BOSTON – Freshman Alex Giannaros dropped 22 points on four-of-six shooting from three-point range, and junior Sydney Johnson added 19 points, but the Boston University women's basketball team fell to Lehigh 68-65 on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.
 
In a game that featured 14 lead changes and six ties, BU (13-9, 9-2 PL) was within one point with 6.5 seconds to go. However, the Mountain Hawks (15-6, 7-3 PL) cashed in two free throws to lead by three. The Terriers' ensuing three-pointer to tie the game could not fall, securing the win for the visitors.
 
All told, Giannaros shot 9-for-17 from the field for her second-career 20-plus point game. Junior Maren Durant totaled 15 rebounds and team-highs of three assists and three blocks. Sophomore Caitlin Weimar collected 11 boards, six on the offensive glass.
 
Megan Walker led Lehigh with 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Mackenzie Kramer and Jamie Behar reached double figures as well with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lehigh scored the game's first four points, but BU responded with a 6-0 spurt, capped with Durant's second-chance putback on the right block of the media timeout.
• After Giannaros stole a pass and took it coast-to-coast for the layup to put BU ahead 9-7, Lehigh kept the Terriers off the scoreboard for the final 3:39 of the first, gaining a 13-9 edge.
• BU regained one-possession leads in the second on a pair of three-pointers; Giannaros canned one for a 19-18 lead, then junior Liz Shean buried her second triple of the quarter from the left wing for a 22-20 advantage at the 6:36 mark.
• The Terriers ripped off a 7-0 run in a 90-second span, featuring a baseline jumper from Johnson, Giannaros' second make from downtown, and a steal that led to a Weimar layup, putting BU on top 29-23 with 4:39 left in the second.
• Giannaros buried her third in a row to take a 32-27 lead with 3:02 to go, but the Mountain Hawks' 7-2 run gave the visitors a 36-34 advantage as the clock read 1:17.
• To close a 53-point second quarter, Giannaros sank a contested layup by the baseline, then Johnson picked off a pass and later drilled a left-wing three with 3.8 seconds left to stake the Terriers to a 39-36 halftime lead.
• BU took its largest lead of the game with 5:36 to go in the third, 48-42. Giannaros drained another three, then Johnson found the bottom of the net on a turnaround floater.
• Lehigh countered with a 9-0 run over the next 2:24 to go up 51-48, as three of its four buckets came on layups.
• Weimar's right-block layup high off the glass gave BU a brief 52-51 lead, but the Mountain Hawks capped the frame on a 9-2 run for a 69-54 advantage heading to the final quarter.
• Walker's layup threes minutes into the fourth put Lehigh up nine, 64-55, their largest lead of the game.
• From there, however, Johnson went on a 6-0 run by herself, driving twice before hitting a floater with 5:27 left to pull the Terriers within 64-61.
• Anna Harvey made two free throws at the 4:40 mark to put the Mountain Hawks up five, but Shean got BU back to three on a layup down the right lane. Durant then stuffed Kaylee Van Eps on the other end to preserve the gap at 66-63.
• Durant and Johnson went 1-for-2 from the foul line with under a minute left, but after Walker's foul shots, Johnson fired a contested three at the buzzer that floated wide.

 
GAME NOTES

• The Terriers shot 37.1 percent from the field compared to Lehigh's 46 percent clip. However, BU made seven three-pointers while limiting the Mountain Hawks to 5-of-22 from beyond the arc.
• Rebounds favored the Terriers, 44-36, BU's third-straight and seventh game during Patriot League play with 40-plus caroms.
• BU also had the edge in second-chance points, 20-4.
• The Terriers scored 30 points in the second quarter, the second time in program history they've reached that mark. The program record is 37, which also came against Lehigh back on Jan. 2, 2017.
• Giannaros is now averaging 14.1 points per game against league foes, shooting 44 percent from distance.
• Johnson has scored in double digits in 11 straight games, and at least 16 points in seven consecutive.
• With the three blocks, Durant moves past Adrienne Norris for seventh place in program history with 109 career rejections.
• Saturday marked BU's first home loss in the 2022 calendar year. Their previous setback in Case was on Nov. 24.
• Lehigh improves to 11-9 all-time in the series.

 
UP NEXT

• BU shifts its focus to next Wednesday (Feb. 9), when it visits Army in the Hudson Valley. Opening tip is tabbed for 6 p.m.