BOSTON – Senior guard Alex Giannaros dropped a game high 23 points to lead nine Terriers that scored, powering the Boston University women's basketball team to a season-opening, 60-48 win over Northeastern on Monday evening at Case Gym.
 
In the 2024-25 lid-lifter for both teams, BU (1-0) scored on its opening possession and went wire-to-wire from that point, leading by as many as 20 points in the contest. Northeastern (0-1) went just 1-for-16 from distance.
 
Giannaros made eight of her 12 baskets, including 5-for-8 from three-point range. Sophomore Aoibhe Gormley filled the box score with eight points as well as team highs of seven rebounds and six assists.
 
Abigial Jegede paced the Huskies with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Bailey Williams added 10 points off the bench.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU made its first four baskets in the game, all from different Terriers, to build a 12-5 lead three minutes in. Giannaros and sophomore Audrey Ericksen each drained threes.
• Freshman Inez Gallegos and Giannaros' jumper each established nine-point leads, the latter a 16-7 edge with 2:54 to play in the first.
• From there, the Terriers didn't make a field goal until the 7:36 mark of the second quarter, but Giannaros canned a three-pointer that sparked an 8-0 Terrier run, ballooning the lead to 25-12.
• Northeastern responded with a 10-2 run to get within five, but Gormley found classmate Sisi Bentley for a shot clock-beating layup just before the second half ended, handing BU a 29-22 lead at the break.
• Leading 31-26 early in the third, BU ripped off a 7-0 run bookended by another Giannaros three and a layup from freshman Inez Gallegos, restoring the double-digit lead.
• Williams and Natalie Larrañaga sank layups, but Giannaros scored seven points in a row, and Bentley's second-chance tip-in made it 47-30 with 2:09 remaining in the frame.
• Bentley would make two foul shots, then sophomore Aina Grane Torres nailed a straightaway triple to make it 52-34 after three quarters.
• Neither side scored in the first 2:49 of the fourth period until Gormley sank a pair of foul shots.
• The Huskies got as close as nine points with under a minute to go in regulation, but BU went 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final stanza to preserve the victory.

STATS

• As a team, BU shot 38 percent (19-for-50) from the field, and 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Northeastern made 31 percent of its shots. The Huskies' only three-pointer occurred 2:41 into the contest.
• BU went 15-for-18 at the free throw line.
• The Terriers won the rebounding battle, 40-33. BU reached 40 rebounds just twice last season.
• Northeastern held the advantage in points off turnovers (18-10) and points in the paint (28-20).
• BU led for 39:29 of the game. 

NOTES

• Giannaros is now just 14 points away from 1,000 in her career. In three games against Northeastern as a Terrier, she has dropped 59 points.
• She also moves into sole possession of seventh place all-time with 167 career three-pointers.
• Dating back to last season, Gormley has surrendered one or fewer turnover in seven consecutive games.
• BU had six Terriers score their first points in the Scarlet and White: Schwertner, Gallegos, Bentley, sophomore Bella McLaughlin and freshmen Channing Warren and Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir.
• Under head coach Melissa Graves' tenure, BU has won three of its four season openers.
• In its last 30 home games, postseason included, BU is 27-3. That stretch goes back to Jan. 2, 2023.
• The all-time series now favors the Terriers, 43-39.

UP NEXT

• BU competes in its 2024-25 road opener, visiting No. 2 UConn on Thursday (Nov. 7).
• Opening tip from the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. is slated for 7 p.m.