel Pavilion. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.