BOSTON – Sophomore Aoibhe Gormley scored all 16 of her points in the second half, but the Boston University women's basketball team's comeback against Bucknell fell short in a 67-63 loss on Wednesday evening at Case Gym.
 
BU (8-15, 2-10 PL) chipped away at a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to come within two possessions late, but the Bison (13-10, 8-4 PL) never gave up the lead after going in front with under 1:20 to go in the opening frame, handing the Terriers their third straight loss.
 
Gormley scored eight of her 16 points at the foul line while shooting 4-for-5 from the field. Junior Anete Adler posted 13 points off the bench, while senior Alex Giannaros and freshman Allison Schwertner finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Reese Zemitis paced five Bison in double digits with 14 points. Isabella King, Tuana Coskun and Sophia Sabino each recorded 13 points. The Patriot League's leading scorer, Ashley Sofilkanich, was held to 11 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU made five of its first six shots, with three Schwertner buckets and threes from sophomore Inés Monteagudo Pardo and Giannaros, to take a 14-11 lead in the game's first six minutes.
• Both teams went scoreless for over two minutes before Zemitis canned a straightaway three as part of a 7-0 Bison run in the first's final 4:13 to put the visitors up 18-14.
• Bucknell extended the burst to 13 straight points through the second quarter before Giannaros snapped the scoring drought with a jumper inside the arc at the 6:02 mark, cutting BU's gap to 24-16.
• Adler brought the Terriers within seven points at halftime, 30-23, after floating a baseline jumper over Sofilkanich with under 33 seconds remaining in the stanza.
• Giannaros' runner in the paint opened the third quarter scoring, but Zemitis and King connected on consecutive threes to hand Bucknell its largest lead at the time, 40-27, three minutes into the stanza.
• Gormley brought BU within six points on two separate and-1 baskets, the latter closing the gap to 47-41 with 1:01 to play in the third.
• A 7-0 Bison spurt from that point re-established the 13-point lead, 54-41, just 58 seconds into the fourth quarter as King netted a layup off a Terrier turnover.
• Trailing by 11 at the midpoint of the final period, Adler snagged an offensive rebound to find sophomore Sisi Bentley cutting down the right lane for a layup to make it 59-50 in Bucknell's favor.
• Monteagudo canned a straightaway triple off Giannaros' pass, then Adler sank a layup with 2:52 remaining in regulation to tighten the divide to 61-57.
• Sofilkanich and Giannaros traded layups 1:13 later for a 63-59 contest with 1:15 to go.
• Gormley and Sofilkanich then exchanged free throws the rest of the way, as the former hit a pair to make it a 66-63 contest with 9.9 seconds left, but neither side hit a field goal after Giannaros' take to the rim. 

STATS

• The Terriers finished the game shooting 47.7 percent compared to 52 percent for the Bison.
• BU drilled its first two three-pointers of the contest, but finished just 3-for-13 from deep for the game.
• At the charity stripe, the Terriers were 18-for-20, marking the second time in the last three contests BU reached the line at least 20 times.
• Bucknell won the rebounding battle, 24-23.
• BU sported a 32-28 advantage in paint points and 17-3 edge in bench points.

NOTES

• Gormley's 16 points eclipsed her previous high of 12 points at New Hampshire on Nov. 16, 2024. She now has seven career games with double digits against Patriot League foes.
• Adler has increased her conference scoring average to 8.4 points per game on 55.4 percent shooting.
• Giannaros is now two three-pointers away from 10th place in Patriot League history in career triples and four points from 10th place on BU's all-time scoring list.
• In her last three games, Schwertner is shooting nearly 63 percent from the field while scoring 14 points per game.
• Bucknell improves to 15-7 in the all-time series against BU while winning four straight games.

UP NEXT

• The Terriers trek to Colgate to start a two-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 15. Opening tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.