Sydney Johnson works around a defender at the top of the key against UMass Lowell.
Jim Pierce
79
Boston University BU 2-4
82
Winner Harvard HARV 2-4
Boston University BU
2-4
79
Final
82
Harvard HARV
2-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Boston University BU 21 19 19 20 79
Harvard HARV 22 9 22 29 82

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Terriers Edged by Crimson in High-Scoring Affair, 82-79

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior Maren Durant set a career-high with 18 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting performance along with 11 rebounds, and classmate Sydney Johnson posted 20 points and eight assists, but BU (2-4) could not overcome Harvard's hot offense in the second half and fell 82-79 on Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.
 
The Terriers led by as much as 19 in the third quarter. However, the Crimson (2-4) drained 18 of their 29 shots after halftime, including McKenzie Forbes' game-winning three-pointer with less than five seconds left to seal Harvard's victory.
 
BU set its single-game program record by hitting 65.3 percent of its shots, and notched season-highs with 79 points and 19 assists. Four total Terriers reached double figures; in addition to Johnson and Durant, junior Maggie Pina and redshirt senior Emily Esposito recorded 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Forbes registered a game-high 26 points, burying six three-pointers for Harvard. Harmoni Turner had 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • BU jumped out to a 9-3 lead as Esposito hit a right-wing three-pointer 10 seconds into the game, then Durant added four points in the paint.
  • The Terriers led 12-5 following Pina's first triple, but a 7-0 Harvard run knotted the game at 12 with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
  • Johnson found Pina in transition for an acrobatic right-block layup, but Turner nailed a jumper before the buzzer to put the Crimson up 22-21 after one.
  • Esposito dribbled through the paint and found sophomore Caitlin Weimar underneath for a layup to start a 7-0 Terrier run in the second, keeping Harvard off the scoreboard for the first 4:26 of the stanza.
  • Lola Mullaney broke the spurt with a three-pointer, but BU responded with a 6-0 burst over 3:32, capped with Pina's transition layup to make it 34-25 as the clock read 2:25.
  • With 1:37 remaining until halftime, Johnson buried a left-wing triple following Durant's offensive board. The latter corralled another carom when Johnson missed a foul shot and put it back before the clock expired to give BU a 40-31 lead at the break.
  • The Terriers boosted their edge to 50-31 on an extended 13-0 run, including threes from Pina and Esposito and layups from Durant and Weimar.
  • From that point, however, Harvard drained three consecutive triples to cut it to 50-40 BU with 5:09 remaining in the third and force a Terrier timeout.
  • Harvard got as close as 57-53 in the third following Turner's three-pointer, but Johnson converted an underhanded layup to stake BU to a six-point lead at the end of the third.
  • With 6:50 to play, the Crimson took a 64-63 lead on Forbes' left-wing three-pointer, but Johnson countered with a straightaway triple to regain BU's edge, 66-64.
  • From there, each team traded baskets. Harvard went ahead 68-66, only for Weimar to answer with a layup. Mullaney drilled a three matched by junior Liz Shean's triple from the corner.
  • Johnson sank a three-pointer with 3:16 to play, putting BU ahead 74-73.
  • Mullaney's two foul shots and Forbes' jumper had the Crimson in front 77-74, but Johnson found a hustling Weimar on the right block. Johnson then blocked Turner's midrange jumper and went to the basket, scoring the bucket while drawing the foul. She completed the nostalgic three-point play to put the Terriers on top 79-77 at the 1:30 mark.
  • Maggie McCarthy scooped in a layup to equalize with 41 seconds to go. Johnson's ensuing jumper was off the mark, leading to a Harvard timeout with 28.5 seconds left.
  • Forbes worked off a screen to nail the straightaway three with 3.3 seconds on the clock for the game-winner.
 
GAME NOTES
  • BU's shooting splits by quarter were: 64.3%, 70%, 61.5%, and 66.7%.
  • Harvard shot 45.6 percent from the field in the game. Though it shot just 15.8 percent in the second quarter, the team was 50 percent or better in the other three quarters.
  • The Terriers made one more shot than the Crimson (32-31), but Harvard took 19 more shots (68-49), and had 14 three-pointers to BU's 10 on 18 tries (55.6 percent).
  • BU won the boards 34-22, though the Crimson had 12 offensive rebounds to the Terriers' nine.
  • The 65.3 percent shooting performance breaks the record set on March 8, 1990 against Hartford, which was 62.3 percent.
  • BU's 19 assists are the most in a game since the team notched 22 and 19 in consecutive games at Colgate back on Jan. 9 and 10.
  • Johnson recorded the fourth 20-point game in her Terrier tenure, and her third in her last eight games, dating back to last season. She was one helper shy of her career-best.
  • Durant eclipsed her previous high of 17 points vs. Lafayette back on March 7. Saturday was her first double-double of the season, the first since March 9, 2020, and her fourth in her career.
  • Harvard boosts their all-time record against BU to 21-15, and have won six straight in the rivalry.
 
UP NEXT
  • The Terriers look to get back in the win column on Wednesday, Dec. 1, visiting Northeastern at 11 a.m.
  • That game is set to air on NESN.
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