BOSTON - Freshman Alex Giannaros notched a career-high with 24 points, junior Sydney Johnson added 14 points, and the Boston University women's basketball team captured its fourth consecutive victory with a 64-56 triumph over Army West Point on Wednesday evening at Case Gym.

The two teams were locked into a defensive battle in the first half, as both teams shot less than 32 percent during that span and just reached the 20-point plateau. However, after the Black Knights (7-6, 2-2 PL) took a 29-28 lead early in the third quarter, the Terriers (8-7, 4-0 PL) ripped off a 24-8 run within the next nine minutes to take a commanding 15-point lead. Army threatened late, pulling within seven in the final minute, but BU closed out the game to improve to 6-2 at home this year.

Junior Maren Durant snagged a career-high 16 rebounds, and with three blocks on the evening moved into 10th place all-time in Terrier history in career rejections with 96. Senior Chiara Tibbitt came off the bench and corralled eight boards as the Terriers out-rebounded the Black Knights 41-29.

Kate Murray led Army with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while Kamryn Hall added 12 points. The Black Knights' leading scorer heading into the matchup, Alisa Fallon, was scoreless.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Giannaros scored BU's first four points, but that was the only amount of points each team posted ahead of the first media timeout at 4:37 in the first.
• The Black Knights went ahead 11-7 after five straight points from Murray, but sophomore Sophie Beneventine nailed a jumper to cut the Terriers' deficit to two after the first 10 minutes.
• In the second, neither side had more than two consecutive buckets, and Army only had back-to-back field goals once. 
• Hall swished a jumper inside the arc with under two minutes to halftime, but sophomore Caitlin Weimar found her classmate, Beneventine, alone on the left wing for a three-pointer that staked BU to a 22-21 halftime advantage.
• Triples from Murray and Hope Brown opened the third quarter for the Black Knights, putting them ahead 27-22 1:17 into the stanza for their largest lead of the game.
• The Terriers countered with a 16-4 run, with seven points coming from Giannaros. Tibbitt's jumper just inside the three-point line capped the spurt and gave BU a 38-31 edge with 3:13 left in the third.
• Sabria Hunter converted a layup as Army crawled within four, but Johnson's second-chance shot found the bottom of the cup to put the Terriers on top 44-38 heading into the fourth.
• That basket was the first of four straight makes for Johnson. She missed her fifth on a three, but Tibbitt collected the offensive carom, then Johnson found junior Liz Shean in the left corner for a three to cap an 11-0 Terrier burst that made it 53-38 with 7:55 to play.
• From there, Giannaros scored eight consecutive Terrier points, including a driving layup just inside two minutes to replenish BU's double-digit lead at 61-51.

GAME NOTES

• In the second half, BU shot 50 percent from the field, and 5-of-12 from distance.
• The Black Knights were held to 6-of-24 from three-point range, and their 29 rebounds were a season-low.
• Giannaros eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the first time in her collegiate career. In Patriot League play, she's averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game.
• Johnson has reached double digits in each conference contest so far, and has done so in a team-leading 10 games this year.
• Durant surpassed Kerry Cashman on BU's all-time blocks list. She is now three away from Alison Dixon for ninth place.
• In Patriot League play, BU leads the conference in scoring offense, field goal percentage, rebounding offense, rebounding margin, and blocks per game.
• BU has won eight of the last nine matchups against Army, improving to 13-10 in the all-time series. The Terriers have won five straight against the Black Knights in Beantown.

UP NEXT

• BU aims to match its best start to Patriot League play in program history when it visits Navy on Saturday, Jan. 15. Opening tip is slated for 1 p.m.